Consolidation Feasibility Study

Transcription

1 DRAFT Report for Consolidation Feasibility Study Prepared for Upper Arlington, Ohio July 2013 ARCHITECTURE ENGINEERING COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AVIATION CIVIL CONSTRUCTION SERVICES DATA SYSTEMS ENVIRONMENTAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING GEOSPATIAL NETWORKS PUBLIC SAFETY TRANSPORTATION

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... 1 TECHNOLOGY AUTOMATED SYSTEMS... 2 FACILITY... 2 STAFFING PROJECTIONS... 2 COSTS... 3 GOVERNANCE OPTIONS... 3 FUNDING... 3 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE... 3 UNION ISSUES... 4 TRANSITION PLANNING... 4 TIMELINE... 4 August 2013 December December 2013 February February May May 2014 July BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY PSAP/DISPATCH CENTER BENCHMARKING EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS Operations Based Findings Facility Based Findings* Technology Based Findings Consolidation Assessment and Interview Results Non-dispatch Tasks TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS AND OPTIONS RADIO SYSTEMS CENTRAL OHIO INTEROPERABLE RADIO SYSTEM CITY OF COLUMBUS 800 MHZ TRUNKED RADIO SYSTEM NON-VOICE RADIO APPLICATIONS OTHER RADIO SYSTEMS IN FRANKLIN COUNTY RADIO INTEROPERABILITY RADIO CONSOLE OPERATIONS Existing Consoles Required Consoles Upgrades Consolidated Dispatch Center Console Requirements Radio Dispatch Console Assessment Radio Operational Issues RADIO SYSTEM OPTIONS COIRS USAGE FEES AUTOMATED SYSTEMS COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH / RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Dublin Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems Hilliard Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems July 2013 Page i

3 3.1.3 Upper Arlington Computer Aided Dispatch / Records Management Systems Worthington Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems PHONE SYSTEMS LOGGING RECORDERS TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS FOR A CONSOLIDATED CENTER Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Mobile Data Records Management Systems Telephone System Logging Recorder MAXIMIZING UTILIZATION OF EXISTING TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES Facility Requirements and Concept Site Evaluations Threat and Vulnerability Assessment BACKUP FACILITY Best Practices Facility Planning Spatial Requirements Specific Space Requirements for Study Participants New Facility Specific Space Requirements for Study Participants Renovation of Dublin PSAP Facility design should include an outlet floor plan that provides for the following: Traffic Study Call Volume/Workload Staffing Shift Supervision STAFFING PROJECTIONS WORKSTATIONS COST ESTIMATES GOVERNANCE OPTIONS GOVERNANCE GOVERNANCE OPTIONS Supporting Entity Representative Governance Options MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING RECOMMENDATIONS FUNDING MECHANISMS OTHER FUNDING OPTIONS FEDERAL GRANTS FEMA Preparedness Grants Implementation Grants Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Programs ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS HR AND LABOR CONTRACT/UNION ISSUES CITY OF DUBLIN MANAGEMENT RIGHTS Section 5.1 Management Rights CITY OF UPPER ARLINGTON MANAGEMENT RIGHTS July 2013 Page ii

4 7.2.1 Section 5.1 Management Rights Section 5.2 Limitations CITY OF HILLIARD MANAGEMENT RIGHTS Section 3.1 Management Rights CITY OF WORTHINGTON MANAGEMENT RIGHTS Section 5.1 Management Rights Section 5.2 Limitations TRANSITION PLAN AND TIMELINE PLANNING PHASE Step One: Step Two (In Conjunction with Step One): Step Three: Step Four: PLANNING BENCHMARKS TRANSITION PHASE Facilities Technical (Equipment) Operational (Personnel) COMPLETION AND ACCEPTANCE NON-PARTICIPATING AGENCY IMPACT Recommendations for Dealing with Non-Participating Agencies Timeline APPENDIX TITLE July 2013 Page iii

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY L.R. Kimball is pleased to provide the following consolidation feasibility study (Study) to the City of Upper Arlington and the participating cities of Dublin, Hilliard and Worthington and the Townships of Norwich and Washington. All participating cities and townships representatives desire to improve service to their citizens and response agencies in a fiscally responsible manner. This Study provides background, methodology, findings and recommendations that give the participating municipalities information toward the decision to consolidate their respective Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) into a single center. Interviews, observation, findings review and anecdotal information all indicated that the most cost effective and logical direction of consolidation is to merge via contract and/or intergovernmental agreement all regional call taking and dispatching functions under the City of Dublin s PSAP. The City of Dublin maintains a well-managed, civilian-led bureau within its police department that has a depth of administrative and support staff that is looked at by the other participating cities as the desired model of operation. Following the findings review, L.R. Kimball focused the recommendations development on guidance toward a consolidation hosted by the City of Dublin. The options for governance are contracting for services as the City of Hilliard is preparing to do, or creating a consolidated center in the Dublin PSAP with an advisory board for channeling operational input. Findings revealed areas that should be improved in the existing PSAPs regardless of the decision to consolidate or not. Those areas include consistent use of the emergency medical dispatch (EMD) protocols (Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard), automation of Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD)-to-CAD automatic aid for regional fire responses, formalize and update training programs (Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard). Technology Radio One of the most complex issues that must be addressed in planning a consolidation is how to deal with the disparate radio systems. If the four centers were consolidated today, dispatchers would require two radio consoles at each position to maintain the same function capabilities as they currently have. In addition to cost and inconvenience, maintaining two dispatch consoles would present potential technical limitations. The more likely solution would be to have full console functionality on one of the systems for two of the cities and rely on control stations access to the other radio system for the other two cities. As a result of having three 800 MHz trunked radio systems serving Public Safety agencies in the northwestern part of Franklin County, the cities have a choice of systems to use as their primary dispatch/operational radio resource. Dublin and Worthington are members of the Central Ohio Interoperable Communications System (COIRS) and have made substantial investments in constructing the COIRS infrastructure. The needs of the two municipalities and their contracted agencies are met by COIRS. The cities of Upper Arlington and Hilliard have three options 1) participate in COIRS by building out the necessary infrastructure to provide coverage to their respective cities, 2) continue to purchase radio services from the City of Columbus or 3) join Ohio Multi-Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS). July 2013 Page 1

6 While it would be desirable to have all of the agencies on the same radio system, this is only one consideration for these cities in assessing their radio system options. The most critical consideration is system coverage more specifically in-building portable coverage since each system provides good mobile coverage. Other areas of consideration for the cities of Upper Arlington and Hilliard include the unknown costs associated with a future upgrade of the Columbus trunked radio system. It is anticipated that if Upper Arlington joined COIRS, the City would have to construct another tower site to meet coverage needs. Another viable option would be to join Ohio MARCS at an increased annual fee but with the benefits of an existing tower for coverage or the reported willingness of the MARCS to add a tower. Technology Automated Systems The Dublin PSAP has the most robust and viable automated systems for expansion in support of a consolidated PSAP operation. L.R. Kimball recommends identifying system requirements then engaging the systems vendors to discuss what upgrades are needed and associated costs. These upgrades should be far less costly than procuring new systems. The Dublin CAD systems and Records Management Systems (RMS) are capable of expansion/upgrade to support a multi-agency and multi-jurisdiction consolidated operation. Consideration will be needed to how legacy records information will be handled. The Dublin telephone system and logging recorder are the only existing systems capable of supporting the increased call volume and storage needs of a consolidated center. Facility L.R. Kimball recommends investing in the renovation and expansion of the Dublin PSAP. The high-level space projections for a renovated Dublin PSAP are to expand the operations floor by approximately 1,075 square feet to accommodate the addition of four more consoles for consolidation and additional or available space for two future consoles for post-consolidation growth. This figure allows for the addition of 175 square feet per console and assumes there is adequate existing support office space. Staffing Projections The minimum projected staff needed in the consolidated PSAP is This minimum projection was derived using the reported call volume and the reported and estimated administrative/non-emergency call volume for the calculations. The projected staff is broken down as follows: 15 certified call takers, certified dispatchers and 5 supervisors for a total goal staff complement of operational employees. These projections vary based on whether there is intent to staff a tactical fire/relief position. Note that these projections do not include administrative and support positions. While completely cross-trained staff is desired, projected minimum certified staff is provided as guidance toward meeting call volume and dispatching needs. The staffing projections represent the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees needed to staff three call take positions, three law enforcement dispatch positions, one fire/ems dispatch position, one tactical fire/relief dispatch position (optional) and one supervisor position 24-hours each day. The total number of equipped and staffed positions is 8-10 depending on decisions toward additional positions or space for future positions for growth. July 2013 Page 2

7 Costs Current reported budgets for all four cities PSAPs are approximately $4.5 million. In a consolidated center under the City of Dublin, the total costs will decrease specifically for overall personnel costs. The costs for the City of Dublin may double due primarily to a shift in personnel costs; however the costs for the cities of Upper Arlington, Hilliard and Worthington may decrease by approximately $1.2 million. Governance Options L.R. Kimball recommends that the City of Worthington and the City of Upper Arlington join the City of Hilliard in contracting call taking and dispatching services from the City of Dublin. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) should be crafted that delineates the make-up, roles and responsibilities of an Advisory Board for operational input, as well as defining a funding mechanism, and how agencies can be added or terminated from the consolidation. Funding L.R. Kimball recommends that if the City of Worthington, the City of Upper Arlington and the City of Hilliard consolidate under the City of Dublin, then a sliding contribution should be implemented. The first year the Cities should contribute their current budget to support start-up costs and capital expenditures and the second year the Cities should contribute a specific portion of their current budget for the continued support of the start-up costs for consolidated operations. For contributions following the first two years L.R. Kimball recommends that the Cities choose a simple contribution model such as population or real estate assessments in order to define the contribution for each city. These models have proven successful for similar consolidations and L.R. Kimball suggests keeping the contribution model as streamlined as possible. During the preparation of this Study, the City of Hilliard has been negotiating with the City of Dublin for contracted services. An executed contract is anticipated in August. The proffered payment formula is based on a pre-determined time per call for service conversion to cost per call. While L.R. Kimball does recommend a legacy budget phased based contribution method, a contract for services funding method would also be appropriate and most likely more acceptable to the City of Dublin as the host PSAP. Organizational Structure Only Dublin has the organizational base to support a consolidated PSAP operation without incurring the excessive costs of creating a new organization. Therefore, L.R. Kimball recommends that Upper Arlington and Worthington work with Dublin following the example of Hilliard to either develop an acceptable contracted service agreement or a governance agreement that establishes Dublin as the host PSAP for the consolidated center. July 2013 Page 3

8 Union Issues No two agreements are exactly the same in terms of the management rights that are laid out but, generally speaking, the Cities have the right to determine the functions, processes, means and personnel used to perform their legal duties to the public. However, these rights are limited in some of the Agreements to the extent that they impact the specific terms of each Agreement. In L.R. Kimball s review of the existing agreements, the right to sub-contract was not found, mentioned or given direction on. Therefore, the appropriate process for transitioning or transferring communications employees to a new bargaining unit and employer will need to be identified, as well as the potential need for bargaining with the Union related to those transitions. Typically consolidation initiatives adopt a do-no-harm approach to employees who transition from their existing center to a consolidated operation. Special consideration must be given to compensating those employees who do not fit into the established salary ranges and/or would suffer from a reduction in benefits. Some employees may have to be grandfathered into the new pay and classification system at their current pay rate and/or benefits package; or be compensated for differences. Transition Planning The crucial benchmarks to accomplish are as follows: 1. Establish a governance agreement or a MOU between the participating Cities and if necessary adjust organizational and management structure for the Dublin center in the early stages of planning to avoid work stoppage and delays caused by political/turf battles. 2. Address the space needs through a renovation of the Dublin PSAP 3. Decide which radio system(s) configuration will best serve participating agencies, then engage vendors to determine infrastructure, equipment and subscriber costs 4. Engage automated systems vendors to determine upgrade/expansion needs for existing Dublin systems to accommodate a consolidated operation 5. Determine if there is a need for additional support staff and hire accordingly. Any new administrative or support staff should be brought on early in planning process. 6. Adapt and standardize operating procedures during the planning phase to provide the backbone for the training and transition of personnel and service 7. Address labor agreements through negotiating pay and classification toward a single agreement with focus on bringing any transitioning employees under the Dublin agreement. Timeline If the Hilliard contract with Dublin is successfully executed, the planned timeline for consolidation is reportedly to have fire dispatch services transitioned by October 2013 and police dispatch services by February This is a reasonable amount of time based on the effort to date. Discussions began with Hilliard prior to the commissioning of this Study. Impact studies were conducted by Dublin to determine what changes may be needed in space, staff and technology to accommodate the Hilliard call volume and workload, as well as what non-dispatch services may need to be transitioned to Dublin and their respective impacts. As a contracted service provider, Dublin has determined what changes are needed to their PSAP and associated costs, as well as an ongoing service fee. These factors are included in the negotiations with Hilliard and are anticipated to result in an executed contract by August Effort July 2013 Page 4

9 has been under way for a few months to adjust Dublin operations and systems to accommodate the Norwich Township fire/ems dispatch services in time for an October 2013 cutover. A similar effort is due to begin shortly to make accommodations to transition the police dispatch services from Hilliard. As these plans are anticipated to be implemented successfully, they can be used as a model for transitioning the fire/ems and police dispatch services of the cities of Upper Arlington and Worthington. Using this template and including further potential space, technology and staff expansions, a reasonable timeline for transitioning Upper Arlington and Worthington will be as follows: August 2013 December 2013 Solicit each City and Township to determine whether they will participate in consolidation. Draft and execute an Intergovernmental Agreement(s) that details the membership, authority and responsibilities of the Advisory Board, provide direction on operational input from served agencies representatives and detail how funding contribution or contractual payments will be made; as well as a method for modifying the agreement and a termination clause. Re-evaluate the impact of merging services on space, staff and technology based on decision of participants regarding what services beyond call taking and dispatching may transition. Plan for any adjustments to space, technology or staff plans. December 2013 February 2014 Review lessons learned from Hilliard fire dispatch services and adjust plans for Hilliard police and future agency transitions accordingly. Form appropriate committees for addressing adapting, merging and standardizing policies and procedures, and for adapting/adding as appropriate to the CAD data sets to accommodate the incoming agencies. Finalize plan for transitioning fire/ems and police dispatching services for areas covered by Worthington and Upper Arlington s PSAP. February May 2014 Observe and analyze how well the Hilliard/Norwich transitions of fire/ems dispatching planned for October 2013 and the police transition planned for February 2014 are handled. Adjust plans for future transitions. Transition fire services for one or both cities (Upper Arlington and Worthington) to Dublin. May 2014 July 2014 Transition police services for one or both cities (Upper Arlington and Worthington) to Dublin. Work through any issues and adjust operations as needed. Do not begin to address any additional PSAPs that express desire to join the Dublin PSAP until after at least three to six months of consolidation with the initial participants. It is possible to accomplish this consolidation within a year; however, the final planning and transition schedule should include a contingency of two to three months to allow for delays that may arise from document reviews, agreement execution, potential issues in standardizing or accommodating participating agencies needs and more. July 2013 Page 5

10 L.R. Kimball recommends an 18-month implementation schedule to bring all four cities PSAPs together. Should the participants decide not to consolidate under the City of Dublin PSAP with the City of Hilliard, it is unlikely that the cities of Upper Arlington and Worthington would pursue constructing a new facility separately. If the Study participants did determine that a new facility was in their best interest and could be funded, then the transition to a consolidated operation would extend to months or longer. The balance of this page is intentionally left blank. July 2013 Page 6

11 1. BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY L.R. Kimball was contracted by the City of Upper Arlington Ohio to perform a feasibility study of merging multi-jurisdictional communications dispatch centers. This Study was initiated on behalf of the Cities of Upper Arlington, Dublin, Hilliard and Worthington; and the Townships of Norwich and Washington. The intent of this effort is described in the scope of work as the feasibility of merging multi-jurisdictional communication dispatch centers into one center to provide core information on the best platform to allow cross transfer of data and communications, and determine expected costs associated with the transfer to and operation of a consolidated communication center. The feasibility of consolidation was to be determined following a review and analysis of the current environment and provision of recommendations and cost impacts. An area specified in the contracted scope is the examination and impact analysis of the disparate radio systems on a consolidation initiative. Other important scope items to be addressed included facility/space needs, governance and funding, automated systems (e.g. CAD/RMS, Customer Premise Equipment [CPE]/911), connectivity/networks, dispatch and non-dispatch work load and staffing projections, transition planning and timeline. The scope of work also included an analysis of the different collective bargaining agreements regarding to the right to subcontract. L.R. Kimball and representatives of the participating cities and townships kicked off the feasibility study efforts on Friday January 11, 2013 with a meeting to introduce the identified stakeholders and L.R. Kimball project team; and to establish a mutual understanding and acceptance of the study objectives, phases, tasks, scope, responsibilities, deliverables, schedule, communications plan and risks. L.R. Kimball followed the kick-off meeting with stakeholder interviews, operational observations and technology reviews at each of the four city PSAPs the week of February 4 8, 2013; interviews also included representatives from the participating townships. Follow-up phone interviews and correspondence after the site visits augmented the data collection process. On February 8, 2013 a survey tool was distributed to the cities that operate the four (4) PSAPs to collect contact information, demographic data, statistics, operational data, costs and a technology inventory. The surveys were completed and returned by March 20, L.R. Kimball reviewed and analyzed the data to develop a list of findings regarding the current conditions with comments toward the impact on a potential consolidation. (Section 2 PSAP/Dispatch Center Benchmarking Existing Conditions Analysis). On May 15, 2013 L.R. Kimball met with representatives of the Study participants to review the findings. L.R. Kimball then developed the following recommendations and planning guidelines toward the merging of the Study participants dispatch centers. These recommendations are based on further analysis of the existing conditions and findings after reviewing with representatives, L.R. Kimball s expertise, and noted industry best practices and standards. July 2013 Page 7

12 2. PSAP/DISPATCH CENTER BENCHMARKING EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS Operations Based Findings Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Industry best practice, public expectation and standard of care require a medical director supported protocol with a formal quality assurance program applied consistently to all medical calls for service regardless of consolidation participation. Provided in Dublin using the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) protocols guide cards that are computerized using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) display and available on the CAD monitor desktop for ease of access. There is a formal quality assurance (QA) program in place. Worthington, Upper Arlington and Hilliard 1 utilize EMD card sets to provide inconsistent EMD with no quality assurance program support trunk capacity is sufficient to support call volume at each participating PSAP. Currently 14 trunks are distributed as follows: Worthington (2), Hilliard (4), Upper Arlington (2) and Dublin (6). Noting that Dublin is the primary PSAP for wireless calls. Trunk capacity for a consolidated center or centers would reduce the number of trunks from 14 to 8; and a reduction in system and network components, thereby reducing recurring system and service costs. Security and access at each center is controlled from PSAP. Each center also monitors video feeds for the police department where the PSAP is housed, as well as municipal properties. In a consolidated environment it may not be feasible to continue monitoring all current video feeds. Impact on operations, staffing and technology must be considered when determining which video feeds will be directly monitored or accessed at a consolidated center(s). Hilliard, Upper Arlington and Worthington receive wireless calls as transfers from Dublin and other neighboring primary wireless PSAPs - Westerville, Franklin Sheriff s Office (FSO) and the City of Columbus. Consolidation will reduce wireless transfers and allow wireless calls for service in the participating areas to receive the same level of service as a primary PSAP response area. o o Chapter 5507: Emergency Telephone Number System Statewide emergency services Internet protocol network steering committee. On or before May 15, 2013 the steering committee initial report must include recommendations for consolidation of public-safety-answering-point operations in this state including recommendations for accelerating the consolidation schedule established in section of the Revised Code, 1 Further review of interview notes from meetings with Hilliard stakeholders indicate that the Hilliard PSAP does not perform EMD. July 2013 Page 8

