SPRINGFIELD, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The beach community of Lavallette, N.J. has selected Spok’s 9-1-1
call center solution for its new police headquarters. The police
department picked Spok to provide the foundation for its 9-1-1 community
response because of its scalability, the ability to use off-the-shelf
equipment, and rave reviews from other users, said Lavallette Police
Chief Colin M. Grant.
“Our headquarters was destroyed during Superstorm Sandy, and we’ve been
operating out of three trailers,” Grant explained. “When we started
considering a PSAP (public safety answering point) for our new building,
we decided to go in a different direction from our previous vendor. The
Spok® pc/psap solution gives us exactly what we were looking for today –
and in the future.”
Grant said he likes the scalability of the Spok pc/psap system to handle
the current call volume as well as potential increased call loads in
case other local jurisdictions contract with Lavallette to handle their
calls. The ability to use readily available commercial equipment means
that the town is not limited to one hardware vendor, another important
consideration.
But the deciding factor for Grant and other town officials was the
enthusiastic reviews dispatchers from another town gave Spok pc/psap.
“Our technology consultant put us in touch with the Stafford Township
Police Department, which uses Spok,” Grant said. “We brought some of our
dispatchers down to talk to their dispatchers, and they really raved
about the system, how well it works, and how easy it is to use.
Dispatcher to dispatcher – that’s really what sold us.”
When someone dials 9-1-1 for emergency assistance, the call goes to a
dispatch center for response. With Spok pc/psap’s easy-to-use graphical
interface, emergency dispatchers are able to involve police, fire, EMT,
and hazmat personnel instantly with a click of the mouse or a touch of
the screen, saving precious time in emergency situations.
Spok pc/psap is used by military bases, local governments, hospitals,
colleges, and universities because of its track record and the
software’s ability to integrate smoothly with existing systems such as
phone and mapping. The system integrates with existing PBX or CENTREX
telephone systems and third-party systems for CAD, mapping, and network
time sources. Spok pc/psap has received Joint Interoperability Test
Command (JITC) certification and is listed under the Department of
Defense’s Unified Capabilities Approved Products List.
The Lavallette Police Department has 13 sworn members and three
full-time dispatchers to serve the emergency needs of the 2,700
year-round residents, a number that swells to 22,000 during the busy
summer months. During the summer, the department hires an additional 19
special officers and often has a second dispatcher on standby during
special events such as Fourth of July festivities. The department fields
5,000 emergency calls annually but received nearly 8,000 in 2012 when
Superstorm Sandy slammed the Northeastern United States.
“I’m not a technology guy, but the Spok sales staff explained the
solution, provided consistent follow-up, and answered my questions about
integration,” Grant said. “They made the whole process very easy for us.”
About Spok
Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok
Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Springfield, Va., is
proud to be a leader in critical communications for healthcare,
government, public safety, and other industries. We deliver smart,
reliable solutions to help protect the health, well-being, and safety of
people around the globe. More than 125,000 organizations worldwide rely
on Spok for workflow improvement, secure texting, paging services,
contact center optimization, and public safety response. When
communications matter, Spok delivers. Visit us at spok.com or
find us on Twitter @Spoktweets.
Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings.
Spok, Inc.
Jill Asby, 952-230-5363
jill.asby@spok.com
Source: Spok, Inc.