Council Workshop Item
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COUNCIL WORKSHOP ITEM ITEM: Public Safety System Upgrade DATE: July 7, 2002 PREPARED BY: The Technology Commission The Public Safety System Project Team PURPOSE: To seek the Village Council’s approval of the agreement with H.T.E. BID AMOUNT: $1,425,539 (Option One) Recommended $1,168,598 (Option Two) DISCUSSION The task of updating the Village’s public safety system has been on village staff’s desks for several years. In the last year, village staff has evaluated public safety systems from five vendors through an RFP process. Each vendor’s system was evaluated based on a demonstration provided by the vendor. Village staff also contacted other towns that use that vendor’s system, and in some cases, visited other towns to see how the system performed in a live environment. Earlier this year, the staff and the Technology Commission rejected all RFP responses and requested of council that we be allowed to evaluate the possibility of upgrading our current public safety system (H.T.E.). For details, please refer to the report presented to the Village Council on February 12, 2002 (www.vil.downers-grove.il.us/govt/mmemo/02-12- 02/readindex.PDF). As indicated in that report, the project team would now look at upgrading the current public safety system manufactured by H.T.E. Following the same process followed in the RFP portion of the project, the team reviewed H.T.E’s products. Again site visits to other government agencies where H.T.E.’s system is used were conducted. In addition, the Technology Commission helped conduct a financial background analysis on H.T.E. Both the site visits and the financial analysis produced positive results for H.T.E’s products. The project team therefore recommends that the Village upgrade our current public safety system. Please note, it is not considered a sole source purchase because H.T.E is the manufacturer of our current system. This upgrade will allow us to utilize other features offered by H.T.E. In addition, the decision to purchase the H.T.E upgrade is actually the result of a competitive RFP process where various products were reviewed and considered. 1. MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE CONTRACT In this section, we will discuss the technical components of the upgrades. In order to explain the complicated contract with a large variety of technical components, we have summarized system components into a summary sheet titled “Public Safety System Proposal Summary Sheet.” As shown in the summary sheet, the contract is divided into 6 major components each of which addresses one aspect of the public safety system upgrade. 1 Software The majority of the software relates to field reporting and mobile messaging for police officers and records management software for the fire department. These additions will allow officers to create and file police reports from their squad car as well as send and receive messages via the computer to the dispatch center and each other. The fire records software will allow the fire department to more efficiently maintain and access, reports and information on fire and ambulance calls. The biggest advantage here is that the fire department will for the first time be using a records system that is completely integrated with the dispatch system. Any information entered by dispatchers during a call will automatically be carried over to populate the correct fields in the fire records system. There are a variety of smaller software pieces that will be purchased also. For example, there is software required to allow the dispatchers to monitor the locations of the fire equipment that will be outfitted with automatic vehicle locators. There is also software that will automatically allow dispatchers to pull caller information that is sent when a person dials 911 into the dispatch system, and thereby into the police and fire records systems. There is also a software component that will allow the dispatchers to page appropriate police and fire personnel depending on the type of call directly from the dispatch system. Training/Install This section encompasses all costs associated with the initial training of personnel in using and maintaining the system, installation costs, and any of H.T.E.'s travel expenses associated with the project. Most training will be done in a “train the trainer” manner. The vendor will train key police and fire department personnel who will then be responsible for training the remainder of the police and fire department users. This type of training will not only reduce training costs but also allow us more flexibility in training times and dates to accommodate police and fire scheduling difficulties. Maintenance This section covers all costs of on going software maintenance. These fees not only entitle us to technical support provided by the vendor but also periodic software updates to resolve issues with the software and provide additional functionality. Hardware AS/400 - This is a midrange computer that runs the entire dispatch and police/fire records systems. Although we do already utilize an AS/400 for our dispatch system and police records systems the addition of fire records and the new mobile functionality necessitates a more powerful machine. Our current AS/400 will remain and function as a hot-standby backup to the new system. This will all but eliminate any downtime for the dispatch center; in the event of a hardware failure in the main system the dispatchers can switch over to this standby system and continue to work without interruption. This ability will also allow Information Services 2 personnel to switch the dispatchers to the backup system when there is a need to perform routine maintenance on the main system. Mobile Hardware – The core of the mobile hardware that will be installed in each public safety vehicle is a ruggedized laptop computer. These computers are a step above the normal laptop computer that the Village would purchase, and it comes with a commensurate step up in price. This step up is not so much in the computing power of the actual machine; it is in the durability and ability to be used in conditions that a standard laptop computer would not normally function in. These machines can stand more extreme temperature variations, stand up to physical shock better, and handle exposure to moisture better than an standard laptop computer would. Along with a laptop computer each vehicle will be equipped with data communications equipment and a mounting system specifically designed for that make of vehicle that will help ensure that the laptop computer can be used safely in that vehicle. Message Switch – This subsystem consists of both hardware and software that acts as a communications hub interconnecting the vehicles in the field with each other, with the dispatch system, the police and fire records systems, and the state police’s data systems. Field Reporting Server – This subsystem controls the process of police officers entering incident reports remotely from their vehicles. An officer can enter a report, submit it to his supervisor for review, make any changes to the report that may be required, and finally file the report electronically with the Police Records department all without coming in to the police station. Dial-In Access Server – This subsystem will allow Fire Department personnel to connect remotely to the Fire Records System in situations and locations when they cannot use the standard wireless system that they would normally use. The wireless data connection that the vehicles use is based on the same technology that cellular phones are based on. This limits the use of the system in certain areas, e.g., inside the hospital. Third Party These are costs that will be paid to companies other than HTE. For example, the cellular data service that is used to communicate with mobile units is provided by Verizon wireless and we will be paying them directly. Also there are a variety of smaller hardware items that will be purchased directly from vendors other than HTE. Miscellaneous All costs that really didn’t fit well into another category are here. Any furniture or equipment racks that may be necessary to house the new equipment are covered here and also costs for miscellaneous cables, connectors and such are covered here. 2. MAJOR ISSUES Like any other project conducted by the Village, this system upgrade was faced with a number of major issues and challenges. Fortunately, the members of the Technology Commission provided excellent input on many of these issues. In fact, since the establishment of the Technology 3 Commission by the Village Council, village staff has been working closely with the commission, and the decisions made jointly by village staff and the commission members have led us to the point we are now at in this project. Please note that the decisions made to solve those issues presented below are fully supported by the Technology Commission. This project has benefited enormously from the expertise of the members of the commission. 2.1 H.T.E’s Financial Background Since this project involves a huge amount of financial commitment from the Village, the stability of the vendor is a major issue for the team. Mr. Will Hutchinson, a member of the Technology Commission, conducted a financial background analysis on H.T.E., making sure that the company is stable financially and is able to support its products in the years to come. As we are currently a client of H.T.E, the Village enjoyed excellent support from H.T.E in past years. The team expects H.T.E. to provide the same technical support in the years to come. 2.2 Fire Records System As introduced earlier, this project is to upgrade the current public safety system.