13 to accommodate next-generation technology and to facilitate a more efficient and effective emergency services system; Limitation of use of RC payments (wireless). March 1, 2009 through December 31, 2015 for not more than five PSAPs per calendar year January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2017 for not more than four PSAPs per calendar year. Beginning January 1, 2018 and beyond for not more than three PSAPs per calendar year. Exception: municipality with population exceeding 175,000 may have one additional PSAP for each pay period. Note that combined population of participating cities and townships may exceed population limitation, however the legislation specifies a single municipality that exceeds 175,000 Penalty for exceeding the allowable number of PSAPs is a reduction of 50 percent until county complies. Fire regional automatic aid built into CAD response but not automated with CAD-to-CAD interoperability. Coordination between Worthington, Hilliard, Dublin and DelComm is accomplished via a talk-group on the COIRS called FD Alert. Hilliard participates via a portable programmed with the talk-group while the other participants have the talk-group available on their dispatch consoles. Telephone is used as a back-up/alternative coordinating tool. Worthington, Columbus, Delaware County and Westerville o Columbus setup creates issues for wireless callers; fire and EMS wireless calls go to a central Columbus call taking center, they determine if it is for the police department (PD), fire department (FD)/EMS, then transfer to Columbus fire who in turn sends it to a secondary PSAP such as Worthington; no issues with incoming transfers of wireless fire calls from other primary PSAPs. The current collective bargaining agreements cover all dispatch staff but not supervisors at the participating centers. Note only two agreements were provided: Dublin and Upper Arlington. Anecdotal information indicates that all participating cities have similar agreements with the same union. In a consolidated environment a single agreement can be pursued as each agreement expires/comes up for negotiation. Each PSAP performs ancillary and municipal duties beyond emergency call processing. The majority of activities are law enforcement support duties. Additional duties include after-hours call handling for Public Safety, non-public Safety municipal services and court and/or corrections support services. Support services that require staff on site at police headquarters/station will require review to determine where and how services can or will be continued. Consideration needs to be addressed for the PSAP housing the consolidated center(s) ability to continue ancillary/municipal support services with staff responsible for all participating cities/townships. This may be addressed through adjusting cost sharing based on non-emergency activities, to include impact on staffing, technology, training and space needs. Anecdotal information shared indicating the possibility of a future regional municipal court to replace individual mayor s courts. This creates the potential to remove or revise what/how court services are/are not supported by the PSAP(s). Dublin has the only reported backup facility and plan in place. Industry best practices and standards require a continuity of operations plan. Each PSAP has alternate/default routing of calls as coordinated by AT&T, however access to radio channels and accommodating mid- to long-term relocation of staff are not well defined. July 2013 Page 9

14 Optimum scenario will include a short- and long-term plan documented and practiced through exercises. Fallback plan may include short-term location or agreement with a neighboring PSAP of having the capacity to absorb hours to days of re-routed calls and dispatching functions. Long-term location or agreement with a neighboring PSAP having the capacity to absorb or accommodate staff placement for handling weeks to months of re-routed calls and dispatching functions. Varying levels of training provided with Hilliard, Dublin and Upper Arlington providing documentation of formal training programs. Consolidation planning activities will require the development and implementation of a formal training program to administer and implement cross-training for transition to a consolidated operation. o Note that a transitional training program will assist decision makers in determining eligibility of existing staff to determine placement and training needs in a consolidated operation. An established and frequently reviewed and improved training program will be necessary to maintain a successful consolidated operation. Identifying management staff positions necessary to lead/accomplish the following operations transition activities: Perform project management of consolidation planning and transition to include developing and managing master schedule, risk factors, activities/action items log Require identifying project management team lead and members from existing staff where skills sets and availability occur. Identify the need for professional services, determine costs based on effort/retainer or employment costs. For example, may be acquired as a time and materials quote at an hourly rate or a full- or parttime engagement or employment on site. Develop and formalize programs to address selection, eligibility and placement and training/ cross-training of operations staff Standardize operating procedures and protocols Identify additional management and operational staff needed based on call volume and work load Reported PSAPs costs total more than $4.4 million. The range of current costs/budgets reported is from approximately $698,000 to approximately $1.5 million. Factoring in hidden or under reported costs, the range is more likely to be from $900,000 to $1.8 million or higher Facility Based Findings* *Note that adjustments have been made to projections and estimates in Section 6 Facility Requirements that reduces the number of consoles, size of space needed and cost estimates based on direction of committee to focus on consolidation under the City of Dublin thus new construction is not anticipated. Costs to consolidate will include facility(ies) construction/renovation, technology changes, operations transitions costs associated with training and potential addition of management and operational staff and project management. The individual municipal contribution costs will vary for each participant based on chosen operations and technology configuration and funding model. Costs will be determined by decisions made in the following areas: Facility new construction or renovation July 2013 Page 10

15 o L.R. Kimball project trends for new PSAP construction have recently been coming in between $250-$450 per square foot depending on the local cost trends in areas of the country; e.g. construction costs were shrinking in recent years with a noticeable increase within past 6 months. Using the mid-range cost per square feet of $350 a rough order of magnitude (ROM) for new construction is ~$4 million to accommodate all participants in a new facility. This ROM is based on estimated range of 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. This ROM estimation is based on the following calculations - Call volume and work load reported would require approximately 16 consoles staffed 24x7 2. Using an estimated range of 600-1,000 square feet needed per console and all supporting/accompanying space requirements, the total facility would need to be between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet in total. Using this estimation tool, the range of cost for constructing a new facility will be between $3-5 million. A comprehensive budgetary estimate will require a completed engineering study of the proposed site(s) Renovation costs cannot be provided without a completed engineering study of the proposed facility(ies) Technology Based Findings Radio system build out - The agencies served by the four PSAPs all operate on either the COIRS 800 MHz trunked radio system or the City of Columbus 800 MHz trunked radio system for normal dispatch and operations. COIRS is a Motorola P25 compliant digital system that is owned jointly by Delaware County, the City of Worthington and the City of Dublin. These three governmental entities formed a Council of Governments under Ohio law to share the ownership and operation of the system. COIRS consists of two simulcast cells one in Delaware County that serves Delaware County users and the Worthington/Dublin cell in Franklin County. The Worthington/Dublin sub-system is a three-site, seven-channel simulcast cell. The Delaware County sub-system is a six-site, seven-channel simulcast cell. The two sub-systems share the master site located in Delaware County. The sites in the Worthington/Dublin cell are located at: o 7697 Avery Road, Worthington o 6199 Huntley Road, Dublin o 4000 Hard Road, Columbus These sites are linked by leased lines to the Dublin Police dispatch center located in the Dublin Justice Center. From the Dublin dispatch center, the trunked radio sites and the Worthington and Dublin consoles are linked to the master site at the Delaware County Fairground through a series of data 2 L.R.Kimball staffing tools consist of Erlang-C calculator for 911 calls; NENA Staffing Tool, APCO RETAINS and L.R. Kimball staff experience for determining total center staff needs. July 2013 Page 11

16 network links. The system uses the City s DubLink private fiber from the dispatch center to a point of presence (POP) located at the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Building in Dublin. From there, the link uses a fiber-optic backbone known as Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARNet) provided by the Ohio Board of Regents Technology consortium. The OARNet is used to the POP located on the American Electric Power (AEP) property located at Liberty Road and Slack Roads in Delaware. From this POP, the link uses Delaware County s fiber network to run to the Delaware County center on Court Street in Delaware. From Court Street, the link uses another Delaware County fiber strand to the radio system master site at the Delaware County Fairgrounds. The OARNet routers are located at OCLC and the fairgrounds to monitor the entire length of the circuit as Delaware County also uses OARNet to purchase Internet service. This configuration gives the OARNet Network Operations Center (NOC) the ability to monitor it end-to-end. The three sites in Worthington and Dublin provide a high level of in-building portable coverage for users in the two cities. The following Public Safety services in Franklin County operate on COIRS for normal dispatch: o Worthington Fire/EMS o Worthington Police o Dublin Police o Washington Township Fire/EMS (provides fire and emergency medical services to City of Dublin, as well as Washington Township) o Sharon Township Police (dispatched by Worthington Police) o o Perry Township Police (dispatched by Worthington Police) The Washington Township Fire Department, Sharon Township Police and Perry Township Police are not charged user fees to operate on COIRS. They are on COIRS by virtue of being dispatched by a COIRS member dispatch center (Dublin or Worthington). Dublin or Worthington can charge these agencies. Dublin has elected to add an additional $13,000 to Washington Township s dispatching services contract for the use of COIRS. The City of Columbus radio system is an 800 MHz analog Motorola SmartZone trunked system that is used by many local Public Safety agencies in Franklin County, as well as the Franklin County Sheriff s Department. The Columbus system consists of a 6-site, 28-channel simulcast system. The system is owned by the City of Columbus and administered with advisory oversight by the Central Ohio Communications Advisory Committee. Site locations are: 30 E. Broad Street, Columbus (State Office Building) 4250 Morse Road, Columbus (Morse Road at Cherry Bottom Road) 2929 Riverside Drive, Columbus (Griggs Dam) 5600 Parsons Avenue, Lockbourne (behind Scioto Downs) 4250 Groves Road, Columbus 444 Lazelle Road, Columbus, Delaware County (Columbus Fire Station 33, adjacent to Polaris Mall) The Public Safety services of Hilliard, Norwich Township and Upper Arlington are on the Columbus system. These include the following: o o Upper Arlington Fire/EMS Upper Arlington Police July 2013 Page 12

17 o Hilliard Police o Norwich Township Fire/EMS (provides fire and emergency medical services to the City of Hilliard, Norwich Township and Brown Township) o These agencies pay the City of Columbus usage fees to operate on the system. The following are the approximate annual fees paid by the agencies: Upper Arlington Police and Fire/EMS $23,000 Hilliard Police $10,000 Norwich Township Fire/EMS $10,000 o The Columbus system was not designed to provide a specific level of in-building portable coverage for the participating suburban agencies. In-building coverage depends on the proximity of the building to an existing tower. None of the agencies use Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems for paging or mobile data. Agencies run various data applications on mobile data computers using commercial broadband services. o The City of Dublin operates 24 outdoor warning sirens within the City of Dublin and Washington Township. These are in addition to the Franklin County Outdoor Warning Siren System. Dublin s warning sirens are activated from the police dispatch center using a Motorola CDM1250 mobile radio on a very high frequency (VHF) radio channel ( MHz). The antenna for this radio is mounted on a 65 foot tower at the Dublin Justice Center. There are several other radio systems used by Public Safety agencies in Franklin County. These include the State of Ohio s MARCS, the Grove City 800 MHz trunked system, the Ohio State University s 800 MHz trunked system, Grandview Heights 800 MHz conventional system, and the Reynoldsburg Police conventional ultra high frequency (UHF) system. Usage of these systems includes the following: o Bexley Police MARCS o Gahanna Police MARCS o Grandview Heights Police -- conventional 800 MHz local system o Grove City Police / Jackson Twp Fire / Pleasant Twp Fire -- Grove City 800 MHz trunked system o New Albany Police MARCS o Ohio State University Police -- Ohio State University 800 MHz trunked system o Reynoldsburg Police -- Conventional 450/460 MHz local system o Whitehall Police -- MARCS MARCS is currently being upgraded from the Motorola proprietary digital platform to the Project 25 (P25) technology called MARCSIP. In most cases, agencies can program talkgroups from other systems in their mobiles and portables. The primary limitation is that older mobiles and portables cannot be programmed to operate on the P25 systems. Because nearly all Public Safety agencies in Franklin County operate on one of the 800 MHz radio systems, there is a high level of interoperability in the county. In most cases, agencies can program talkgroups from other systems in their mobiles and portables. Dispatch centers can also have control stations (consolettes or AC-powered mobile radios) on other systems interfaced to their dispatch consoles. This permits patching of the talkgroups on different systems through the dispatch consoles. In some cases, neighboring systems are programmed into desktop consolettes or AC-powered mobile radios that are not connected to the dispatch consoles. While this permits the dispatcher to monitor and talk on other systems, the talkgroups/channels in these radios cannot be patched with talkgroups/channels in the console. July 2013 Page 13

18 Only Worthington and Dublin have radios from the other systems interfaced to their consoles. Both trunked systems have talkgroups named Law Enforcement Emergency Radio Network (LEERN) which are patched to VHF radios on MHz, the Ohio statewide LEERN channel. Each dispatch center in the county has a control station provided by Franklin County Emergency Management to monitor the METRO ALERT talkgroup on the Columbus system. They each also have access to HS4 (Homeland Security) radio. Dublin and Worthington have this channel programmed in their dispatch consoles. HS4 is a radio provided by Homeland Security for all dispatch agencies and Emergency Operations Center s (EOC s) in Ohio Homeland Security Region #4 and utilizes a talk-group on the MARCS legacy system. The City of Upper Arlington has expressed no immediate interest in moving from the Columbus trunked radio system. Upper Arlington has primary coverage from a Columbus tower site located at 2929 Riverside Drive on the west side of the city. It is anticipated that if Upper Arlington joined COIRS, the City would have to identify and/or construct another tower site to meet coverage needs. Upper Arlington is generally satisfied with the radio coverage provided by the Columbus radio system. There are in-building coverage problems with the system. Bi-directional amplification systems have been installed in the City Hall and one new fire station to enhance in-building coverage. The City s building code requires in-building amplification in newly constructed buildings as necessary to ensure adequate in-building coverage. o The Columbus system will have to be upgraded in the near future. The technology is at end-of-life and the support for the system is being phased out. It is generally understood that the Columbus system will be upgraded to the P25 digital standard. Exactly when this will occur is unknown. It is not clear whether the Columbus system will be upgraded by Motorola or another vendor or whether the system will be enhanced to provide better coverage to the participating municipalities. It is also unknown whether this will result in an increase in the user fees. o The P25 standard ensures that mobiles/portables can be programmed to operate on each P25 system. P25 systems can be interconnected using the Inter radio frequency [RF] Sub-system Interface (ISSI). This allows properly provisioned talkgroups to operate on each connected system. Although ISSI allows seamless roaming onto other systems with console connectivity supported, most interoperability needs can be supported by cross-programming subscriber equipment to operate on each P25 system. o When the Columbus system is upgraded to a P25 system, the existing Gold Elite radio consoles used by the Upper Arlington Police should be replaced. It is unknown whether continued use of Gold Elite consoles would be supported through the use of the Motorola Gold Elite Gateway (MGEG). The MGEG is an interface which allows the circuit-based Gold Elite console system to access and control a packet-switch-based trunking system as necessary in an Internet Protocol (IP) environment of a P25 system. The estimated cost of replacing the three existing consoles with IP-based consoles is approximately $75,000-$80,000 per console position, plus possible additional costs for logging/recorder upgrades or interfaces. o The City of Upper Arlington can also contract with the State of Ohio s MARCS for a rate of $20 per radio per month which would increase their annual subscriber costs to approximately $40,000 per year. The implications of moving from the Columbus system to MARCS are not entirely clear. There is a MARCS tower located at 2474 North Star Road which should provide good coverage to the city. The City would want to compare in-building coverage between the Columbus system and MARCS. In addition to coverage consideration, the implications for interoperability with the City of July 2013 Page 14

19 o o Columbus should also be assessed. Upper Arlington is nearly surrounded by the City of Columbus. To have direct console connectivity into the MARCS network, Upper Arlington would have to purchase new radio consoles. If Upper Arlington elected to move to MARCS, a consolidated dispatch center would probably use consolettes/control stations connected to the consoles to MARCS. Based on the location of the Columbus tower sites, it appears that the City of Hilliard and the Norwich Township Fire Department also get primary coverage from the Columbus site on Riverside Drive, southeast of the city. The Norwich Township Fire Department reported in-building coverage problems in the western part of the township. The fire department installed two vehicular repeaters to provide on scene in-building coverage. The City of Hilliard has a tentative plan to become a member of COIRS and add a COIRS tower site in the Hilliard. It is not within the scope of this project for L.R. Kimball to assess the proposed design. However, a COIRS tower in Hilliard should provide good in-building coverage to the city and enhanced coverage in the township. Dublin and Worthington are members of COIRS and have made substantial investments in the constructing the COIRS infrastructure. Central Ohio Interoperable Communications System meets the needs of the two municipalities and their contracted agencies. It is unlikely that either of these two cities will move to any different radio system(s) in the foreseeable future. All of the existing dispatch centers use Motorola Gold Elite radio consoles connected directly to the master site/controller of their respective primary radio systems. The Hilliard and Upper Arlington consoles are connected by T1 lines to the Columbus City system s central controller. The Worthington consoles connect to the Dublin dispatch center. From the Dublin center the consoles are connected to the master site at the Delaware County Fairgrounds as previously described. The Gold Elite consoles are circuit based consoles as opposed to the newer IP-based consoles. Because the P25 system is an IP-based system, the existing Worthington and Dublin consoles must be interfaced with the master site through the use of the MGEG interface. o The radio equipment and console configurations at the existing centers are as follows: Dublin Five Motorola Gold Elite consoles Programmed for required talkgroups on COIRS Interfaced with backroom VHF and 800 MHz control stations to access MARCS; Columbus system talkgroups including 10 FIRE (Columbus fire dispatch talkgroup), Norwich Township Fire, and METRO ALERT; and several conventional channels including an I-CALL repeater. 800 MHz control station at each dispatch workstation to access talkgroups on other systems and to be used for back-up in the event of console system failure Handheld radio at each dispatch workstation for back-up Worthington Three Motorola Gold Elite consoles Can access any talkgroup in the COIRS Interfaced with control stations on the Columbus system for 10 FIRE (Columbus fire dispatch talkgroup) and METRO ALERT 800 MHz control station in dispatch center Upper Arlington Three Motorola Gold Elite consoles July 2013 Page 15

20 Programmed for required talkgroups on Columbus system Two Motorola MCS 2000 backroom control stations with mobile control heads mounted at two console positions for back-up One E.F. Johnson control station on the Columbus system for the METRO ALERT talkgroup Hilliard Three Motorola Gold Elite consoles Control station and portable in dispatch center for back-up One E. F. Johnson control station on the Columbus system for the METRO ALERT talkgroup The optimal console to connect with a Motorola P25 system is the newer MCC 7500 IP-based console. The Worthington and Dublin dispatch centers plan to upgrade to MCC 7500 consoles in o It is anticipated that the Gold Elite consoles on the Columbus system will be replaced when the Columbus system is transitioned to a P25 system. If the P25 system upgrade is provided by Motorola, the replacement consoles for Upper Arlington and Hilliard will be the MCC 7500 consoles. The estimated cost of replacing the three existing consoles with IP-based consoles is approximately $75,000-$80,000 per console, plus additional costs for logging/recorder upgrades or interfaces. If the Hilliard Police continued to maintain their dispatch center with three radio consoles, they will face similar console upgrade costs. Since all agencies that are dispatched by the four centers are on one of two 800 MHz trunked radio systems, providing radio dispatching capabilities to a consolidated dispatch center would require having radio consoles that access one or both of these systems. o o o Dispatch radio consoles can access base stations and repeater stations by having direct connectivity to the sites (microwave, fiber or wireline). In a trunked radio system, direct console connectivity is through the radio system s controller or master site. This is the preferred method of accessing a trunked radio system because it provides the dispatch operation with numerous advance system control features. Currently each of the dispatch centers access their radio systems by direct connectivity to the system controller. This is typically accomplished through a T1 wireline connection but can also be achieved over a fiber-optic network or microwave. An alternative method of providing console access to a conventional repeater station or to a trunked radio system is through the use of a radio at the dispatch center. This is referred to as wireless access. These radios are typically desktop consolettes radios or AC power mobile radios called control stations. Consolettes/control stations operate on the systems in the same manner as mobile and portables on the system. When consolettes/control stations are interfaced with a console, the radios are typically physically located in an equipment room and use an antenna mounted outside the building. Consolettes/control stations do not have to be interfaced with the consoles. Desktop consolettes/control stations are often installed at each console position to provide a back-up radio to be used in the event of a console system failure. A consolidated dispatch center serving all four of the existing jurisdictions would have to access one of the systems (probably the Columbus system) using wireless console access. The use of a wireless console access has disadvantages. The following is a list of limitations when using wireless access compared to direct wireline access through a console to a repeater or P25 trunked system: July 2013 Page 16

21 o o o o o o o o o o o o o Using the existing Gold Elite consoles with control stations, there is a push-to-talk (PTT) delay using an analog trunked system such as the Columbus system. It is not clear whether this delay would be encountered on a P25 system with consolettes and an IP-based console that provides full control head functionality. No Console Priority - Wireline dispatch consoles typically have a higher priority than other users on the radio system and can take over a talkgroup from a radio. Wireless dispatch consoles may not be able to do this depending on the priority of the consolette being used by the dispatch console. No Regrouping - Wireline dispatch consoles typically use the trunking system's Regrouping (aka: talkgroup merge) feature during patches, multi-select transmits and All Points Bulletin (APB) transmits to minimize the number of RF channels used. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot use the Regrouping feature, so they will use more RF channels for patches, multi-select transmits and APB transmits. No Repeat Control - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to turn the Repeat function on and off for a conventional repeater. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Tactical/Normal Control - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to change between normal and tactical access priority (typically Priority Level 2, just below the Emergency level) for a particular talkgroup. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Radio Status Display - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to display Radio Status information from radios. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Radio Status Request - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to request Radio Status information from radios. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Call Alert Initiation - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to initiate Call Alerts to specific radios. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Private Call Initiation - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to initiate Private Calls to individual radios. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Emergency Call Initiation - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to initiate Emergency Calls on talkgroups. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Remote Monitor - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to initiate a Remote Monitor session on an individual radio. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Guaranteed Reception of Emergency Alarms - Wireline dispatch consoles are guaranteed to receive Emergency Alarms from radio units. Wireless dispatch consoles may miss Emergency Alarms if the consolette being used by the dispatch console only has one receiver and it is listening to audio on a talkgroup. Blocked Audio during Console Takeover - Wireline dispatch consoles can still hear a radio's audio when a dispatch console has taken over the talkgroup from the radio. A radio does not know when a dispatch console takes over a talkgroup because it is busy transmitting and not listening to the July 2013 Page 17

