The Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) provides support for 11 fire stations and all 9-1-1 calls spread throughout the Municipal District of Bonnyville in Alberta, Canada. Formed as a joint agency in 1996, BRFA now has 6 full-time staff, 5 part-time staff and around 160 volunteers. They’re the first point of contact during an emergency and provide lifesaving help to its citizens in distress. So making the process from assessment to dispatching the right response personnel as seamless as possible is critical. And having the right equipment is the first step in ensuring quick response times. That’s why WCI Whyte Communications and Zetron were chosen to bring next generation technology to Bonnyville.
Bonnyville Chooses Zetron’s End-to-End Integration Solution
In order to continue providing the vital support each town has come to appreciate, their outdated system needed to be replaced to keep pace with next generation technology. This included Call Taking, CAD and Dispatching.
Thanks to their existing relationship with WCI Whyte Communications, when it came time to replace the soon to be obsolete CAD system, they reached out to Joanne Granoski, president of WCI to ensure all of their bases were covered. As discussions started in April and the project discovery went on for several months, the BRFA recognized the benefits the Zetron system offered and knew it would be the best fit. No other technology provided the complete end-to-end system with the deep level of integration that Zetron’s MAX Call-Taking, MAX CAD, and MAX Dispatch deliver. And Bonnyville already had the confidence in WCI’s installation, service and support capabilities.
“The ability to integrate all three solutions was essential,” said Brian McEvoy. “We needed a system to handle reporting, statistic, and wanted the next generation innovation in technology.”
Interoperability with AFRRCS
The BRFA chose Zetron’s MAX Dispatch console system which worked with their existing P25 AFRRCS (Alberta First Responder Radio Communication System), as well as with the Kenwood NX-5000 series radios. And thanks to the interoperability of MAX Dispatch, it interfaces to P25 CSSI onto the AFRRCS network, as well as meets current ISNET standards.
Joint effort for TELUS and Zetron
The next step involved TELUS, a third party communications provider who needed to be engaged in the system deployment. The ongoing communications were crucial to the project, but was the main contributor to the several months added to the discovery period. However, the extra time and attention to detail paid off in the end.
Implementation began with Zetron’s MAX Call-Taking Engineering and TELUS Engineering writing the proper software to parse the ANI/ALI data, which was a first for TELUS. Once the equipment was taken on site, it was connected into TELUS ANI/ALI routers for testing and tied into the telephone system in parallel with the old telephone system. The final step was for WCI and Zetron personnel were ready to train the call-takers/dispatchers.
“The system is very intuitive and user friendly,” explained McEvoy. “This made training a breeze, requiring just an hour long session where they had the ability to ask questions.”
Five areas supported through the new system
Before the system went live in October, 2017, there were final integrations setup between the headset and MAX Dispatch. The ALI information was also pushed to CAD through MAX Call-Taking and call information was abended to MAX Dispatch. Now, the five areas M.D. of Bonnyville, Town of Bonnyville, Summer Villages of Bonnyville Beach and Pelican Narrows, and the Village of Glendon are all supported through the new system.
Into the future with WCI and Zetron
Through the combination of WCI’s years of expertise, the reliable and innovative Zetron systems, and the support of open standards, including interfaces to TELUS and AFFRACS, Bonnyville is able to provide the critical support for its citizens well into future. Now with a new fully interoperable system the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority is prepared to handle any incidents that come their way.