The Client
The City of Lincoln is the capital of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. Lincoln is one of only a few cities in the United States where police, fire and communications have all received national accreditation.
The 911 Communications Center is staffed by a team of 36 highly trained communications service operators who provide dispatching service for the Lincoln Police Department, Lincoln Fire & Rescue, the Lancaster
County Sheriff's Office and 14 rural fire agencies. The specialists are responsible for receiving, prioritizing and sending appropriate assistance to the citizens.
The Challenge
The City of Lincoln / Lancaster County is expanding with an ever increasing number of incoming 911 calls, and more operator positions to manage the emergency services.
The Call Center needed a more efficient and scalable solution to combine and connect to their workstations, telephone and radio consoles, and manage their core processes, such as Computer Aided Dispatch, 911 Call Mapping, VoIP Phones and Law Enforcement Record Requests, with a single keyboard and mouse.
Before the Project
Dispatcher workplaces at the pre-existing communications center were equipped each with two to three local PCs under the desks and as many keyboards and mice on top. The environment was loud and stressful. Operators were using an IP-based mouse switching software that just was not working reliably.
The WEYTEC Solution
WEYTEC deployed an operator workplace solution based upon ultraFLEX miniPCs, IP Remote extenders using fiber cabling and USB Deskswitches.
At the desk, everything is housed in a compact 6-slot desk chassis underneath the tabletop. Each dispatcher has one dedicated ultraFLEX miniPC and two additional vendor-specific PCs. Operators use WEYTEC mouse switching to toggle intuitively between their PCs and screens.
The WEYTEC solution removed all the CAD workstations from the dispatch floor and secured them in a controlled temperature and access environment where they are protected, efficiently cooled and easily maintained. One standard 19” rack houses the 18 WEYTEC ultraFLEX miniPCs, while three additional racks house the other 36 vendor specific computers. Fiber has been deployed to connect the operator positions to the sources.