22 o o o o o control channel. During a console takeover, the trunking system continues to pass the radio's transmit audio on to the wireline dispatch consoles, but does not repeat it out to the other members of the talkgroup. Since the radio's audio is not repeated, the wireless dispatch consoles do not hear the radio. (In fact, if there are no wireline dispatch consoles on the system, no one will hear that radio.) No Trunked System Operational Status - Wireline dispatch consoles can display the operational status of the trunked radio system on the dispatch Graphical User Interface (GUI). Wireless dispatch consoles do not know the operational status of the trunked radio system and thus cannot display it on their GUI. Distorted Alert Tones and Channel Marker Tones - Digital radio systems using the Improved Multi-Band Excitation (IMBE) or Advanced Multi-Band Excitation (AMBE) vocoders tend to distort tones that are sent through them. The distortion can be severe enough that the tones are difficult to hear or recognize. Wireline dispatch consoles use special IMBE/AMBE vocoder vectors to send Alert Tones and Channel Marker tones on digital radio systems. This allows the receiving radios to accurately recreate the tones in their speakers. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot use these special vectors because the consolette does not support them. One Consolette required for each Talkgroup - Wireline dispatch consoles do not require any consolettes to interface to the trunked radio system. Wireless dispatch consoles require one consolette for each trunked talkgroup that is being simultaneously monitored. For example, a dispatch console that is monitoring five talkgroups simultaneously requires five consolettes along with the necessary RF distribution equipment (antennas, cables, combiners, etc.) Consoles Consume RF Capacity - Wireline dispatch consoles do not require an RF channel to get their transmit audio to the RF sites. Wireless dispatch consoles do require an RF channel to get their transmit audio to the RF sites. If a wireless dispatch console is transmitting on a talkgroup that has no members located at the RF site the dispatch console is using, then the wireless dispatch console is consuming an RF channel that would not be used if wireline dispatch consoles were used instead. Possibility of RF Interference - Wireless dispatch consoles are susceptible to any type of RF interference that affects a radio's ability to talk and listen on the trunking system. Wireline dispatch consoles are not susceptible to such RF interference. Although this list of disadvantages may appear extensive, wireless console access to repeaters and trunked radio systems is used widely. This is most commonly done to avoid the cost of leased telephone lines. It is also done where accessing the system infrastructure is not practical. o There are several workarounds to these problems. When the Columbus system is upgraded to the P25 standard and assuming it remains a Motorola system, wireless console access using the MCC 7500 consoles with the Extended Dispatch Option and the APX 7500 consolettes interfaced with the console can provide the following console features: Decode Functionality Emergency Alarm - a subscriber unit can send an emergency alarm over-the-air at any time. Status Update - a subscriber unit can send a status update over-the-air at any time. Message Update - a subscriber unit can send a message update over-the-air at any time. Encode Functionality July 2013 Page 18

23 Status Request - allows the console user the ability to remotely determine a specific subscriber s status. Radio Enable/Disable - allows the console user the ability to make unusable (Inhibit) a specific subscriber and correspondingly restore a unit to normal operation (Un-Inhibit). Radio Check - allows the console user the ability to remotely ping a specific subscriber. Remote Monitor - allows console user the ability to remotely put a specific subscriber into transmit mode. Emergency Alarm ACK - The corresponding acknowledge (ACK) from the console is transmitted by the consolette over-the-air back to the specified subscriber on conventional channels only. While this does not eliminate all of the disadvantages of wireless console access, the use of Motorola APX 7500 consolettes with the MCC 7500 consoles appears to provide increased console functionality. This configuration allows the console to have full control head functionality of the consolette that also allows the console to pass the permit to talk tones to the dispatcher s speaker/headset which isn t possible in the current configuration. L.R. Kimball recommends that these issues be reviewed with Motorola to confirm options and alternatives for the use of wireless console access to a P25 trunked system. One potential short term solution to the problem of using wireless console access to connect a Gold Elite console to a trunked radio system is a product developed by the Genesis Group called GE nsac3. This technology permits the Gold Elite consoles to display unit identifications (IDs) and emergency calls without going through the system s audio routing switch. This would only be a solution until the Gold Elite consoles are replaced. If the four centers were consolidated today, dispatchers would require two radio consoles at each position to maintain the same functional capabilities as they currently have. In addition to cost and inconvenience, maintaining two dispatch consoles would present potential technical limitations and problems (e.g., inability to cross mute if same talkgroup was activated on both consoles and an inability to patch between systems). The more likely solution would be to have full console functionality on one of the systems for two of the cities and rely on control stations access to the other radio system for the other two cities. The Technical Services Director of the Dublin Police Communications Center has already developed a tentative plan to dispatch Hilliard Police and Norwich Township Fire Department using control stations interfaced to the existing Motorola Gold Elite consoles. The manager recognizes the limitations of wireless console access and expressed concerns about these limitations. Any of the four existing centers could have console upgrades and modifications to support dispatch operations for all of the existing Public Safety agencies served. Of the four centers, the Dublin Police dispatch center is clearly the best equipped today and would require the least modifications. o A totally new facility, of course, would require all new radio consoles connected to one of the two trunked systems. The estimated cost per console position would be $75,000-$80,000. If such a facility were constructed today, the consoles would have to be MCC 7500 consoles interfaced with COIRS since the Columbus system cannot as a practical matter interface with IP-based consoles today. Each monitored talkgroup on the Columbus system or MARCS would require a separate July 2013 Page 19

24 consolette/control station. Logging/recorders capable of interfacing with COIRS would be required to record the talkgroups. o If a new location was selected for a consolidated dispatch center, connectivity to the COIRS network would be required either by leased T1 lines, fiber or microwave. o When considering all of the existing factors, the Dublin Police dispatch center provides the most effective technological solutions and the least expensive solutions for accessing the existing radio systems. One operational issue that was reported during the study was the use of the different radio codes by the various police departments. The Upper Arlington Police, Worthington Police, Sharon Township Police, and Perry Township Police use the Columbus Police codes. The Hilliard Police use their own code set that mirrors in some ways both the Columbus codes and the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association (BSSA) codes. The Dublin Police use BSSA codes with several additions/modifications. In a consolidated dispatch center, it would be necessary that dispatchers only use one set of police radio codes or all agencies convert to plain speech maintaining a limited list of standard codes. Single CAD system selection, procurement/upgrade, data conversion decisions; impact on RMS and other interfaced modules Dublin has current off site CAD server backup/system redundancy. Note that Upper Arlington is working on establishing a backup off site CAD server. o In a consolidated center(s) a single CAD system would optimize the data interoperability and provide appropriate features and functions in support of diverse response agencies. o A single CAD supporting interfaced records systems and other existing or future applications such as Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), mobiles, remote resource monitoring and crime analysis. o Dublin has only reported station alerting interface to CAD. Each of the subject PSAPs utilizes CAD and RMS to augment their dispatching and Public Safety operations. The systems in use are different at each agency and in each instance; the CAD and RMS are provided by the same vendor. o In a dispatch center consolidation, there is not inherently a reason to have all participating agencies utilize the same RMS, since RMS is predominantly a tool for law enforcement, fire suppression or EMS personnel. However, if a common RMS solution is not used by all agencies, there will be a requirement to develop interfaces between the common, single CAD system and the disparate RMS systems in use. The primary and initial means by which RMS records get created and populated is through data transfer from CAD. If the CAD and RMS were not designed to work in tandem, data fields, field length, various conventions for incident types and many other elements will differ. One or both vendors will need to develop translations for these items, and considerable room for error or data corruption will exist. Additionally, when dispatchers need to access RMS data, they will need to receive training and develop familiarity with multiple RMS systems, often with greatly varying interfaces and operations. o As a practical matter, having a common RMS provides much more seamless operation for all involved. This approach also allows for data sharing among agencies, which, particularly for law enforcement, provides greatly enhanced investigative capabilities. This can be a significant undertaking from the perspective of developing protocol and businesses rules for which data elements will be visible to other agencies; however, dividends are paid immediately. All such rules must be consistent among agencies or the integrity of any searches will be compromised. Generally, the fewer restrictions on data access by outside agencies the better; however, certain July 2013 Page 20

25 o o o o o items which may include juvenile records, which certainly includes internal affairs/professional standards information and perhaps certain sensitive intelligence records may be best left secured. While the potential benefits of law enforcement data sharing through a common RMS are great, advance planning and establishment of business rules should take place before embarking on this undertaking. These decisions must be made up front. When adopting a single CAD and RMS system, whether through adopting one of the systems currently in existence or through procuring a completely new system, the issue of legacy data must be addressed. Unfortunately, there is not a clean solution to dealing with the legacy data from previous systems. Clearly, if the current system(s) of a participating agency is used for all the consolidated agencies, the legacy data for that agency is retained (while the other agencies data is not.) Legacy data is valuable for many reasons. For CAD, legacy data shows incident histories for given addresses, and premise history records denote warnings valuable to Public Safety personnel for specific locations. Commonplace names or landmarks that have been built represent many hours of work. For RMS, legacy data can be even more important, with data collected regarding individuals, addresses, property, known associations, gang affiliations and much more. The quandary is what to do with and about that legacy data. Several options exist, none of which are optimal: Maintain the new and old systems for some period of time Attempt data conversion Ignore legacy data and start anew Maintaining two systems has obvious issues. The legacy server and database must be maintained, causing an expenditure of time and money. The hardware will continue to consume space and power. Depending on the system configuration, separate, additional user terminals may need to be maintained. Everyone who needs to access either system will need to be familiar with both the old and new systems. Security and passwords will need to be maintained on both systems. There will be a cut-off date that separates the two systems, and many searches will involve separate searches in both systems (which may include using different conventions or syntax). The advantage is that all data will be accessible. Costs will not necessarily be tremendously high, but they will be redundant between the two systems. Risk level is low but so is the convenience level. Data conversion is, in theory, the most desirable option. Realistically, however, it generally falls short. Costs can be very significant and are often underestimated. The success level will never reach 100 percent. Data conversion involves taking the entire legacy database and attempting to convert it to the format utilized by the new system, and importing that converted data into the database of the new system. Data conversion presents many challenges. This will range from differing field lengths for a given data element (e.g. old system allows 12 characters for the last name field, new system allows for 11(e.g. how are legacy 12 character last names handled?) to conventions used for street name suffixes and everything in between. Inconsistent entries in the legacy data set will likely fall out as exceptions. Data conversion is a massively time consuming and often manual process that is costly and will fall short of perfect. How far short will not be known until the process is complete. Even then, there is no meaningful way to know what data has failed to convert. Even though vendors that agree to attempt data conversion and not all are July 2013 Page 21

26 o o willing to undertake this task will quote a high cost to cover their risk, additional, unanticipated costs will usually arise. Ignoring legacy data and starting fresh is unquestionably the least expensive option. The downside, of course, is that the large amount of useful, if not vital, data collected over the years the previous system had been in existence, is no longer readily available. As a practical matter, to comply with the public records act and operational needs, the data will need to be retained and at least one terminal must be available to access the legacy data when needed, but it will not be readily available to all users. Despite these significant limitations, many agencies are choosing to make this clean break and start anew, favoring the simplicity and cost savings. The CAD and RMS systems currently in use in the area include a SunGard/HTE system first installed in 1998 and last updated in 2011, two TriTech systems installed in the early 2000s but with recent software updates and a CMI Authority Safety system that is primarily geared toward smaller agencies first installed in 1993 and no longer supported by the vendor. Each system has advantages and disadvantages or risks. The SunGard/HTE system has redundancy in an off-site data center that requires manual switchover; one TriTech and the CMI system have no redundancy capability at all. Upper Arlington TriTech s system is going to be upgraded to have redundancy in the near future. The TriTech and SunGard systems are relatively robust and sophisticated systems capable of being configured to handle multiple jurisdictions and disciplines. CMI systems are geared toward smaller agencies with typically less demanding requirements. Dublin Capabilities SunGard/HTE CAD system initially installed in 1998 with the latest software update installed in 2011, version This system includes AVL, but does not include Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) capabilities. Computer Aided Dispatch does not convert incident addresses to latitude/longitude X/Y coordinates. Mapping is the GTG GeoBlade product, installed in 2011 and updated in 2012; this mapping is integrated with via the CAD system. The CAD map displays the X/Y coordinates when the automatic address location information (ALI) dump occurs. The RMS is SunGard/HTE Crimes version installed in 1998, and last updated in The RMS does not have provisions for Fire or EMS records. SunGard/HTE also is the mobile data vendor for Dublin and was installed in 2002 and updated in The system provides for police, fire and EMS functionality. Hilliard Capabilities Hilliard s CAD system is from CMI, and is a text based system installed in This version is no longer supported by the vendor, and updates are no longer available. It does support multi-discipline dispatch. EMD is not supported. Mapping is provided by DOTI; installed in 2010, mapping is integrated with CAD. Law enforcement RMS is also provided by CMI and was installed in No Fire or EMS records capabilities are provided. CMI Authority is the mobile data software in use at Hilliard, and supports police, fire and EMS operations. The system is limited to 14 concurrent users. Upper Arlington Capabilities Upper Arlington utilizes a TriTech CAD system, version 3.5, installed in 2000 and updated in the fourth quarter of This is a full featured system; EMD is supported as are Fire and RMS records. Digital and alphanumeric paging, Teletype/Telecommunication Device July 2013 Page 22

27 o for the Deaf (TTY/TDD), tone alerting and mobile mapping are all supported. GeoComm Geolynx mapping is integrated with CAD. The RMS is TriTech s Vision; and supports police, fire and EMS. This system was also installed in 2000; the date of the latest software update on the law enforcement is unknown; the Fire/EMS RMS was last updated in the fourth quarter of Mobile data is provided by TriTech as well, also installed in 2000 and updated in the fourth quarter of Police, Fire and EMS are all supported. Worthington Capabilities Worthington also utilizes a TriTech system, version 3.6.2, installed in 2002 and updated in March Like Upper Arlington s system, Worthington s system is full featured (although without TTY/TDD capability). Mapping is integrated with CAD and also comes from GeoComm s Geolynx. The RMS system in use at Worthington is also from TriTech, installed in 2003 and updated in March This system supports police, fire, and EMS operations. Mobile data in Worthington is provided by TriTech as well, was installed in 2003 and updated in March, The system supports police, fire and EMS usage and includes mobile mapping. Any consideration of utilizing one of these CAD and RMS systems to serve in a consolidated operation must include an assessment of hardware currency, storage requirements and must include acquiring redundancy with as automated a failover process as can be achieved. The costs to enhance and expand any existing CAD and RMS system should be evaluated against the expense of acquiring a new system that is designed for consolidated, multi-jurisdictional, multi-discipline operation from the onset. Upgrade/replace telephone system, addition of trunks and reconfiguration of network to accommodate participating municipalities As with CAD, different CPE solutions are in use within the involved agencies. Two agencies utilize Positron LifeLine 100 systems, and two utilize Cassidian (Plant) Vesta systems. All systems are relatively aged except for Dublin s Vesta Pallas system implemented in The other systems were implemented in the years Support for some of these older systems is likely to dwindle from the local telephone company and the original manufacturer. For a single PSAP handling the call volume of the combined agency, it is not recommended that any existing PSAP equipment, other than the recent Vesta Pallas system be considered. Depending on funding sources and availability, and host PSAP selected, acquisition of new CPE would be advisable. Upgrade/replace logging system to accommodate the larger footprint of telephone and radio voice, as well as data components anticipated or planned for in support of IP-based (Next Generation [NG9-1-1]) communications such as text, photos, video, automatic crash notification (ACN). As with other equipment, there are a variety of logging recorders in use among the concerned agencies; one from Cistera, two from CyberTech Myracle and one from DSS. The CyberTech Myracle, used by Hilliard (installed 2009, 30 of 42 available channels in use) and Upper Arlington (installed 2012, 25 of 25 available channels in use) is limited to a maximum of 64 recording channels and may be insufficient for a consolidated center. Existing configurations clearly do not have sufficient capacity for a consolidated center. The DSS Viewpoint logger at Worthington (installed 2005, 38 of 40 available channels in use); has insufficient capacity available to accommodate the consolidated center. The July 2013 Page 23

28 Cistera system, used by Dublin, has 200 channel capacity of which 110 are currently in use. The remaining 90 channels may be sufficient to accommodate the requirements of a consolidated center. Expansion may be available for the CyberTech or DSS systems; however, the Cistera system has the greatest available capacity for use in a consolidation environment. The Cistera system also allows access from anywhere on the host network with appropriate security credentials. Master Clock Hilliard reported no master clock for synchronizing automated systems. This may cause inconsistent reporting of times for response, on scene, transports and clearing of calls for service. Consolidation Assessment and Interview Results An analysis by L.R. Kimball of the completed data collection surveys, interviews and meeting notes shows that from an operational perspective, consolidating the four city PSAPs of Upper Arlington, Worthington, Hilliard and Dublin is both feasible and practical. During the week of February 4 8, 2013 L.R. Kimball conducted multiple interviews of key stakeholders, dispatchers and response staff. The collective results indicate a desire to further explore consolidation tempered with concerns over cost and control/operational input. L.R. Kimball and Study participant representatives reviewed the findings at a meeting on May 15, The group agreed that the most practical method of consolidation will be to merge all call taking and dispatch functions into the Dublin operation. In this meeting and in previous interviews, the majority of stakeholders expressed the desire to be able to support emergency communications within their own operations in the same manner as the City of Dublin. Specifically citing the differences between how the operations are managed compared to Dublin. While all four PSAPs are operated by the cities individual police departments, the management for the Upper Arlington, Hilliard and Worthington PSAPs is provided by assigned/rotated sworn personnel without significant administrative support and in some cases limited, non-existent or informal programs. The City of Dublin has a permanently assigned civilian led bureau providing emergency communications under the support of a comprehensive administrative support staff that includes a sophisticated technical staff and formal programs such as training and quality assurance. L.R. Kimball s analysis has also determined that from a technical perspective a consolidation is feasible and may be a practical step. The automated systems that support emergency communications such as CAD, CPE/9-1-1 telephone, loggers and external systems such as RMS, should not pose a roadblock to consolidation regardless of the decisions about which system(s) to upgrade or replace in support of consolidation. It would be practical to select existing systems for upgrade/expansion, and those systems in use at Dublin are capable of expansion in support of the multi-agency/multi-jurisdictional operation of consolidated center. Section 2 Radio Systems describes the current radio systems in use and offers solutions for accommodating the radio system needs of all response agencies within a consolidated center. As noted earlier, one of the common concerns voiced in the key stakeholder interviews is the cost to the participants. While costs can be projected for tangible items or activities, they cannot be projected for non-tangible concepts and transitional processes. It is critical that decision makers understand that projected future costs cannot be aligned with and should not be directly compared to current costs. This is because current separate operations are far different from what the future consolidated operation will be. L.R. Kimball cautions decision makers that while the act of consolidating incurs capital and transitional costs, the resulting consolidated operation will result in immediate cost efficiencies and eventual costs savings through reducing the number of PSAPs, systems and networks, and in some July 2013 Page 24

29 cases staff. L.R. Kimball s industry experience indicates that the success of consolidation public policy initiatives is derived from a commitment to the belief that consolidation is the right thing to do for citizens and response agencies. When a consolidation decision is based solely on cost and/or desired cost savings these public policy initiatives fail. The issue of control was voiced by the impacted agency heads; law enforcement more so than fire. Both law enforcement and fire/ems agencies rely heavily on the dispatch staff to process and dispatch calls for service. In the Study participant PSAPs, there is a greater level of support being provided for the parent police agencies. This is quite typical and can become a roadblock to transitioning dispatching functions to another source. What is important for decisions makers to know is that the majority of the work performed by dispatch staff is police centric and not directly related to answering calls and dispatching units. The call taking and dispatching functions could be removed from these police departments; however, much of the staff will most likely still be needed to continue performing clerical, records and other support functions. Decisions on what tasks/duties stay at a police department and which tasks/duties and staff should be transitioned to a consolidated center will impact costs. A communication center could perform just about any task/duty desired IF it is organizationally and physically built to handle them. Therefore each city police department must identify which tasks/duties must remain within their department and physical location, and which tasks/duties can transition to a consolidated dedicated emergency communications center. For this Study L.R. Kimball will make assumptions based on surveys, interviews and experience with the understanding that during the planning process there will be changes and decisions made that will alter the cost projections post study. Findings, Requirements and Recommendations for Proceeding with a Consolidation among the participating municipalities addressing all of the RFP Study Requirements Service Level Expectations, Requirements, and Operational Methodology Currently, wireline emergency calls originating within the geographical boundaries of each City are routed to the individual city PSAPs. The wireless calls are answered by the primary wireless PSAPs and based on the location of the caller/call for service. The call is then transferred to the appropriate wireline PSAP. Call transfers are necessary to complete a multi-agency response, particularly for wireless calls. The querying of a caller more than once wastes valuable time and is a cause for caller confusion and frustration. Transferring an emergency call is contrary to Public Safety best practices where the call taker originally receiving the call should remain in communication with the caller. Call transfers create additional points of failure, such as the phone network, the disparate systems and equipment, the possibility of the receiving agency being busy and human error. This call processing methodology is not only detrimental to the caller, but to responders. In some instances the emergency responder s safety is at risk, and time is of the essence for both the responders and the public they serve. Each law enforcement and fire/ems agency has a duty to respond in a timely manner based upon the nature of the emergency and the requirements of certifying and assessing organizations such as Commission on Accreditation for Law July 2013 Page 25

30 Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), Insurance Services Office (ISO), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) 3. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) , Call Answering Standard, states Ninety percent (90 percent) of all calls arriving at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) shall be answered within ten seconds during the busy hour (the hour each day with the greatest call volume, as defined in the NENA Master Glossary ). Ninety-five (95 percent) of all calls should be answered within twenty (20) seconds. According to NFPA 1221, Section 7 states Ninety-five percent of alarms 4 received on emergency lines shall be answered within 15 seconds, and 99 percent of alarms shall be answered within 40 seconds and Ninety percent of emergency alarm processing shall be completed within 60 seconds, and 99 percent of alarm processing shall be completed within 90 seconds. Law enforcement call processing and dispatching is not addressed by NFPA. Crimes in progress or medical calls may require the call taker to be on line with the caller longer than 90 seconds. This is especially true in situations where the call taker is providing EMD pre-arrival instructions. The key to this standard, as it would be to any response standard, is to dispatch units in a timely and efficient manner. The recommended operational methodology in a consolidated PSAP is a combined duty floor operation staffed by multiple levels of cross-trained staff. L.R. Kimball recommends a call processing flow that facilitates appropriate and free interaction and coordination among disciplines. To generate an effective call processing flow, the operational floor arrangement must allow open communications and supervision. A combined duty floor operation begins with establishing areas of concentrated activity, which serves several purposes: Similar and dependent services are managed in and by a group responsive setting, such as grouping by call taking and dispatching. Supervision and coordination of resources are focused in one area of the communications floor. The ability to isolate and protect other areas during high priority and long-term incidents enables normal activity to continue and alleviates unrelated background noise. Resources not provided electronically are easier to maintain and keep deskbound. A consolidated PSAP would be configured operationally to have an area equipped and assigned for call taking, with a supervisor position centrally placed on the communications floor with equal vantage points and access to the dispatching areas. Discipline-based dispatching will be equipped and assigned to either side of this core. With tools such as CAD, intra-communications/messaging, and resource monitors available for communication and coordination of resources, the dispatch area will be better able to jointly respond to all priority levels. Currently Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard PSAPs cannot maintain separate call taking from dispatching because there are normally only two dispatchers on duty. Dublin normally has three to four dispatchers on duty and 3 The Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) is now CPSE. 4 NFPA 1221 defines an alarm as a signal or message from a person or device indicating the existence of an emergency or other situation that requires action by an emergency response agency. July 2013 Page 26

31 attempts to separate the call taking and dispatching functions. With the depth of staff on duty of six or more dispatchers in a consolidated operation it will be possible to better maintain segregated call taking and dispatching functions. Any size center can be overwhelmed with an influx of calls for service; however, the larger number of staff and equipped positions available will reduce the opportunities for staff to become overwhelmed. All studied PSAPs have call handling procedures in place. Should Dublin become the host PSAP for all participating cities and townships, the Dublin policies and procedures should be revised as appropriate to accommodate and standardize how calls for service in the coverage area are to be processed and dispatched. In a consolidated communication center the policies and procedures will define the entire call flow process from off-hook through follow-up. Based on the current and future needs of the Study participants, L.R. Kimball recommends the following process: Certified call takers answer and document calls for service in a fully functional customized single CAD system that routes calls to the appropriate dispatchers. The same call takers provide EMD when needed and other information as appropriate based on call type. Interfacing the EMD application with the CAD will further streamline this process. Based on pre-established priority assignments sourced to the nature of the event and response type, the receiving dispatchers notify and assign calls to units and apparatus. The same dispatchers monitor responding units/apparatus for status changes and requests for further information or services. The same dispatchers receive, relay and document all information exchanged among other dispatchers/call takers, units/responders, and other service providers. The call for service is cross-referenced to other calls, when and where appropriate, and closed with appropriate disposition documentation. If further information or documentation is necessary after the call is closed, the dispatcher or call taker is capable of performing updates. Within 30 days of call conclusion, random/assigned QA/QC is performed by a QA coordinator. Follow-up training/re-training, when needed, is conducted and documented; follow-up adjustments to policy and procedures are conducted, when needed, as a result of the QA review. Potential response time decreases will be due to a true call taker and dispatcher environment, caller location identification, coordination of resources and direct access to mutual aid. Proximity, standardized protocols and unified systems create expedient and successful handling of every call received. There are no opportunities to lose a call in a transfer, or miss vital information in re-questioning the caller. There is the benefit of enhanced responder safety by providing information sooner, more completely, accurately and in real-time for all responders. Consolidated operations will bring about increased efficiencies and coordination of communications and emergency response services. A reduction in the number of call takers and dispatchers handling the call, plus the reduction of transfers, equals faster overall response time and saves lives. July 2013 Page 27

32 2.1.4 Non-dispatch Tasks One of the commonly voiced concerns from participating agencies is the desire to maintain the quality of service levels currently provided. In many of the Public Safety agencies, the emergency call taking and dispatching functions are a small percentage of the staff responsibilities. Particularly in the smaller agencies, the dispatcher is the agency s initial point of contact and is usually the municipality s only after-hours contact. The dispatchers act as switchboard operators assisting callers with locating individuals and services within the respective agency and municipality served. The dispatchers also provide a myriad of municipal services unique to their locality and are able to direct or transfer callers to outside municipalities and/or services. In a consolidated environment, some of these services may continue without noticeable interruption, if the function is in direct support of These needs may be accommodated through established protocol, training and technology. For example, when a caller contacts the consolidated communications center on a non-emergency or administrative line requesting to speak with specific supervisory or responding agency staff, or any person/office in any of the served agencies, the call taker simply locates the requested party s number and transfers the caller or directs the caller to the appropriate agency. Functionality exists in current phone systems, CPE or separate Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs) to program frequently called numbers. There are also many ways to store and update this data to prevent the loss of contact information, schedules, call back information and more. Speed dial functionality is also prevalent in CPE and PBX systems, allowing the call taker to quickly locate pre-programmed numbers to provide to the caller or to transfer the call. Established protocol, training and commitment by the served agencies and consolidated PSAP staff to maintain accurate contact information and schedules are paramount to successfully serving these callers. Many non-emergency/administrative functions are handled by the existing PSAPs. Functions that are not relative to the processing of calls will continue to be handled at the local level by the agency or municipality. During the planning phase, all jurisdictions will need to evaluate and determine how best to handle non-emergency and administrative needs, both common and unique. Some examples and a potential for handling them follow. There may be instances where dispatcher(s) currently function as the initial contact for non-public Safetyrelated services; a jurisdiction or municipality may elect to staff a clerical position for normal business hours. Law enforcement records request calls can be of a high or low priority. The decisions made on how best to handle each agency s after-hours records requests will impact requests from field units as well. Low priority requests are requests for copies of previously entered reports. These requests can usually be referred to appropriate records staff during normal business hours and may involve a payment requirement, such as job application criminal history requests. High priority requests are requests for actual paperwork, such as warrants, detention orders or court ordered documents. Protocol will have to be established for handling these records requests after-hours. If records requests from units are to be made through the consolidated PSAP, then arrangements for access to those records must be determined. Protocols for handling external requests from other law enforcement agencies must be established. Animal control calls are public service calls related to Public Safety needs and should be handled in a consolidated dispatch environment. July 2013 Page 28

33 Public works calls are also related to Public Safety, and citizens can be directed to a non-emergency line in the consolidated communications center for public works calls, with appropriate protocols in place. Special event calls, such as calls asking when a road or bridge will be closed or calls asking when a municipality s holiday parade will take place, can be suited to a consolidated PSAP environment with appropriate notification process and protocols, training and communication. The consolidated PSAP can handle non-emergency/administrative calls by forwarding or direct routing. These configuration and protocol options can be applied to Public Safety-related non-emergency/administrative calls for all participating agencies that do not have staff consistently available during normal business hours and after-hours. Any non-emergency line/administrative line can be permanently routed to the PSAP. A new number/alternate number can be listed/advertised for non-emergency service for any agency. The new number/listing provides direct contact with the consolidated PSAP. Any non-emergency/administrative line can be configured to roll-over to the consolidated PSAP s non-emergency/administrative lines if not answered within a prescribed number of rings. Citizens also access services via walk-in. If there is a need to continue 24/7 walk-in service once the PSAPs are consolidated, individual municipalities may decide to staff their offices after-hours. A more efficient method is to provide this service in one or more ways, such as: Providing signage and/or recordings that direct visitors or callers to appropriate after-hours contacts or providing directions/instructions for handling/reporting the situation(s). The recordings or signs should begin with instructions to dial (or use a call box if provided) if there is an emergency. Posting/distributing the consolidated PSAP s non-emergency number(s) with specific information that can be obtained from the PSAP staff. For example, requests for agency-specific information, after-hours contacts for municipal services and non-emergency requests for service. This requires that contact information for each municipality, including updated contact names and numbers, be posted and available at all times to consolidated PSAP staff. For optimum access and ease of use, an automated mechanism will best serve the multiple municipalities and service providers participating in consolidation. Providing an external call box at respective agency headquarters/stations in a well-lit location with adequate posted instructions on how to contact the consolidated PSAP in case of emergency, and with appropriate contact information for non-emergency requests. These hotlines should ring directly into the consolidated PSAP and should arrive on dedicated trunks routed through the Automatic Number Identification (ANI)/ALI controller so that staff is immediately aware of the caller s location information. For example, if an unstaffed station has a call box located at both the rear and front entrance of a building, the location information can be delivered with appropriate directions. The trunks should be set up to allow the call taker to call back the phone in case re-contact with the caller is necessary. Individual municipal and agency needs must be considered carefully in the planning phase; there are many variations possible for the consolidated PSAP to meet most Public Safety-related administrative call handling needs. In studying the non-dispatch duties of the four City PSAPs, it is clear that the majority of duties are in support of the parent police agency. The PSAPs are divisions of the individual Police Departments making the practice of adding non-dispatch duties to the PSAP staff quite normal. The individual police agencies will need to identify which duties July 2013 Page 29

34 must physically stay in the police station/headquarters and which can or should be provided from the consolidated PSAP operation. Interviews and observation found very few inherently unique duties or support functions occurring in the cities PSAPs. All reported monitoring alarms and/or video feeds and secure entry to station, matron duties when necessary, walk in/up traffic, deputy clerk function of taking fines or bonds, emergency notification system set-up/broadcast, National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and warrant entries/modifications/clearing, releasing towed vehicles, witnessing paperwork and/or notary function, after-hours municipal calls, welfare check systems and animal control. Dublin reported also providing support as a Tornado Siren Activation Point, Incident Dispatch Team Field Response and performing Twitter/Social Media Notifications. The monitoring of alarms and video feeds should be reduced where possible. For those feeds that must continue to be monitored 24/7, the impact on the staff, space and technology of the consolidated center must be carefully considered and adjustments made accordingly. Matron duties, walk-in traffic and deputy clerk functions can only be handled/provided from the police station/headquarters or court facility. Individual decisions will be needed on how these functions would best be continued. Matron duties may require mutual aid with a neighboring police agency or adapting the processing policy for female prisoners to taking them straight to the jail rather than to the local holding facility. Walk-in traffic may be addressed through clerical staff, signage and a hot-line type phone outside the building or in the lobby that people in need could still be connected to the consolidated PSAP at another location. The deputy clerk functions may also be handled by clerical/records staff, officers or a return of these functions to the courts. Entries/modifications/clearings for NCIC can be handled by the consolidated center by making certain that there are sufficient staff, connectivity and Originating Agency Identifier (ORI) agreements. Storage and access to the warrants would best be served by the issuing agencies. After hours calls not related to emergency communications and public safety should be handled by the appropriate municipal departments with automated attendants or voic , with direction to the caller to dial 911 if there is an emergency. 2.2 Technology Requirements and Options July 2013 Page 30

35 3. RADIO SYSTEMS The agencies served by the four PSAPs all operate on either the COIRS 800 MHz trunked radio system or the City of Columbus 800 MHz trunked radio system for normal dispatch and operations. 3.1 Central Ohio Interoperable Radio System Central Ohio Interoperable Radio System (COIRS) is a Motorola P25 compliant digital system that is owned jointly by Delaware County, the City of Worthington and the City of Dublin. These three governmental entities formed a Council of Governments (COG) under Ohio law to share the ownership and operation of the system. The Central Ohio Interoperable Radio System consists of two simulcast cells one in Delaware County that serves Delaware County users and the Worthington/Dublin cell in Franklin County. The Worthington/Dublin simulcast cell is a three-site seven-channel cell. The Delaware County simulcast cell is a six-site, seven-channel cell. The two simulcast cells share the master site located in Delaware County. The master site is owned and maintained by Delaware County and was Delaware County s investment in the COG. The sites in the Worthington/Dublin cell are located at: 7697 Avery Road, Dublin 6199 Huntley Road, Worthington 4000 Hard Road, Columbus These sites are linked by leased lines to the Dublin Police dispatch center located in the Dublin Justice Center. From the Dublin dispatch center, the trunked radio sites and the Worthington and Dublin consoles are linked to the master site at the Delaware County Fairground through a series of data network links. The system uses the City s DubLink private fiber from the dispatch center to a POP located at the OCLC Building in Dublin. From there, link uses a fiberoptic backbone known as OARNet provided by the Ohio Board of Regents Technology consortium. The OARNet is used to the POP located on the AEP property located at Liberty Road and Slack Roads in Delaware. From this POP, the link uses Delaware County s fiber network to run get to the Delaware County center on Court Street in Delaware. From Court Street, the link uses another Delaware County fiber strand to the radio system master site at the Delaware County Fairgrounds. The OARNet routers are located at OCLC and the fairgrounds to monitor the entire length of the circuit as Delaware County also uses OARNet to purchase Internet service. This configuration gives the OARNet NOC the ability to monitor it end to end. Figure 1 on the following page, the Central Ohio Interoperable Radio System (COIRS) Tower Sites is a map identifying the location of the Worthington/Dublin sites. July 2013 Page 31

36 Figure 1 Central Ohio Interoperable Radio System Tower Sites The three sites in Worthington and Dublin provide a high level of in-building portable coverage for users in the two cities. The following Public Safety services in Franklin County operate on COIRS for normal dispatch: Worthington Fire/EMS Worthington Police Dublin Police Washington Township Fire/EMS (provides fire and emergency medical services to City of Dublin as well as Washington Township) Sharon Township Police (dispatched by Worthington Police) Perry Township Police (dispatched by Worthington Police) July 2013 Page 32

37 3.2 City of Columbus 800 MHz Trunked Radio System The City of Columbus radio system is an 800 MHz analog Motorola SmartZone trunked system that is used by many local Public Safety agencies in Franklin County, as well as the Franklin County Sheriff s Department. The Columbus system consists of six site, twentyeight-channel simulcast system. The system is owned by the City of Columbus and administered with advisory oversight by the Central Ohio Communications Advisory Committee. Site locations are: 30 E. Broad Street, Columbus (State Office Building) 4250 Morse Road, Columbus (Morse Road at Cherry Bottom Road) 2929 Riverside Drive, Columbus (Griggs Dam) 5600 Parsons Avenue, Lockbourne (behind Scioto Downs) 4250 Groves Road, Columbus 444 Lazelle Road, Columbus, Delaware County (Columbus Fire Station 33, adjacent to Polaris Mall) The Public Safety services of Hilliard, Norwich Township and Upper Arlington are on Columbus system. These include the following: Upper Arlington Fire/EMS Upper Arlington Police Hilliard Police Norwich Township Fire/EMS (provides fire and emergency medical services to the City of Hilliard, Norwich Township and Brown Township) These agencies pay the City of Columbus usage fees to operate on the system. The following are the approximately annual fees paid by the agencies: Upper Arlington Police and Fire/EMS $23,000 Hilliard Police $10,000 Norwich Township Fire/EMS $10,000 The Columbus system was not designed to provide a specific level of in-building portable coverage for the participating suburban agencies. In-building coverage depends on the proximity of the building to an existing tower. Figure 2 on the following page, the City of Columbus 800 MHz Trunked Radio System Tower Sites is a map identifying the location of the City of Columbus radio system sites. July 2013 Page 33

38 Figure 2 City of Columbus 800 MHz Trunked Radio System Tower Sites 3.3 Non-Voice Radio Applications None of the agencies use LMR systems for paging or mobile data. Agencies run various data applications on mobile data computers using commercial broadband services. The City of Dublin operates 24 outdoor warning sirens within the City of Dublin and Washington Township. These are in addition to the Franklin County Outdoor Warning Siren System. Dublin s warning sirens are activated from the police dispatch center using a Motorola CDM1250 mobile radio on a VHF radio channel ( MHz). The antenna for this radio is mounted on a 65 foot tower at the Dublin Justice Center. July 2013 Page 34

39 3.4 Other Radio Systems in Franklin County There are several other radio systems used by Public Safety agencies in Franklin County. These include the State of Ohio s MARCS, the Grove City 800 MHz trunked system, the Ohio State University s 800 MHz trunked system, Grandview Heights 800 MHz conventional system, and the Reynoldsburg Police conventional UHF system. Usage of these systems includes the following: Bexley Police MARCS Gahanna Police MARCS Grandview Heights Police -- conventional 800 MHz local system Grove City Police / Jackson Twp Fire / Pleasant Twp Fire -- Grove City 800 MHz trunked system New Albany Police MARCS Ohio State University Police -- Ohio State University 800 MHz trunked system Reynoldsburg Police -- Conventional 450/460 MHz local system Whitehall Police -- MARCS Currently MARCS is being upgraded from the Motorola proprietary digital platform to the P25 technology called MARCSIP. In most cases, agencies can program talkgroups from other systems in their mobiles and portables. The primary limitation is that older mobiles and portables cannot be programmed to operate on the P25 systems. 3.5 Radio Interoperability Because nearly all Public Safety agencies in Franklin County operate on one of the 800 MHz radio systems, there is a high level of interoperability in the county. In most cases, agencies can program talkgroups from other systems in their mobiles and portables. Dispatch centers can also have control stations (consolettes or AC-powered mobile radios) on other systems interfaced to their dispatch consoles. This permits patching of the talkgroups on different systems through the dispatch consoles. In some cases, neighboring systems are programmed into desktop consolettes or AC-powered mobile radios that are not connected to the dispatch consoles. While this permits the dispatcher to monitor and talk on other system, the talkgroups/channels in these radios cannot be patched with talkgroups/channels in the console. Only Worthington and Dublin have radios from the other systems interfaced to their consoles. Both trunked systems have talkgroups named LEERN which are patched to VHF radios on MHz, the Ohio statewide LEERN channel. Each dispatch center monitors the METRO ALERT talkgroup on the Columbus system, which is a countywide channel for alerts and emergency broadcasts. Worthington and Dublin have control stations interfaced with their consoles for this talkgroup. Ohio Homeland Security has provided all dispatch agencies and EOCs in Ohio with control stations on MARCS to monitor their regional Homeland Security talkgroup. Homeland Security talkgroup HS4 on the Ohio MARCS legacy July 2013 Page 35

40 system is monitored by each of the dispatch centers. It is also referred to as the Homeland Security radio. Dublin has this channel programmed in their dispatch consoles. 3.6 Radio Console Operations Existing Consoles All of the existing dispatch centers use Motorola Gold Elite radio consoles connect directly to the master site/controller of their respective primary radio systems. The Hilliard and Upper Arlington consoles are connected by T1 lines to the Columbus City system s central controller. The Worthington consoles connect to the Dublin dispatch center. From the Dublin center, the consoles are connected to the master site at the Delaware County Fairgrounds as described above. The Gold Elite consoles are circuit based consoles as opposed to the newer IP-based consoles. Because the P25 system is an IP-based system, the existing Worthington and Dublin circuit-based consoles must be interface with the master site through the use of the MGEG interface. The radio equipment and console configurations at the existing centers are as follows: Dublin Five Motorola Gold Elite consoles Programmed for required talkgroups on COIRS Interfaced with backroom VHF and 800 MHz control stations to access MARCS; Columbus system talkgroups including 10 FIRE (Columbus fire dispatch talkgroup), Norwich Township Fire, and METRO ALERT; and several conventional channels including an I-CALL repeater. 800 MHz control station at each dispatch workstation to access talkgroups on other systems and to be used for back-up in the event of console system failure Handheld radio at each dispatch workstation for back-up Worthington Three Motorola Gold Elite consoles Can access any talkgroup in the COIRS Interfaced with control stations on the Columbus system for 10 FIRE (Columbus fire dispatch talkgroup) and METRO ALERT 800 MHz control station in dispatch center Upper Arlington Three Motorola Gold Elite consoles Programmed for required talkgroups on Columbus system Two Motorola MCS 2000 backroom control stations with mobile control heads mounted at two console positions for back-up One E.F. Johnson control station on the Columbus system for the METRO ALERT talkgroup July 2013 Page 36

41 Hilliard Three Motorola Gold Elite consoles Control station and portable in dispatch center for back-up One E. F. Johnson control station on the Columbus system for the METRO ALERT talkgroup Required Consoles Upgrades The optimal console to connect with a Motorola P25 system is the newer MCC 7500 IP-based console. The Worthington and Dublin dispatch centers plan to upgrade to MCC 7500 consoles in It is anticipated that the Gold Elite consoles on the Columbus system will be replaced when the Columbus system is transitioned to a P25 system. If the P25 system upgrade is provided by Motorola, the replacement consoles for Upper Arlington and Hilliard will be the MCC 7500 consoles or other comparable P25 IP-based consoles. The estimated cost of replacing the three existing consoles with IP-based consoles is approximately $75,000-$80,000 per position, plus addition costs for logging/recorder upgrades or interfaces. If the Hilliard Police continued to maintain their dispatch center with three radio consoles, they will face similar console upgrade costs Consolidated Dispatch Center Console Requirements Since all agencies that are dispatched by the four centers are on one of two 800 MHz trunked radio systems, providing radio dispatching capabilities to a consolidated dispatch center would require having radio consoles that access one or both of these systems. Dispatch radio consoles can access base stations and repeater stations by having direct connectivity to the sites (microwave, fiber or wireline). In a trunked radio system, direct console connectivity is through the radio system s controller or master site. This is the preferred method of accessing a trunked radio system because it provides the dispatch operate with numerous advance system control features. Currently each of the dispatch centers access their radio systems by direct connectivity to the system controller. This is typically accomplished through a T1 wireline connection but can also be achieved over a fiber-optic network or microwave. An alternative method of providing console access to a conventional repeater station or to a trunked radio system is through the use of a radio at the dispatch center. This is referred to as wireless access. These radios are typically desktop consolettes radios or AC power mobile radios called control stations. Consolettes/control stations operate on the systems in the same manner as mobile and portables on the system. When consolettes/control stations are interfaced with a console, the radios are typically physically located in an equipment room and use an antenna mounted outside the building. Consolettes/control stations do not have to be interfaced with the consoles. Desktop consolettes/control stations are often installed at each console position to provide a back-up radio to be used in the event of a console system failure. July 2013 Page 37

42 Wireless Console Access Limitations As indicated above, a consolidated dispatch center serving all four the existing jurisdictions would have to access one of the systems (probably the Columbus system) using wireless console access. The use of a consolette/control station to access a trunked radio system has disadvantages. The following is a list of limitations when using wireless access (e.g., a Motorola consolette interfaced with the console) compared to direct wireline access through a console to a repeater or P25 trunked system: On the existing Gold Elite consoles with control stations, experience has shown that there is a PTT delay using an analog trunked system such as the Columbus system. It is not clear whether this delay would be encountered on a P25 system with consolettes and an IP-based console that provides full control head functionality. No Console Priority - Wireline dispatch consoles typically have a higher priority than other users on the radio system and can take over a talkgroup from a radio. Wireless dispatch consoles may not be able to do this depending on the priority of the consolette being used by the dispatch console. No Regrouping - Wireline dispatch consoles typically use the trunking system's Regrouping (aka: talkgroup merge) feature during patches, multi-select transmits and APB transmits to minimize the number of RF channels used. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot use the Regrouping feature, so they will use more RF channels for patches, multi-select transmits and APB transmits. No Repeat Control - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to turn the Repeat function on and off for a conventional repeater. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Tactical/Normal Control - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to change between normal and tactical access priority (typically Priority Level 2, just below the Emergency level) for a particular talkgroup. Not all wireless dispatch consoles and control stations can be configured to support this functionality. No Radio Status Display - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to display Radio Status information from radios. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Radio Status Request - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to request Radio Status information from radios. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Call Alert Initiation - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to initiate Call Alerts to specific radios. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Private Call Initiation - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to initiate Private Calls to individual radios. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Emergency Call Initiation - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to initiate Emergency Calls on talkgroups. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Remote Monitor - Wireline dispatch consoles can be configured with the ability to initiate a Remote Monitor session on an individual radio. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot be configured to support this functionality. No Guaranteed Reception of Emergency Alarms - Wireline dispatch consoles are guaranteed to receive Emergency Alarms from radio units. Wireless dispatch consoles may miss Emergency Alarms if the July 2013 Page 38

43 consolette being used by the dispatch console only has one receiver and it is listening to audio on a talkgroup. Blocked Audio during Console Takeover - Wireline dispatch consoles can still hear a radio's audio when a dispatch console has taken over the talkgroup from the radio. A radio does not know when a dispatch console takes over a talkgroup because it is busy transmitting and not listening to the control channel. During a console takeover, the trunking system continues to pass the radio's transmit audio on to the wireline dispatch consoles, but does not repeat it out to the other members of the talkgroup. Since the radio's audio is not repeated, the wireless dispatch consoles do not hear the radio. (In fact, if there are no wireline dispatch consoles on the system, no one will hear that radio.) No Trunked System Operational Status - Wireline dispatch consoles can display the operational status of the trunked radio system on the dispatch GUI. Wireless dispatch consoles do not know the operational status of the trunked radio system and thus cannot display it on their GUI. Distorted Alert Tones and Channel Marker Tones - Digital radio systems using the IMBE or AMBE vocoders tend to distort tones that are sent through them. The distortion can be severe enough that the tones are difficult to hear or recognize. Wireline dispatch consoles use special IMBE/AMBE vocoder vectors to send Alert Tones and Channel Marker tones on digital radio systems. This allows the receiving radios to accurately recreate the tones in their speakers. Wireless dispatch consoles cannot use these special vectors because the consolette does not support them. One Consolette required for each Talkgroup - Wireline dispatch consoles do not require any consolettes to interface to the trunked radio system. Wireless dispatch consoles require one consolette for each trunked talkgroup that is being simultaneously monitored. For example, a dispatch console that is monitoring five talkgroups simultaneously requires five consolettes along with the necessary RF distribution equipment (antennas, cables, combiners, etc.). Consoles Consume RF Capacity - Wireline dispatch consoles do not require an RF channel to get their transmit audio to the RF sites. Wireless dispatch consoles do require an RF channel to get their transmit audio to the RF sites. If a wireless dispatch console is transmitting on a talkgroup that has no members located at the RF site the dispatch console is using, then the wireless dispatch console is consuming an RF channel that would not be used if wireline dispatch console were used instead. Possibility of RF Interference - Wireless dispatch consoles are susceptible to any type of RF interference that affects a radio's ability to talk and listen on the trunking system. Wireline dispatch consoles are not susceptible to such RF interference. Although this list of disadvantages may appear extensive, wireless console access to repeaters and trunked radio systems is used widely. This is most commonly done to avoid the cost of leased telephone lines. It is also done where accessing the system infrastructure is not practical. There are several workarounds to these problems. When the Columbus system is upgraded to the P25 standard and assuming it remains a Motorola system, wireless console access using the MCC 7500 consoles with the Extended Dispatch Option and the APX 7500 consolettes interfaced with the console can provide the following console features: Decode Functionality Emergency Alarm - a subscriber unit can send an emergency alarm over-the-air at any time. Status Update - a subscriber unit can send a status update over-the-air at any time. Message Update - a subscriber unit can send a message update over-the-air at any time. July 2013 Page 39

44 Encode Functionality Status Request - allows console user the ability to remotely determine a specific subscriber s status. Radio Enable/Disable - allows the console user the ability to make unusable (Inhibit) a specific subscriber and correspondingly restore a unit to normal operation (Un-Inhibit). Radio Check - allows the console user the ability to remotely ping a specific subscriber. Remote Monitor - allows console user the ability to remotely put a specific subscriber into transmit mode. Emergency Alarm ACK - The corresponding acknowledge (ACK) from the console is transmitted by the consolette over-the-air back to the specified subscriber on conventional channels only. While this does not eliminate all of the disadvantages of wireless console access, the use of Motorola APX 7500 consolettes with the MCC 7500 consoles appears to provide increased console functionality. This configuration allows the console to have full control head functionality of the consolette that also allows the console to pass the permit to talk tones to the dispatcher s speaker/headset which isn t possible in the current configuration. L.R. Kimball recommends that these issues be reviewed with Motorola to confirm options and alternatives for the use of wireless console access to a P25 trunked system. One potential short term solution to the problem of using wireless console access to connect a Gold Elite console to a trunked radio system is a product developed by the Genesis Group called GEnSAC3. This technology permits the Gold Elite consoles to display unit IDs and emergency calls without going through the system s audio routing switch 5. This would only be a solution until the Gold Elite consoles are replaced. If the four centers were consolidated today, dispatchers would require two radio consoles at each position to maintain the same function capabilities as they currently have. In addition to cost and inconvenience, maintaining two dispatch consoles would present potential technical limitations and problems (e.g., inability to cross mute if same talkgroup was activate on both consoles and inability to patch between systems). The more likely solution would be to have full console functionality on one of the systems for two of the cities and rely on control stations access to the other radio system for the other two cities. The Technical Services Director of the Dublin Police Communications Center has already developed a tentative plan to dispatch Hilliard Police and Norwich Township Fire Department using control stations interfaced to the existing Motorola Gold Elite consoles. The manager recognizes the limitations of wireless console access and expressed concerns about these limitations. 5 For a more detailed description of this product see: July 2013 Page 40

45 3.6.4 Radio Dispatch Console Assessment Any of the four existing centers could have console upgrades and modifications to support dispatch operations for all of the existing Public Safety agencies served. Of the four centers, the Dublin Police dispatch center is clearly the best equipped today and would require the least modifications. A totally new facility, of course, would require all new radio consoles connected to one of the two trunked systems. The estimated cost per console position would be $75,000-$80,000 per position. If such a facility were constructed today, the consoles would have to be MCC 7500 consoles or similar IP-based consoles interfaced with COIRS since the Columbus system cannot as a practical matter interface with IP-based consoles today. Each monitored talkgroup on the Columbus system or MARCS would require a separate consolette/control station. Logging/recorders capable of interfacing with COIRS would be required to record the talkgroups. If a new location was selected for a consolidated dispatch center, connectivity to the COIRS network would be required either by leased T1 lines, fiber or microwave. When considering all of the existing factors, the Dublin Police dispatch center provides most effective technological solutions and the least expensive solutions for accessing the existing radio systems Radio Operational Issues One operational issue that was reported during the study was the use of the different radio codes by the various police departments. The Upper Arlington Police, Worthington Police, Sharon Township Police and Perry Township Police use the Columbus Police codes. The Hilliard Police use their own code set that mirrors in some ways both the Columbus codes and the BSSA codes. The Dublin Police use BSSA codes with several additions/modifications. In a consolidated dispatch center, it would be desirable that dispatchers only have to use one set of police radio codes. 3.7 Radio System Options As a result of having three 800 MHz trunked radio systems serving Public Safety agencies in the northwestern part of Franklin County, the cities have a choice of systems to use as their primary dispatch/operational radio resource. Dublin and Worthington are members of COIRS and have made substantial investments in constructing the COIRS infrastructure. The needs of the two municipalities and their contracted agencies are met by COIRS. It is unlikely that either of these two cities will move to any different radio system(s) in the foreseeable future. The cities of Upper Arlington and Hilliard have three options 1) participate in COIRS by building out the necessary infrastructure to provide coverage to their respective cities, 2) continue to purchase radio services from the City of Columbus or 3) join Ohio MARCS. It is not within the scope of this project to fully assess the three options for these cities. The console limitations of having the cities participating in a consolidated dispatch center operating on two different trunked radio systems have been discussed above. While it would be desirable to have all of the agencies on the same radio system, this is only one consideration for these cities in assessing their radio system options. July 2013 Page 41

46 Some of the considerations are straightforward and fairly easy to evaluate. Others are more technically complex or are dependent upon future system developments that cannot currently be fully known. The most critical consideration is system coverage more specifically in-building portable coverage since each system provides good mobile coverage. This can be assessed by coverage models or actual testing inside buildings within the required coverage areas. The City of Upper Arlington has expressed no immediate interest in moving from the Columbus trunked radio system. Upper Arlington has primary coverage from a Columbus tower site located at 2929 Riverside Drive on the west side of the city. It is anticipated that if Upper Arlington joined COIRS, the City would have to construct another tower site to meet coverage needs. Upper Arlington is generally satisfied with the radio coverage provided by the Columbus radio system. There are in-building coverage problems with the system. Bi-directional amplification systems have been installed in the City Hall and one new fire station to enhance in-building coverage. The City s building code requires in-building amplification in newly constructed buildings as necessary to ensure adequate in-building coverage. The Columbus system will have to be upgraded in the near future. The technology is at end-of-life and the support for the system is being phased out. It is generally understood that the Columbus system will be upgraded to the P25 digital standard. Exactly when this will occur is unknown. It is not clear whether the Columbus system will be upgraded by Motorola or another vendor or whether the system will be enhanced to provide better coverage to the participating municipalities. It is also unknown whether this will result in an increase in the user fees. The P25 standard ensures that subscriber (mobile/portables) can be programmed to operate on each P25 compliant system. Project 25 systems can be interconnected using the ISSI. This allows properly provisioned talkgroups to operate on each connected system. Although ISSI allows seamless roaming onto other systems with console connectivity supported when roaming onto an interconnected system, most interoperability needs can be supported by cross-programming subscriber equipment to operate on each P25 system. When the Columbus system is upgraded to a P25 system, the existing Gold Elite radio consoles used by the Upper Arlington Police will probably be replaced. It is unknown whether continued use of Gold Elite consoles would be supported through the use of the MGEG. The MGEG is an interface that allows the circuit-based Gold Elite console system to access and control a packet-switch-based trunking system. The estimated cost of replacing the three existing consoles with IP-based consoles is approximately $75,000-$80,000 per console position, plus possible additional costs for logging/recorder upgrades or interfaces. The City of Upper Arlington has had discussions with the State of Ohio s MARCS for contracting to use MARCS for a rate of $20 per radio per month. This would increase their annual subscriber costs to approximately $40,000 per year. This level of participation in MARCS would be as a Tier 1 Ohio MARCS partner whereby the City would July 2013 Page 42

47 purchase its own subscriber radios and pay an annual maintenance fee. 6 The implications of moving from the Columbus system to MARCS are not entirely clear. The City would want to compare in-building coverage between the Columbus system and MARCS. There is an Ohio MARCS tower located at 2474 North Star Road which should provide good mobile coverage to the City. It was also reported that MARCS is willing to add sites to provide enhanced coverage to the City. Adding MARCS sites would require the City to be a Tier 2 MARCIP partner whereby the City would fund the enhanced system capacity/coverage and MARCS would rebate 50 percent of the costs via user fee rebates 7. In addition to coverage considerations, a move to Ohio MARCS would require Upper Arlington to purchase new radio consoles to have direct console connectivity on the MARCS network at the existing dispatch center. If Upper Arlington elected to move to MARCS, a consolidated dispatch center would probably use consolettes/control stations for console connectivity to MARCS rather than direct console connectivity for the reasons discussed previously in this report. Based on the location of the Columbus tower sites, it appears that the City of Hilliard and the Norwich Township Fire Department also get primary coverage from the Columbus site on Riverside Drive, southeast of the Hilliard. The Norwich Township Fire Department reported in-building coverage problems in the western part of the township. The fire department installed two vehicular repeaters to provide on scene in-building coverage. The City of Hilliard has a tentative plan to become a member of COIRS and add a COIRS tower site in the Hilliard. It is not within the scope of this project for L.R. Kimball to assess the proposed design. However, a COIRS tower in Hilliard should provide good in-building coverage to the city and enhanced coverage in the township. The same options for using Ohio MARCS should apply to Hilliard. However, unlike Upper Arlington, Hilliard does not already have a MARCS tower in proximity to the City. It is important to understand that constructing a radio site or sites on either COIRS or MARCS does not necessarily mean erecting a new radio tower. A radio system site can be constructed by using antenna space on an existing tower or on a structure such as the top of a tall building. An existing shelter may also be available for housing the radio equipment at the site. This is often the most cost effective option for building a new site. Although there may on-going leasing charges for the use of the tower or structure, these may be less than the cost of acquiring land and constructing and maintaining a tower. It also avoids the environmental and political obstacles that are typically encountered with constructing new towers. If Upper Arlington elects to join COIRS, the City may want to explore constructing a COIRS site using the MARCS tower on North Star Road. 6 See MARCSIP Business Plan/Rollout, April 4, 2013 Local Government Officials Conference Columbus, Ohio, presentation: Agency%20Radio%20Communications%20System%20(MARCS).pdf. 7 ibid July 2013 Page 43

48 There are other technical and management differences that should be considered when assessing the radio system options. These include in part: 1) system capacity (sufficient channels to adequately support the radio traffic level), 2) system reliability and failure mode operations (e.g., infrastructure redundancy and path diversity); 3) interoperability with other systems; 4) network and subscriber security provisions and 5) features such as voice encryption and data to support Global Positioning System (GPS) radio location, text messaging, over-the-air radio reprogramming and encryption key management. Finally, there is the issue of system management. The entity or entities that own and maintain the radio system will typically control the funding of the system and the policies and procedures under which the system operates. Critical among these system management considerations is whether the radio system has a sustainable funding model that ensures on-going updating of the technology, If Upper Arlington or Hilliard becomes a member of COIRS, they will share the costs of owning and maintaining the system infrastructure. Coverage in each city will be determined by their investment in system infrastructure, i.e., location and number of sites. Maintenance and upgrading of the system will be a shared responsibility of the members. System features and policies/procedures will likewise be determined by the shared governance structure of the COG. 3.8 Central Ohio Interoperable Radio System Usage Fees The Washington Township Fire Department, Sharon Township Police and Perry Township Police are not charged user fees by COIRS directly. They are on COIRS by virtue of being dispatched by a COIRS member dispatch center (Dublin or Worthington). Dublin or Worthington can charge these agencies to operate on COIRS under their auspices. Dublin has elected to add an additional $13,000 to Washington Township s dispatching services contract for the use of COIRS. Worthington imposes no radio system user fees on Sharon and Perry Townships. The current COIRS policy of allowing agencies that are dispatched by a COIRS member agency to operate on COIRS may need to be re-examined vis-a-vis a consolidated dispatch center. Currently, Worthington does not charge the two township police departments dispatched by Worthington to operate on the system, whereas Dublin charges the Washington Township Fire Department for system usage. If these jurisdictions were dispatched by a consolidated center, this disparity may become an issue. It is entirely reasonable and appropriate that non-coirs agencies pay a fair share for using the system. Dublin s decision to charge the Washington Township Fire Department for system usage is understandable given the fact that this fire department serves jurisdictions beyond the City of Dublin. If Hilliard becomes a COIRS member, will the Norwich Township Fire Department use COIRS, and if so, will they be charged user fees by the City of Hilliard? It is desirable that all agencies being served by a consolidated dispatch center use the same radio system. Since Franklin County agencies are charged fees to operate on either the Columbus system or Ohio MARCS, COIRS user fees are only likely to become problematic if they are out of line with the prevailing usage fees imposed by the other radio systems. July 2013 Page 44

49 4. AUTOMATED SYSTEMS 4.1 Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems Each of the subject PSAPs utilizes CAD and RMS to support their dispatching and Public Safety operations. The systems in use are different at each agency and in each instance CAD and RMS are provided by the same vendor. In a dispatch center consolidation, there is no inherent reason to have all participating agencies utilize the same RMS. Currently RMS is predominantly a tool for law enforcement, fire, or EMS personnel. However, if a common RMS solution is not used by all agencies, it will be necessary to develop interfaces between the common, single CAD system and the disparate RMS systems in use. The primary and initial means by which RMS records get created and populated is through data transfer from CAD to the RMS. If the CAD and RMS were not designed to work in tandem, data fields, field length, various conventions for incident types and many other elements will differ. One or both vendors will need to develop translations for these items, and considerable room for error or data corruption will exist. Additionally, when dispatchers need to access RMS data, they will need to receive training and develop familiarity with multiple RMS systems, often with greatly varying interfaces and operations. There are products available that compile data from multiple disparate CAD and records systems for central access. Such a setup would require the acquisition of additional software and therefore additional costs while increasing the number of systems that the dispatch staff must access. As a practical matter, having a common RMS provides much more seamless operation for all involved. This approach also allows for data sharing among agencies, which particularly for law enforcement, provides greatly enhanced investigative capabilities. This can be a significant undertaking from the perspective of developing protocol and business rules for which data elements will be visible to other agencies. However, dividends are paid immediately. All such rules must be consistent among agencies or the integrity of any search is compromised. Generally, the fewer restrictions on data access by outside agencies the better. Certain items such as affairs/professional standards information and possibly juvenile records and sensitive intelligence records may be best left secured by the individual agency. While the potential benefits of law enforcement data sharing through a common RMS are great, advance planning and establishment of business rules should take place before embarking on this undertaking. These decisions must be made up front. When adopting a single CAD and RMS system, whether through adopting one of the systems currently in existence or through procuring a completely new system, the issue of legacy data must be addressed. Unfortunately, there is not a clean solution to dealing with the legacy data from previous systems. Clearly, if one of the current systems of a participating agency is used for all the participating agencies, the legacy data for that agency can be retained intact while the other agencies data is not. Legacy data is valuable for many reasons. For CAD, legacy data shows incident histories for given addresses and premise history records denote warnings valuable to Public Safety personnel for specific locations. Commonplace names or landmarks that have been built represent many hours of work; all of which would need to be re-built into a new or different CAD system. For RMS, legacy data can be even more important, with data collected regarding July 2013 Page 45

50 individuals, addresses, property, known associations, gang affiliations and much more. The quandary is what to do with and about that legacy data. Several options exist for addressing legacy data, none of which is optimal: Maintain the new and old systems in tandem for data retrieval for some period of time Attempt data conversion from the old system to the new system Ignore legacy data and start anew Maintaining two systems has obvious issues. The legacy server and database must be maintained, causing an expenditure of time and money. The legacy systems will eventually be subject to technology end of life problems and may no longer be supported by the vendor. The hardware will continue to consume space and power. Depending on the system configuration, separate additional user terminals may need to be maintained. Everyone who needs to access either system will need to be familiar with both the old and new systems. Security and passwords will need to be maintained on both systems. There will be a cut-off date that separates the two systems, and many searches will involve separate searches in both systems which may include using different conventions or syntax. The advantage is that all data will be accessible. Costs will not necessarily be tremendously high but they will be redundant between the two systems. The risk of losing information is low but so is the convenience level. If it is thought that accessing the legacy system will be infrequent, this may be the best fit for agencies seeking to transition to a new consolidated CAD and/or RMS. Data conversion is in theory the most desirable option. Realistically; however, it generally falls short of expectations. Costs can be very significant and are often underestimated. Success level will never reach 100 percent. Data conversion involves taking the entire legacy database and attempting to convert it to the format utilized by the new system and importing that converted data into the database of the new system. Data conversion presents many challenges. This will range from differing field lengths for a given data element (for example - old system allows 12 characters for the last name field, new system allows for 11 (e.g. how are legacy 12 character last names handled?) to conventions used for street name suffixes and everything in between. Inconsistent entries in the legacy data set will likely fall out as exceptions. Data conversion is a massively time consuming and often manual process that is costly and which will fall far short of perfect. How far short is unknown until the process is complete. Even then, there is no meaningful way to know what data has failed to convert. Even though vendors that agree to attempt data conversion and not all are willing to undertake this task will quote a high cost to cover their risk, additional, unanticipated costs will usually arise. Another method of data conversion that has been done in small client environments is the manual entry of existing records into the new system. This method can be time consuming and the decision to undertake this method would be based on the value a client places on the legacy records information and the ease of access. Ignoring legacy data and starting fresh is unquestionably the least expensive option. The downside, of course, is that the large amount of useful if not vital data collected over the years in the previous system is no longer readily available. As a practical matter, to comply with the public records acts and operational needs, the data will need to be retained and at least one terminal must be available to access the legacy data when needed, but it will not be readily available to all users. Despite these significant limitations, many agencies are choosing to make this clean break and start anew, favoring the simplicity and cost savings. Where field report writing is part of an RMS, either maintaining the legacy RMS or data conversion is required to retrieve and view incident and investigative reports. Even where the RMS does not include incident and investigative report modules, retrieving written reports requires maintaining the legacy RMS indexing data. July 2013 Page 46

51 It should be pointed out that these issues are faced by any PSAP or Public Safety agency when a new CAD or RMS vendor is selected. The CAD and RMS systems currently in use in the area include a SunGard/HTE system first installed in 1998 and last updated in 2011; two TriTech Vision systems installed in the early 2000s but with recent software updates; and a CMI Authority Safety system that is primarily geared toward smaller agencies first installed in 1993 and no longer supported by the vendor. Each system has advantages and disadvantages or risks. The SunGard/HTE system has redundancy in an off-site data center that requires manual switchover; one TriTech Vision and the CMI system have no redundancy capability at all. The Upper Arlington TriTech Vision system is going to be upgraded to have redundancy in the near future. The TriTech Vision and SunGard systems are relatively robust and sophisticated systems capable of being configured to handle multiple jurisdictions and disciplines. The TriTech Vision system is geared more toward small to medium sized operations while the SunGard/HTE system is known to be more robust, and geared toward medium to large organizations. CMI systems are geared toward smaller agencies with typically less demanding requirements Dublin Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems Dublin uses a SunGard/HTE CAD system that was initially installed in 1998 with the latest software update installed in This system includes AVL but does not include EMD interface. Computer Aided Dispatch does not convert incident addresses to latitude/longitude (X/Y) coordinates. Mapping is the GTG GeoBlade product, installed in 2011 and updated in Mapping is integrated in the CAD system but not integrated with the CPE, i.e., the telephone system. The Dublin RMS is the SunGard/HTE CRIMES system, installed in 1998, and last updated in The RMS does not have provisions for fire or EMS records. SunGard/HTE also is the mobile data vendor for Dublin. The mobile data system was installed in 2002 with software updated in The system provides for police, fire and EMS functionality Hilliard Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems Hilliard s CAD system is from CMI, and is a text based system installed in This version is no longer supported by the vendor and updates are no longer available. It does support multi-discipline dispatch although EMD is not supported. The mapping system is provided by DOTI and was installed in Mapping is integrated with CAD. Police RMS is also provided by CMI and was installed in No Fire or EMS records capabilities are provided. CMI Authority is the mobile data software in use at Hilliard and supports police, fire and EMS operations. The system is limited to 14 concurrent users. July 2013 Page 47

52 4.1.3 Upper Arlington Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems Upper Arlington utilizes the TriTech Vision CAD system, version 3.5, installed in 2000 and updated in the fourth quarter of This is a full featured system. The EMD is supported as are fire/ems and police RMS records, digital and alphanumeric paging, TTY/TDD, tone alerting and mobile mapping. GeoComm GeoLynx mapping is integrated with CAD. The Upper Arlington RMS is TriTech Vision and supports police, fire and EMS. This system was also installed in 2000; the date of the latest software update on the law enforcement is unknown; the Fire/EMS RMS was last updated in the fourth quarter of Mobile data is provided by TriTech Vision as well, also installed in 2000 and updated in the fourth quarter of Police, fire, and EMS are all supported Worthington Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems Worthington also utilizes a TriTech Vision CAD system, version 3.6.2, installed in 2002 and updated in March Like Upper Arlington s system, Worthington s system is full featured although without TTY/TDD capability. Mapping is integrated with CAD and also comes from GeoComm s GeoLynx. The RMS system in use at Worthington is also TriTech Vision, installed in 2003 and updated in March This system supports police, fire and EMS operations. Mobile data in Worthington is provided by TriTech Vision as well, was installed in 2003 and updated in March, The system supports police, fire and EMS usage and includes mobile mapping. Any consideration of utilizing one of these CAD and RMS systems to serve in a consolidated operation must include an assessment of hardware currency, storage requirements, and must include acquiring redundancy with an automated a failover process as can be achieved. The cost to enhance and expand any existing CAD and RMS system should be evaluated against the expense of acquiring a new system that is designed for consolidated, multi-jurisdictional, multi-discipline operation from the onset. Note that Upper Arlington and Worthington CAD and RMS was originally purchased as Vision systems, software sized for small to medium sized operations. TriTech is considered a Tier 1 CAD vendor with many large sized deployments. TriTech purchased Vision in recent years but as of this writing no changes have been made to the Vision software that would increase its capabilities to support larger clients. L.R. Kimball recommends working with the SunGard/HTE software vendor to define the requirements and cost to accommodate a consolidated center serving all four cities. July 2013 Page 48

53 4.2 Phone Systems for As with CAD, different phone systems or CPE solutions are in use within the involved agencies. Upper Arlington and Worthington utilize Positron Life Line 100 systems and Dublin and Hilliard utilize Cassidian (PlantCML) VESTA systems. All systems are relatively aged except for Dublin s VESTA Pallas system implemented in The other systems were implemented in the years Support for some of these older systems is likely to dwindle from the local telephone company and the original manufacturer. For a single PSAP in Dublin serving all four cities and handling the call volume of the combined agencies, only Dublin s VESTA Pallas system should be considered. If the participating Cities decide to consolidate somewhere other than the Dublin PSAP, then acquisition of new CPE would be advisable. Telephone vendors for 9-1-1, including Cassidian do not typically recommend moving (uninstall and re-install) phone systems and would most likely recommend purchasing a new system if a consolidated center were to be moved out of the Dublin center. L.R. Kimball recommends expanding the Dublin VESTA Pallas system to accommodate a consolidated center serving all four cities. 4.3 Logging Recorders There are a variety of logging recorders in use among the concerned agencies -- one from Cistera, two from CyberTech Myracle and one from DSS. Hilliard uses the CyberTech Myracle, installed It is configured for a maximum of 42 channels of which 30 are currently in use. Upper Arlington s CyberTech Myracle logger/recorder was installed All 25 of the available channels are in use. The CyberTech Myracle system can be configured for a maximum of 64 recording channels which may be insufficient for a consolidated center. The DSS Viewpoint logger at Worthington installed 2005 is using 38 of the 40 available channels; this is insufficient capacity for a consolidated center. The Cistera system, used by Dublin, has a capacity of 200 channels of which 110 are currently in use. The remaining 90 channels may be sufficient to accommodate the requirements of a consolidated center. Expansion may be available for the CyberTech or DSS systems; however the Cistera system has the greatest available capacity for use in a consolidation environment. The Cistera system also allows access from anywhere on the host network with appropriate security credentials. It is not clear at this time how trunked radio system recording will be accomplished when radio consoles are upgraded to IP-based consoles. Audio can be taken from the radios for those channels using control stations. July 2013 Page 49

54 4.4 Technology Requirements for a Consolidated Center Computer Aided Dispatch While Worthington s TriTech Vision version CAD system is the most contemporary system in use among the involved agencies, the SunGard/HTE CAD in use at the Dublin PSAP is the most suitable for expansion to accommodate a consolidated center. This recommendation is based on two important factors: Vision was recently purchased by TriTech but the software has not been altered toward the TriTech level of features and functions. There is now indication that the Vision software will be altered in the future. With the greater potential for consolidation leaning toward housing the operation within the Dublin PSAP, an investment in the Dublin CAD is more logical. Also, there is a greater capability of the SunGard/HTE CAD to expand to accommodate the multi-agency/multi-jurisdiction. Consideration must be given to the capability to interface with existing RMS of the served agencies. Both TriTech Vision and SunGard/HTE would no doubt indicate that they have or can develop interfaces for each of the existing RMS. Further investigation and requirements definition process should be conducted if the participants determine in the planning phase that both vendors or a new system is desired. L.R. Kimball recommends engaging SunGard/HTE first to learn of their expansion and interface capabilities. As with all other technology aspects of this consolidation, there are many considerations and tasks which must take place prior to consolidating operations. These include: Consult with the SunGard/HTE CAD vendor about licensing for increased seats and additional jurisdictions and disciplines, multi-jurisdictional functions and other aspects and engage the vendor s assistance in optimally configuring the system. Replace or update involved hardware as necessary, including increasing available system memory on servers. Implement a hot backup configuration. If financial and technical resources (such as fiber connectivity) are available, that backup capability should be located at a separate geographically remote site. A different existing PSAP within the region would be a likely location, and provide for a potential backup facility in the event of a catastrophic event at the consolidated PSAP. Load GIS files from the other agencies into the host system, using the format expected by the vendor. Additionally, beats, fire response areas, unit identifiers and capabilities, landmark names, and all other such system data must be loaded. Maintain all other CAD systems at full operational capability until activation of the consolidated system and a reasonable shake out period (at least 30 days). Provide dispatchers that may be transitioning over to the consolidated center will need to have extensive training and practice time on the SunGard/HTE CAD system. Instill the importance of working closely with the vendor on needed system modifications, expansions, or upgrades. This cannot be overstated. If the SunGard/HTE CAD is utilized, implementing integrated EMD software into the SunGard/HTE system should be explored to improve quality of EMD, call triaging and self-help, as well as establishing a more traceable audit trail. Further automating this process will also assist in the QA program used when reviewing calls. At a future point, July 2013 Page 50

55 perhaps beyond consolidation, additional protocols supporting fire and law enforcement call taking should be considered; whether off-the-shelf or internally developed and automated. There will also be a need to address incorporating data sets (event types, disposition codes, response plans) from the consolidating entities existing CAD systems to the SunGard/HTE CAD system that will be supporting the consolidated center. As planning and transition activities move forward between Dublin and Hilliard, one of the many standardization processes will be to identify specific needs of Hilliard and adapting or adding that information/ process/codes and so on to the Dublin CAD system. This same process will be necessary for the remaining participants; Upper Arlington and Worthington Mobile Data For optimum capability and integration, the mobile data system should be compatible with the selected CAD. If the SunGard/HTE CAD is used, those agencies not currently utilizing SunGard/HTE mobile data should acquire this software in advance of consolidation. This will ensure seamless integration with the CAD system and minimize integration challenges, risks, and costs. As with CAD, there are multiple considerations for this undertaking. These include: Ensure existing Mobile Data Computers (MDC) are individually capable of running this software in an acceptable manner. This could include upgrading hardware to faster processors, adding memory or other requirements. For those units deemed impractical to upgrade, replace with new sufficiently configured hardware as necessary. Ensure users new to the mobile software undergo training before beginning to use unfamiliar software. Provide field user names, passwords and other administrative information for new users ensuring that it will be entered into the mobile system. Ensure GPS hardware is procured, installed, and tested if AVL capabilities are desired, Records Management Systems If Dublin hosts the consolidated communications center and the SunGard/HTE CAD continues to be used, the value of utilizing the existing Dublin RMS will ultimately be a less expensive and less risky approach overall. Utilizing CAD and RMS from different vendors adds a significant level of cost, complexity and risk that may be unacceptable to the participating agencies. For agencies that utilize an RMS provided by a different vendor from the selected CAD system, a data interface must be developed. Should a location other than Dublin become the site of the consolidated center, relocating a legacy CAD and/or RMS to a new facility while maintaining operations at all involved agencies is not a practical option. July 2013 Page 51

56 Transitioning to a different RMS, regardless of the vendor, presents difficult choices. As indicated, there are three approaches to addressing the issues of legacy data: Maintain the new and old systems in tandem for data retrieval for some period of time Attempt data conversion Ignore legacy data and start anew Even with the option of not maintaining the legacy RMS and starting anew, agencies will need to maintain access to the old system for a period of time. Ultimately, the approach to be taken here is a compromise of policy decision, financial resources and risk management. If data conversion were to be near 100 percent reliable and affordable, this would clearly be the most desirable choice. It is unquestionably worth discussing data conversion with the host RMS vendor and obtaining their assessment and a quote for the undertaking, if they are willing to do so. They will likely need some data samples from each of the other RMS systems in order to perform an analysis and produce a quote. If the cost or risks of the data conversion effort do not justify the potential reward, the next most reasonable approach is to start fresh with a new RMS. There are unquestionably downsides to this approach. However, it does present the lowest risk and cost. While agencies joining the new RMS system will have no baseline data initially, manual data entry of information deemed critical may be undertaken. Apart from costs associated with any manual data entry and a nominal cost to the RMS vendor to partition segments of the RMS for the additional agencies, this approach has no additional costs. At the agencies transitioning to a new RMS, legacy RMS systems will need to be maintained for some period of time, at least several years. When lookups of legacy data are needed, personnel at the requesting department s facility will need to perform that lookup on the legacy system, or the personnel needing the information will need to conduct the lookup while at the station. While this is far from ideal, the cost and risk mitigation frequently make this approach the most desirable for agencies joining a consolidated system. Because of the highly individualized considerations and decision points in a potential RMS consolidation, and the policy, fiscal and risk issues involved; a more specific recommendation cannot be offered by L.R. Kimball. Best case scenarios have been described, their considerations and implications provided, but the decision must rest with the involved agencies based on local realities. It may be desirable to maintain some individual systems, such as the Zoll PCR and Fire software system in use in Upper Arlington, because there may be no equivalent software (specifically PCR) available in the consolidated host system. In this instance, an interface will need to be developed between the SunGard CAD system and the Zoll PCR software. There will be a cost for the CAD vendor (and perhaps for Zoll) to implement this interface. Presuming a single, unified RMS is put into place, all dispatchers assigned to the consolidated center that are unfamiliar with the system will need training in its use, as will field personnel accessing RMS either via desktop workstation or MDC. July 2013 Page 52

57 4.4.4 Telephone System for Of the different CPE configurations in place among the consolidating agencies, only Dublin s Cassidian VESTA Pallas system is of newer generation than 2002, having been implemented in Relocating existing CPE from an operational communications center to another is not a feasible endeavor. Unless Dublin becomes the hosting agency for the consolidation, new CPE would need to be procured and deployed. All of the other equipment is aged and is not advised for the substantially increased call volume to be expected in the consolidated center. Preparatory work for routing calls for all agencies into the new consolidated center will involve working with the local Master Street Address Guide (MSAG) coordinator and representatives to update selective routing information based upon Emergency Services Number (ESN) information for each of the involved agencies. Determining an appropriate number of trunks and circuits for and administrative/non-emergency lines will need to be assessed with the assistance of the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) Logging Recorder Of the logging recorders currently in use at the involved agencies, only the Cistera logger used by Dublin will have the capacity to record the increased number of telephone lines and radio channels. If Dublin is not the hosting agency for the consolidated center, moving the Dublin recorder to the consolidated facility should be considered. A channel plan should be developed for all radio channels or talkgroups that should be recorded, as well as lines, administrative lines and any other input. 4.5 Maximizing Utilization of Existing Technology Resources In any new or newly consolidated communications center, the optimum configuration would be to procure entirely new technology optimized for the consolidated operation. Costs to do so are often far beyond the resources of the involved agencies. Absent the ability to deploy entirely new technology optimized for the consolidated operation, decisions must be made about which technology can be re-used and which must be replaced. This is both a fiscal and an operational decision. An item of technology might be fiscally feasible to be re-used, but its capabilities may not sufficiently meet the needs of the collective or individual agencies. With the technology currently in use in this area, re-use of CAD and RMS is a feasible alternative given the available possibilities. Mobile Data Communications hardware may well be reusable, but at least some agencies will need to implement new software for integration with the CAD and RMS. If Dublin is not to be the consolidated site, then new CPE should be purchased. A viable logging recorder is available and advantage should be taken of this recorder. By making prudent re-use of appropriate technology, cost savings can be maximized, and at least a subset of users will be utilizing technology with which they are familiar Facility Requirements and Concept This section addresses general facility requirements for a modern emergency communications center. It also contains space requirements for a renovated center serving the four cities of Upper Arlington, Worthington, Hilliard and Dublin, and the two townships of Norwich and Washington. July 2013 Page 53

58 While the following information is provided for consideration of a newly constructed facility, where appropriate, L.R. Kimball provides comment toward the expansion of the Dublin PSAP to accommodate a consolidated operation. Cost estimates cannot be provided for renovation until a site engineering study is completed after a decision is made on the location and number of participants. Should the Dublin PSAP be selected to house a consolidated center, then a site engineering study should be performed to determine renovation type and estimation of associated costs Site Evaluations An evaluation should be completed for all candidate sites to help score or rate them and identify the best possible sites for a regional PSAP. Utilizing a criteria matrix provides the ability to review potential sites for both positive and negative factors and to sum up the findings in a reviewable fashion. A matrix 8 from NENA can be used and/or expanded. The document contains the following major criteria: Site accessibility Adequate site space Attractive neighbor profile Cost differentials Electrical power and utilities Facility development (existing building) Site integrity Quality of life (amenities) Security issues Telecommunications availability/access Threat and Vulnerability Assessment An in-depth facility hazard assessment of all proposed sites, new or existing, should be conducted for a regional PSAP facility. This study will help identify potential hazards and/or threats that could impact the facility. Dependent on the number and/or type of threats identified, additional review of these and other criteria will be necessary during the civil/engineering portion of the design and construction of a new or renovated site. 8 Public Safety Answering Point Site Selection Criteria Operations Information Document (OID), NENA, July, 2007, July 2013 Page 54

59 At a minimum, the following types of threats/hazards should be reviewed: Natural Threats Weather Seismic/Geological Service interruptions Civil Threats Terrorism Vandalism Cyber security General environmental Accident Hazards Internal External (vicinity) Personal Safety More specific critical information that needs to be reviewed during this hazard assessment process includes the following general areas: Lightning/Storms Tornados Loss of power or telecommunications Earthquake Fire Railroad proximity Unauthorized entry/security Terrorism Airport flight paths Flooding Site adjacencies Accidents (Hazardous Materials [HAZMAT]) 4.6 Backup Facility Whether a new facility is required or an existing facility renovated to accommodate a regional PSAP, there will be a need to identify, plan for and equip a long-term backup facility. In the event that a regional PSAP needs to be evacuated or is rendered uninhabitable, there will be a need to maintain and relocate to a backup center at another location. A backup PSAP is essential to maintaining an acceptable level of call processing and emergency services dispatching. Without a backup center, call processing and dispatching would be severely compromised if operations at a regional PSAP ceased for whatever reason. Evacuation and relocation of staff may be caused by environmental and/or technical infrastructure failure. Failures of the internal or external telecommunications, radio dispatch equipment or electrical service equipment are situations when evacuation to a backup PSAP could be warranted. July 2013 Page 55

60 A backup facility should be reviewed for specific requirements. It will require robust and diverse systems that share operational and functional redundancy and physical capabilities with the primary facility. The selected backup facility can also serve as a cost-effective location for off-site installation of backup servers or database maintenance for any or all critical systems in use at the primary facility. The primary and backup facility can provide systems redundancy for each other. It is best if the facility has sufficient hardening and redundant power/telecommunications connectivity to function in this capacity. L.R. Kimball recommends a backup center sized to accommodate the full capacity of any communications center. The facility should have the ability to support a temporary short-term and long-term loss of the primary facility. Short-term would be designated as two to five days and long-term would be considered a longer period (for example, days, weeks, months.) L.R. Kimball does not recommend a mobile command post solution as the only means for backup communications. These typically work as a temporary solution until a more robust, reliable and well-equipped backup center can be staffed and begin operations. With the proper connectivity to the primary facility, the backup facility can augment operations at the primary facility during times of disaster or high call volume when additional call taking and/or dispatching resources are needed. The backup facility should be geographically diverse for weather-related or other localized disasters and emergencies. The backup facility should be served by alternate utilities (telephone home office, power grid, etc.) Best Practices Facility Planning When proceeding with construction of a new facility or renovations to an existing building, consideration should be given to industry best practices for PSAPs. The following detail information is provided as standard and best practices based approach to design of a newly constructed, and where possible, a renovated or re-purposed facility. The design of a space intended to support 24/7/365 operations must meet the needs of a modern PSAP. Of great importance is the comfort and safety of the staff and the capacity of the space to address current needs, as well as the needs for the next ten to twenty years. A hardened design is desired and intended to allow this operation to continue when the surrounding community is affected by power outages, severe weather events or man-made and/or natural disasters. There are compromises and decisions required to accommodate limitations in funding, vision and, at times, politics. The effort and attention given to the design of a new facility, and specifically to the allocation of the communications space and support areas by the facility occupants, will determine the capacity and life span of the structure, service and ultimately, the organization. The industry standards cited and used to guide the design input and technology best practices recommended include NFPA Section 1221, CALEA, NENA and APCO. These standards-setting bodies provide standards and guidance in the operations and technical aspects of a modern PSAP. The National Electrical Safety Code (NESC); the latest edition of NFPA 70, National Electrical Code (NEC); American National Standards Institute/Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronic Industries Alliance (ANSI/TIA/EIA) standards; the Building Industry Consulting July 2013 Page 56

61 Service International (BICSI) Telecommunications Distribution Method Manual; and Motorola R56 Standards and Guidelines for Communication Sites impact the electrical and cable infrastructure. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standards impact electrical, grounding and communications systems design. Additional consideration must be given to codes adopted by the local jurisdictional authority. For example, if the most recent version of the International Building Code (IBC) is used, specific criteria must be followed to ensure the stability and integrity of buildings identified as critical facilities Spatial Requirements In emergency communications operations, the number of workstations drives the floor and adjacency needs. Industry standards provide direction in determining the amount of space required to properly support emergency communications within a range of square feet based on the organizational and operational model. The number of required workstations is developed by first reviewing the future operations of the PSAP and determining the number of personnel required for the workload. The quantity of positions is then determined to support the required staff. Training needs and future expansion must also be taken into consideration. Programming based on the concept of a consolidated organization provides a range of available square feet on a per console basis. To adequately support the current workload in a consolidated environment, eight workstations are needed with at least one additional workstation for training, over flow and special events. An additional space allotment on the main floor should be given to accommodate future consoles. The number of workstations projected for an operation is used in combination with the amount of square feet per position to project the total work area of the PSAP floor. Consideration must be given to providing space for areas such as administrative offices, a training room, a kitchen, locker space, storage, hallways and bathroom facilities. In a renovation or expansion such as may be necessary in the Dublin PSAP to accommodate the addition of Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard workload, consideration must be given to existing space already in place for administrative offices, kitchen, lockers, storage, hallways and bathroom facilities. Further study will be needed to determine if any of these spaces require expansion/renovation and what additional support areas may be needed Specific Space Requirements for Study Participants New Facility For a regional center serving all four cities and two townships, a facility of approximately 2,700 square feet is needed to accommodate 8-10 workstation consoles, associated administrative office space, equipment room needs and other associated space needs. This projection is based on a preliminary programming exercise that utilizes standard office spaces and known space needs for workstations, rack spaces and adjacencies. This estimation tool was used to provide an estimated projection of space needs. This tool also uses a low to high range estimated cost-to-build per square foot to project a range of cost to build a new facility. The low range used is $375 and the high range is $425 to construct per square foot. The price range to build a regional center that serves all four cities and two townships is projected to be from $1 to $1.14 million. The projected space needs and cost estimates are based on new construction. Projecting costs to re-purpose an existing communications center or non-communications center facility will require specific architectural review and study of the proposed site(s). July 2013 Page 57

62 4.6.4 Specific Space Requirements for Study Participants Renovation of Dublin Public Safety Answering Point The results of the new facility preliminary programming exercise can be adjusted to accommodate editing the base information; for example administrative office, storage or bunkroom spaces, or the addition of space for other functions, such as municipal data storage or emergency management offices and specifically can be adjusted to account for existing space in a renovation scenario such as the expansion of the Dublin facility. The high-level space projections for a renovated Dublin PSAP are to expand the operations floor by approximately 1,075 square feet to accommodate the addition of four more consoles for consolidation and additional space for two future consoles for post-consolidation growth. his figure allows for the addition of 175 square feet per console and does not include potential expansion needs of the support offices spaces PSAP Workstations Within the allotted space, each position can require up to 175 square feet of floor space per workstation and work area on the operations floor. The 175 square feet represents the individual footprint of a position as normally fitting within a 10-foot by 10-foot area (100 square feet) with the remaining 75 square feet representing the necessary areas surrounding the furniture footprint, such as pathways, open areas, doorway access and clearance allowance in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This preliminary spatial allocation number is generally used for planning and can fluctuate with various room configurations and/or system furniture solutions. Appendix X contains a diagram of a generic or typical ergonomic dispatch workstation, followed by a fixture schedule identifying the various systems and equipment normally installed at the workstation Equipment Rooms An allowance of 25 square feet is standard to accommodate the footprint of each single enclosed equipment cabinet or rack with a minimum three-foot clearance around. This also includes aisle-ways, accommodations for doors and room shapes/sizes, clearance for wall-mounted equipment, fire suppression and cabling infrastructure. To project the space needs for an equipment room or rooms, planners must know the number and type of systems and equipment needed to support a regional PSAP. This space estimate should include utility considerations and demarcation points for all services. Other uses for this space may include network servers and routers, secure data storage for served agencies records servers or repositories Training Room A regional center will need to construct an area to provide training for new employees. Call takers and dispatchers must master a wide range of interpersonal and technical skills and must perform their functions in a high-stress mission critical mode. There is an on-going need for call takers and dispatchers to maintain their existing proficiency and skills. A well-equipped systems training room or area will provide the required environment and equipment to carry out this critical training away from the operations floor and from the distractions found inside a live PSAP. July 2013 Page 58

63 L.R. Kimball recommends a dedicated systems training room or area with one or two positions that are identical to the consoles on the operations floor, equipped with CAD, phone and radio, to support training and live calls. The training area can be used for new employee and continuing education training, incident overflow during high periods of call activity (severe weather) and can be staffed with additional call takers or dispatchers for special operations, EOC activations and other activities and to monitor employee activity and perform QA Security Security will need to be included in new or renovated facility planning. The main entry doors should have security cameras for reviewing access and egress. All external doors should have a swipe card security system for entry to the building. This will allow all employees ease of access and will provide the capability to record when doors are opened and by whom. Doors should be allowed to be opened from the inside without a card to allow visitors egress without assistance. Though the 24/7 operations of the PSAP require monitoring and remote control of the security system, the primary responsibility of monitoring and controlling access to the building during normal business hours should be accommodated elsewhere in the facility. The PSAP however, should maintain direct control over access and egress of the PSAP area. A fence should be constructed around the perimeter of the facility for added security. This includes an entry gate to the parking lot. This gate should operate with a swipe card system and have an intercom system allowing visitors to speak with an employee and request entry to the facility. Appropriate lighting of all parking areas, entrances and pathways is required to provide safe arrival and departure for the communications staff on all shifts. Dedicated close proximity and secure parking is desired to enhance the security provided for PSAP staff. Security levels will need to be established for the facility as a whole and where additional hardening is deemed necessary, such as the PSAP and equipment rooms. Internal doors needing restricted access could utilize the swipe card system and could be programmed to allow access to management-level staff only. The Dublin PSAP assessment demonstrated good security practices in place. The following information is provided for use in the design of a new or renovated PSAP and for general requirements based on architectural best practices for mission critical facilities and industry standards (NFPA) that should be applied as appropriate and within the physical and financial limits of the project Flooring A new or renovated facility should have a raised computer floor installed in the PSAP and the equipment room(s) if possible. The computer floor will need to be a minimum of eight inches higher than the existing floor and is typically comprised of two-foot square floor panels. The floor panels can be purchased with static dissipative carpet or other sound reduction material/coating on the topside for use in the PSAP. This will allow for a much quieter operation in this area. The equipment room panels should be static dissipative, but not carpeted. July 2013 Page 59

64 Variations on this design are common to include above ceiling and wall access in renovated or re-purposed properties; and where installation of a raised floor is cost prohibitive Lighting Public Safety Answering Point lighting should consist of indirect and/or task lighting. Dimmers or multiple switches should be used to provide different light levels for different shifts, which will provide a more pleasing work environment and will help reduce computer screen glare Acoustics Public Safety Answering Point walls should be covered with an acoustic tile that will serve to prevent sound from reverberating throughout the room. Finish materials and building configuration should be designed to absorb ambient noise Cable Infrastructure Cable trays should be placed under the raised floors in the PSAP and the equipment room; these trays or runs are also common in ceiling and wall access designs. Cable trays will allow all cabling to be strategically routed from equipment to their termination point. An organized cabling system allows for future access for move, add or change activity. Consideration should be given to color-coding the different cables (radio, telephone, CAD network, administrative network, etc.) and/or labeling each cable every few feet to facilitate troubleshooting and repair. Proper grounding of all equipment is critical and should be per Motorola R56 specifications or equivalent. Overhead feeds from equipment rooms that require transition to the floor cable trays should follow the same requirements for placement. User outlets should be coordinated with furniture layout Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning The PSAP will need dedicated and redundant Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems that will maintain a near-constant temperature and humidity level in the operations room and the equipment rooms. This will increase the life cycle of all electronic components and lessen the chance of a system failure due to lightning or static electricity Fire Suppression A double interlock, dry pre-action fire suppression system should be used in areas where mission critical equipment is located. This system type is designed to minimize the likelihood of water leakage in the equipment rooms by keeping the piping in that room sealed from the main supply until activation. The remaining facility will need to be properly sprinkler-protected for fire suppression as required by code. July 2013 Page 60

65 Utilities Separate service entrances and redundancy are desired in support of emergency communications. Utilities to this area must be secured. Multiple source points and use of underground lines should secure power, voice and data cable entrances. Multiple source points of gas lines and water should also be considered. Creating or extending service modes/infrastructure into or through unsecured areas of the facility or external grounds may also create opportunities for points of failure or targets. For example, designing a secure enclosed area for a generator, but leaving fuel tanks in an unsecured/non-enclosed area, compromises the security of the facility Emergency Power An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) should be installed that will support all computer, telephony and electrical equipment in the event of a power disruption. A generator that can support all essential equipment in the event of an electrical power interruption should enhance this Other Services Power, water and communications service providers should be contacted as early as possible in the planning process. Confirming the availability of the appropriate level of a specific utility and explaining the increased service needs due to increased use, redundancy, diversity and backup system requirements will allow adequate time for utility planning, preparation and installation Ductbanks Ductbanks will be required for communications and electrical service. Separate trenches are preferred, but are not always practical. Industry guidelines recommend that electrical conduits and telecommunications conduits maintain a minimum separation of 36 inches when co-located in the same trench. Ductbanks should be encased in concrete throughout their entire length. At transition points where ductbanks terminate at the base of respective utility poles and cables are routed from underground to aerial facilities, the communication trunk cables and electrical power feeder cables should be encased with U-Guard up the side of the pole. The U-Guard should extend into the conduit; no cable sheath should be exposed. Industry guidelines recommend that this facility employ diverse path routing for both the electrical feed and the communication trunk cabling. This will require communications and power to each have two separate ductbanks, each routed to opposite sides of the site s perimeter. The optimum power configuration includes two appropriately sized UPS units fed from two separate power grids. To provide the highest level of redundancy, each grid transformer feeds to one of two UPS units; each UPS is capable of supporting 100 percent of the power load and backing-up the other in the event one should fail. The optimum communication configuration is comprised of two groups of trunk cables with each group routed through separate communication ductbanks. The trunks are then extended to separate end central offices. Each trunk group should be capable of managing 100 percent of the communication circuits and be configured to July 2013 Page 61

66 automatically route circuits from one trunk group to the other in the event one trunk group goes into a fail or overload condition Other Considerations Equipment room layout requirements are addressed by all affected parties such as the designers, contractors, service providers and vendors. Prior to installation, the following questions must be addressed: Will racks and/or cabinets be used? How will voice cables terminate backboard or rack? How are data cables for the automated systems terminated? On which racks? What will go in each rack power and HVAC system requirements, cross connections to adjacencies? Is tie cabling needed for mobile unit parking location and connection or a tower shelter? What are the demarcation requirements regarding rack space, backboard space, power, OSP conduits quantity and site perimeter termination point? How many antenna cable conduits to rooftop and/or tower for Public Safety radio and amateur radio (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service [RACES] are needed? Facility Design Should Include an Outlet Floor Plan That Provides for the Following Outlet composition to include cable quantity and type for voice, data, cable television (CATV), radio, telephony, PBX or IP circuits for administrative phone system, CAD and local area network (LAN) for the PSAP and also standard administrative outlets Outlet locations inside each room including the support, administrative and management area of the building need to be considered; access off the communications area floor for the various technologies such as telephone management information system (MIS), CAD and digital recorder remote playback and monitoring will be needed Floor box locations Optional or future components Overhead projection locations (overhead projector links for presentation input) Video panel locations Wall clocks Message board locations Audio-visual design considerations should include video distribution and input/output requirements (for example, switching and matrix equipment). Consideration should be given to additional operational issues, equipment or systems: Video monitoring (on-site Closed-Circuit Television [CCTV] camera system) Security monitoring (electronic security and access control) Interoperability patch (National Warning System [NAWAS] Local Help and National Call channel monitors) Municipal alarm monitoring (government buildings, schools, banks, etc.) Emergency notification system (for example, Reverse 9-1-1) July 2013 Page 62

67 Traffic signal liaison and/or Department of Transportation (DOT) video feeds Animal control Warrant service NCIC Parking enforcement Vehicle towing/impound, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) assistance Emergency management systems Homeland security Radio site/system manager Portable backup radios Master Clock time display Network printers Fax machine Traffic Study A formal traffic study should be conducted to gauge the area s current traffic flow and the impact the PSAP staff s transportation activity will have; this will assist in determining additional traffic signage, signaling requirements and site (driveway) entry point options consistent with the respective DOT s associated policies Call Volume/Workload The Cities of Hilliard, Upper Arlington and Worthington answer an average of 4,800 wireline calls annually. The City of Dublin answers both wireline and wireless calls averaging over 29,000 calls annually. These figures are based on reported call volumes for the past three years. While the emergency call volume is consistent with the population of the participating cities and townships, the reported non-emergency call volumes vary greatly and may be due to how and what calls are routed and tracked through the PSAP. The reported calls entered into CAD for police, fire and medical response and self-initiated responder activities is consistent with the call volume, population and agencies size. The documented calls for fire response for Hilliard and Upper Arlington are more than double the reported documented fire response calls for Dublin and Worthington. This is most likely due to how and what calls types are documented. Beyond incoming call volumes and documented calls for service, work load analysis must include consideration for outgoing calls, administrative tasks, record keeping and other duties. The Cities of Hilliard, Upper Arlington and Worthington PSAPs are integrated functions of their respective police departments under the direction of ranking sworn officers, Lieutenants and Sergeants. As such, much of the non related duties are support functions for the police department and comprise the majority of the working hours. On average these three cities process about two emergency calls per hour, about four non-emergency calls per hour and about four administrative calls per hour. If in total these calls average two minutes each to handle then approximately twenty minutes out of each hour may be spent answering and processing incoming calls, of which less than a quarter of the calls are emergencies meaning about five minutes per hour is dedicated to emergency call taking. July 2013 Page 63

68 The dispatching workloads of these three cities indicate that an average of four dispatching functions occurs each hour. While we cannot specifically identify the amount of time dedicated to each call or even call type due to the different needs and circumstances, L.R. Kimball experience estimates an average of five minutes per hour per dispatch activity understanding that the activity may range from a minor non-emergency dispatch to a long term monitoring event such as a working fire, hostage situation or pursuit, or many multi-agency/multi-jurisdiction response. These estimates indicate that about 40 minutes of each hour may be spent processing emergency, non-emergency and administrative calls and dispatching calls for service. The remaining 20 minutes per hour are spent on support activities for the police departments and other City services. The City of Dublin differs from the cities of Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard in that the reported call volume includes wireless calls of which all must be handled and many must be transferred, and dispatching activities which are in line with the reported calls for service activity of the other participating cities. The exception is that the reported fire response activity is significantly less than the other cities. Should Dublin become the host PSAP to which the other three cities and two townships either contract or consolidate to, the impact on the space, staff and technology at the Dublin PSAP will be significant. L.R. Kimball understands that the impact on Dublin of taking on Hilliard s call volume and related dispatch workload was thoroughly studied and accommodations will be made to address space, staff and technology needs, as well as operations based changes to policies and procedures as appropriate Staffing To provide efficient service to the public and local emergency services, PSAPs must ensure that an adequate number of qualified staff is on duty at all times. When this does not occur, service quality can diminish and the short and long-term effects on staff often lead to staffing issues, overworked personnel and attrition increases. Determining appropriate staffing levels for a PSAP is a complex process that involves a combination of mathematical calculations based on a quantifiable work load, such as and administrative call volume and number of dispatch positions. Call volume is the prime factor in determining the number of trunks and workstations needed to handle a PSAP s projected workload. The NENA standard is to answer 90 percent of calls within 10 seconds. The NFPA standard, used by the ISO, is to answer 95 percent of calls on emergency lines within 15 seconds. Based on L.R. Kimball s experience with call statistics, managing consolidated centers and consolidation planning projects, we can expect the non-emergency/administrative incoming and outgoing call volumes to decline once full consolidation is realized. This is due in part to the participating Cities police departments retaining some of the agency specific non-emergency and administrative functions at their respective offices and to automation of some services or shifting of responsibilities to more appropriate staff outside the emergency response operation. July 2013 Page 64

69 4.6.9 Call Takers Call taking in an emergency communications environment is a high stress and critical function. Call takers are the first members of Public Pafety to touch an incident being reported by the public. To the public, call takers represent the police, fire and EMS personnel who will be responding to their emergency. The ability of the call taker to accurately identify the caller s needs and respond quickly and efficiently can have a substantial impact on an incident s outcome and the public s overall confidence in the emergency communications system. To meet NENA and NFPA standards in handling the projected call volume, the consolidated PSAP will require staffing of two call taker workstations twentyfour-hours per day. Only the number of call takers required to adequately staff a consolidated PSAP can be accurately determined using the APCO and Erlang C calculations. L.R. Kimball customized the formulas to calculate the estimated number of dispatchers and supervisors needed. There is not yet a calculation/formula to more accurately determine the number of dispatchers needed based on workload. However, radio traffic/usage studies can be conducted to determine the level of use or available airtime of a channel/frequency. This type of study can assist a PSAP in determining the number of channels needed to support operations, but does not directly provide the number of dispatchers needed to staff the channels. The anticipated workload generated by the multiple served agencies does not constitute the need for each police agency to have individually monitored channels. Some consolidation of law enforcement talk group dispatch channels is recommended for the consolidated PSAP. A dispatcher-to-police unit ratio of 20 to 30 units per radio channel is acceptable, depending upon the expected level of service provided by the dispatcher, law enforcement activity, technology in use and the method by which the PSAP utilizes their dispatch personnel. While there is no official national standard for this ratio, accepted industry practice falls within these numbers. The number of units on duty, on average, is well within accepted standards. During the implementation phase of consolidation, there may be an operational need to consolidate some of the police agencies onto existing radio dispatch talk groups to reduce the number of primary police dispatch talk groups to a level that provides the best service in the most cost effective manner possible. Based on existing call volume within the region, consolidating police agencies on dispatch talk groups or into geographic police dispatch groups is recommended. The exact configuration of these zones will require an in-depth study of channel traffic, call volumes, geographical adjacencies and political desires. Based on current statistics, there should be a need for no more than three police dispatch positions in the consolidated PSAP. This could be a combination of three primary police dispatch positions or two primary police dispatch positions, with a third overflow or NCIC position. Based on current statistics, L.R. Kimball anticipates two fire/ems positions would be needed in the consolidated PSAP. This configuration could be one fire/ems dispatch position and one tactical/operational position. This tactical position could provide call taking and relief to the shift. Additional positions would be necessary during periods of high call volume (weather related incidents) or for major incidents for any discipline (police, fire/ems). July 2013 Page 65

70 Shift Supervision Public Safety best practices require 24/7 supervision. To supervise the average shift of seven staff daily, L.R. Kimball recommends a strong supervisory presence of one supervisor per shift dedicated to shift operations in the PSAP. The National Fire Protection Association has developed codes, standards, and recommended practices through a process approved by the ANSI. The Technical Committee on Public Emergency Service Communication prepared the latest edition of NFPA 1221, Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems (Edition 2010). Chapter 7 of sets forth the standards for PSAP operations; Section 1 of Chapter 7 addresses management. The National Fire Protection Association 1221, states, At least one supervisor shall be on duty and available when more than two telecommunicators are on duty. The National Fire Protection Association 1221, states, The supervisor shall be assigned to the operations room when there are more than three telecommunicators on duty. Annex A of NFPA 1221 provides further explanation. A states, The supervisor position(s) in the communications center should be provided in addition to the telecommunicator(s) position(s). These supervisory personnel are intended to be available for problem solving The Standards for Public Safety Communications Agencies (SPSCA), established jointly by CALEA and APCO, does not specifically address staffing or supervision in a PSAP. However, both sets of standards reference utilizing ICS protocols. (CALEA Standard and SPSCA Standard are mandatory for accreditation.) The Department of Homeland Security, coordinating with federal, state and local governments established the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The ICS falls under the 'Command and Management element of NIMS. The ICS represents best practices and is the standard for emergency management across the country and requires a supervisor when there are between three and seven persons performing similar functions. (The optimal span of control is five.) A manageable span of control allows supervisors to supervise and control their subordinates, while allowing for efficient communications between all parties. While NFPA standards and ICS require dedicated supervisory personnel, there are in-house considerations as well. A consolidated PSAP will have greater geographic boundaries and agency responsibilities. A dedicated supervisor assigned to each shift: Provides coordination and direction during major emergency incidents, such as severe weather, high profile incidents Is available for problem solving Is a single point of contact for subscriber agencies Is readily able to identify areas for growth among subordinates Allows for formalized development of career paths Has the ability to document employee performance for annual/periodic reviews Provides a more narrow scope of supervision when implementing new policies and procedures July 2013 Page 66

71 Provides more supervision for diversified, complex tasks Is able to stay current with technological changes/advancements Provides guidance to new employees who have less training and experience Provides greater knowledge of laws, procedures, and administrative processes Is able to focus on the operations of the PSAP as a whole and not have split responsibilities with a dispatch position Is able to focus on customer service to public, subscriber agencies Allows for improved communications with management, subordinates, and subscriber agencies Spends more time with subordinates individually, on a daily basis Allows for operational efficiency Is able to identify areas for remedial training, counseling or discipline, when appropriate Is able to address issues upon occurrence, not after the fact Is able to set priorities Allows for delegation of tasks/responsibilities The NCIC dispatchers also require a supervisor s assistance to approve broadcast messages and enter persons, vehicles, etc. into NCIC. Confirmations of positive responses for entries into these systems are time critical and require a response within ten minutes. L.R. Kimball recommends the assignment of one dedicated supervisor, or assistant supervisor, to each shift in order to comply with recommended/best practices as set forth by the NFPA and the Department of Homeland Security. Selection and placement of the supervisory staff should first be attempted through existing qualified staff. If an internal process does not provide qualified individuals, an external hiring process will be needed. 4.7 STAFFING PROJECTIONS Based on Erlang C calculations and the Project Responsive Efforts To Address Integral Staffing Needs (RETAINS) formula, the minimum projected staff needed in the consolidated PSAP is This minimum projection was derived using the reported call volume and the reported and estimated administrative/non-emergency call volume for the calculations. The projected staff is broken down as 15 certified call takers, certified dispatchers and 5 supervisors for a total goal staff complement of operational employees. These projections vary based on whether there is intent to staff a tactical fire/relief position. Note that these projections do not include administrative and support positions. While completely cross-trained staff is desired, projected minimum certified staff is provided as guidance toward meeting call volume and dispatching needs. The staffing projections represent the number of FTE employees needed to staff three call take positions, three law enforcement dispatch positions, one fire/ems dispatch positions, one tactical fire/relief dispatch position (optional) and one supervisor position twentyfour-hours per day. The total number of equipped and staffed positions is 8-10 depending on decisions toward additional positions or space for future positions for growth. Conditions and options may be present that will require adjusting the staff projections. Appropriately qualified senior staff can be trained and compensated to fill in for absent supervisors. Certified part-time staff can be used to July 2013 Page 67

72 augment the operations staff as needed during training, identified high call volume periods, special events and on-going high priority incidents that depletes full-time staff capacity. The addition of at least one assistant supervisor or senior dispatcher per shift will augment the operations supervisor s ability to properly oversee the staff, and will enhance the ability to maintain training and certification levels, and manage personnel issues. Based on projected staffing needs, some of the existing staff can be expected to transition to the consolidated PSAP. Through attrition and qualification procedures, the possibility exists that several staff members will not transition to the new consolidated PSAP. A hiring process will be necessary to fill additional staff positions. 4.8 WORKSTATIONS L.R. Kimball recommends the workstations/consoles be identically equipped with critical technology: answering equipment, CAD and radio consoles. This configuration allows each position to be used for the dispatch of any discipline and provides appropriate backups. For facility sizing purposes, space for one to two future consoles should be included on the operations floor, which could be used for overflow calls during incidents, special operations, and training; and when needed a power shift could be staffed at one of the additional consoles. In addition to the recommended total consoles for the operations floor, one or two training consoles could be located off the operations floor and could be partially to fully equipped based on need and funding. A re-evaluation of available statistical call volume and data should be performed every three to six months during the planning and implementation phases of consolidation to ensure accuracy in staffing projections. 4.9 Cost Estimates A common misconception is that consolidating emergency communications will immediately save money for the participating entities. This is not entirely true. L.R. Kimball has found that there are immediate cost efficiencies, which will eventually lead to cost savings. This evolution typically occurs within three to five years, depending on the physical and operational state of the original agencies and what capital costs are incurred and how they are handled. Often there is a need to create parity in pay and benefits for participating agency staff that are expected to become the skilled staff of the consolidated operation. Personnel costs usually account for the majority of an operating budget. The current total reported personnel (salary plus benefits) costs for all four participating cities are $3,875,715, with an average personnel budget of $969,000. The Dublin personnel budget is reported just above $1.3 M and would expect to increase with the addition of staff to accommodate a full consolidation. The personnel costs associated with the PSAPs in Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard will be reduced; however, there will be costs associated with retaining some staff to handle the non-dispatch tasks and police clerical duties currently handled by their respective PSAP staffs. If the Hilliard/Norwich/Dublin initiative is successful the remaining July 2013 Page 68

73 participants will have real cost impact data to review to better see what the impact will be on their department budgets. L.R. Kimball cautions the decision makers that cost savings can be realized through removing some staff, however at least half of the staff in each center may be need to be retained to handle the non-dispatch and unique support and clerical duties at each department. Note that another method of reduces personnel costs entering into a consolidation is that clerical positions require less certification and pay many times than trained dispatchers. The City PSAPs are on par with the national struggles to maintain allotted staffing levels. Typically, emergency communications centers are understaffed and require increased staff and/or improvement of salary and benefits to a competitive level. Personnel costs in consolidated centers are usually higher due to the addition of an administrative/ management staff structure and the costs to train and acclimatize staff to new systems and operational protocols. Should the decision to consolidate take the form of contracting with or consolidating with the City of Dublin, the personnel costs will be directly tied to the additional workload for Dublin. The City of Dublin PSAP already has an established administrative team to include support staff. As outlined in the proposed implementation plan, transitioning the workload in phases will allow management to determine the impact on staffing. Depending on what services beyond call taking and dispatching are transitioned to the consolidated operation, there may be opportunities to reduce staff numbers from the merging PSAPs so less staff transition resulting in lower overall personnel costs. If the Dublin pay and classification structure is used and all eligible employees are vetted and hired by Dublin, then the staffing plans and costs can be renegotiated into a single collective bargaining agreement with the City of Dublin. If a consolidation regional advisory board is created, then there may be opportunity to include said board in employment decisions. Until decisions on pay, classification and benefits is crafted or negotiated on behalf of the cities and the collective bargaining unit, it is difficult to project personnel costs for a consolidated operation. For budgetary and planning purposes, planners may use a figure that is higher than the current total reported personnel costs to accommodate any potential addition of necessary operational staff and support staff. A budgetary estimate of $4 M is reasonable. If a newly constructed or renovated facility is required, then those capital costs will elevate consolidation costs during the initial planning and implementation phases. Cost efficiencies derived from streamlining operations, technology (systems and networks) and facilities to one primary and one backup operation become reality as soon as the transition is complete. First time capital costs such as constructing/renovating a facility, upgrading/replacing the systems and creating a redundant robust network, and merging personnel under one administration, is temporary but will require capital improvement planning for future upkeep and replacement. The on-going operational costs following go-live of the consolidated communications center typically and collectively create an overall cost savings from the expense of maintaining multiple PSAPs. Depending on the funding model chosen, the time period for seeing the results of the cost efficiencies or cost savings will vary by agency, but can be expected to be quantified within the first year of consolidation. The following table compares current reported costs with estimated costs to consolidate. July 2013 Page 69

74 Table 1 Current Reported Costs with Estimated Consolidation Costs (italicized figures are high level estimates) The savings shown in personnel costs is based on the assumption that the collective workload can be handled in a consolidated operation at the Dublin PSAP by less staff than the existing PSAPs have in total. The actual savings can be quantified after specific decisions are made on what services beyond call taking and dispatching will be transitioned to the consolidated center. While the participating agencies may not see any or only relatively small cost savings in year one of consolidation, savings can be expected to increase as the single consolidated agency continues in a single facility with singular systems and networks versus the cost of multiple PSAPs in separate facilities with duplicated systems. Stakeholders and decision-makers must keep in mind that these high level estimated projections are only to be used for planning purposes. The ROM provided for capital costs will require an engineering study for facility renovation to increase the validity to the level of an estimate. Actual costs will be based on decisions made regarding the location of the consolidated center and which systems will require upgrading or replacement. Network reconfiguration and streamlining costs cannot be estimated at this juncture without knowing when and where the consolidated operation will be located, or what type of connectivity will be required between the served agencies and the consolidated center. To consolidate the regionally supported Public Safety radio system and the system and associated networks will require direct coordination with the regional entities that control them. Specific costs associated with reconfiguring the networks and relocating or replacing equipment will also require working directly with the regional entities that provide funding and oversight to the respective systems. July 2013 Page 70

75 Should participating entities contract or consolidate with the City of Dublin, the costs associated will include, but are not limited to the following: Facility renovation costs these costs cannot be estimated until the full impact of how many entities will be contracting or consolidating with Dublin, and what levels of service beyond call taking and dispatching will be transitioned. A complete engineering and programming study should then be completed to provide accurate cost estimates and full design documents Note that the transition and ongoing costs of incorporating Hilliard call taking and dispatching into the Dublin PSAP once finalized can be used as a model for adding the cities of Upper Arlington, Worthington and any future entities. Radio system build out The Cities of Dublin and Worthington are on the same radio system, so there are minimal radio system build costs associated with merging/consolidating these two PSAPs. However, the City of Hilliard has budgeted approximately $1 M to build out the COIRS infrastructure to cover Hilliard and to allow full featured radio communications as part of negotiations with the City of Dublin to contract call taking and dispatch services. Section 2 Radio Systems provides information on how radio needs of the City of Upper Arlington can be met in a consolidated operation in Dublin. Automated systems the support systems of CAD, CPE, logging recorder and other ancillary systems are not anticipated to require full replacement in a consolidation merge of Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard PSAPs into the Dublin PSAP. The costs to expand/upgrade these systems will be tied directly to the number of participants. If all four cities merge PSAP operations into Dublin then the CAD system will require the addition of licenses and agency data. The CPE will require the addition of trunks and phone circuits to accommodate the increased workload and, the logging recorder may require additional channel capacity though the Dublin logger may have sufficient capacity now thus no additional costs. Staff hours associated with planning, Standard Operating Procedure/Standards, Objectives and Goals (SOP/SOG) adjustments and standardization, eligibility and hiring program and process administration, training/cross-training activities. The City of Dublin may require hiring additional support staff for training and QA if the current staff are not able to handle the increased workload. July 2013 Page 71

76 5. GOVERNANCE OPTIONS 5.1 Governance Governance refers to establishing a shared vision and a collaborative decision-making process supporting interoperability efforts to improve communication, coordination, and cooperation across jurisdictions 9. Developing an appropriate governance structure for a consolidated PSAP is critical to enabling the PSAP s Manager to effectively manage resources and provide the best possible service to user agencies and the community. When combining services, it is important to realize the PSAP s Manager must utilize PSAP resources to address the needs of all user agencies equitably. While this balance is achievable, the governance structure can positively or negatively impact the PSAP management s ability to maintain the balance for the long term. The balance of representation and authority is a point of negotiation for the planning phase of any governance structure or organization. A balance must be established between the consolidated entity and the participating municipalities and other jurisdictions. Any governing agreement must clearly establish the authorities and responsibilities of all parties to avoid and/or address political and user agency control issues. This effort should ultimately result in the establishment of a consolidated PSAP that is a full partner with other Public Safety agencies. 5.2 Governance Options Many types of boards or committees could be established to represent the agencies and jurisdictions served by a consolidated PSAP and identify specific authority and responsibilities. Options include: An Executive Board that generally has full decision-making authority in all matters and is the responsible entity; An Advisory Board that generally has the responsibility to make recommendations, but does not have decision-making authority and is not the entity fully responsible; A Steering Committee/Board that generally has authority and responsibility that falls between an Executive Board and Advisory Board Supporting Entity The Manager and staff could be employees of one of the cities or a new independent authority. In either case, the consolidated PSAP will require a backbone structure for administrative services (payroll and other human resource needs) and support services (facilities maintenance, budget/finance, legal, risk management and procurement). L.R. Kimball bases its recommendations on findings uncovered throughout the duration of this project. L.R. Kimball learned that the City of Dublin is the only department of the four that has a civilian leader and adequate administrative services to support the consolidated operation. The other three cities departments are led by a 9 U.S. Department of Homeland Security; March July 2013 Page 72

77 sergeant and do not have administrative services to support a consolidated operation. Additionally, there is already a plan underway for the City of Hilliard to contract with the City of Dublin for call taking and dispatching services. As of this writing, the Cities of Dublin and Hilliard are in the final stages of contract negotiations. They are anticipating a contract execution in August They are continuing planning activities such as policy work and technical changes. The target cutover dates are October 2013 for Norwich Township Fire and February 2014 for Hilliard Police. Based on the findings, L.R. Kimball recommends that the City of Worthington and the City of Upper Arlington join the City of Hilliard in consolidating under the City of Dublin, as the supporting entity, and the eligible 10 staff of all three cities become employees of the City of Dublin. This can be accomplished via contracted services or an Intergovernmental Agreement establishing a consolidated center utilizing the City of Dublin for support services. As there is no benefit to the City of Dublin to alter their organization, L.R. Kimball recommends a contract for service method. Establishing an independent authority to serve as the supporting entity would involve the creation of a whole new administrative structure including human resources services that would be both costly and time consuming. Additionally, the City of Dublin is not interested in participating in an independent authority configuration since it has been and continues to be dedicated to and invested in making its own operation efficient and robust. In lieu of these findings, the most logical governance configuration is for the Worthington, Upper Arlington and Hilliard to consolidate under the City of Dublin since the City of Dublin already has the necessary administrative support and well established operations Representative Governance Options If the City of Worthington, the City of Upper Arlington and the City of Hilliard 11 consolidate under the City of Dublin, there will need to be a mechanism for the representation of all participating cities with regard to operational decisions related to dispatch for each jurisdiction. There are two options related to the representation of the cities, either, 1) Dublin s Manager can be charged with communicating with the other cities for direction related to dispatching and other operational issues, or 2) an advisory board can be established for facilitating the involvement of the participating cities in operational decisions impacting their jurisdictions. The advisory board would be comprised of representatives from each city and township 12 served by the consolidated center. L.R. Kimball recommends maintaining a limited number of members to avoid problems with coordination and decision-making processes that typically occur in larger groups. In this scenario, the Manager and staff would be employees of the City of Dublin and would defer to the Advisory Board for operational policies and procedures 10 See Section on Staffing for recommendations on determining staff eligibility and organizational placement 11 Noting that a pending agreement is under negotiation between the cities of Hilliard and Dublin for contracting services under the City of Dublin. 12 Township representation on an advisory board should be based on contractual relationship with the City currently providing PSAP services. July 2013 Page 73

78 related to the dispatch of their jurisdictions. Appointment or assignment to the advisory board should be determined by each City and Township. These groups will provide operational oversight via policy input to Dublin s Manager. The advisory board should contribute to Dublin s Manager s control over operational protocols within the structure of the City of Dublin s policies. 5.3 Memorandum of Understanding Regardless of the representative governance structure selected, a written agreement should be established to set forth specific roles responsibilities related to the consolidated operation. The MOU should identify and define the following: Date Signing participants Jurisdictions covered in the agreement/plan Statement of need and establishment of the consolidated communications center Description of purpose and services to be provided by the consolidated communications center to the citizens and served agencies Establishment of funding mechanism: capital, transition and operational Statement of how the location of the consolidated communications center will be determined and how the facility will be programmed/designed Establishment of the advisory board to include membership, responsibility and meeting schedule Reference to authority of the Director Development of a transition plan Transitional issues, such as hiring of employees, existing and new Description of how other duties, such as non-emergency/administrative calls and other municipal or department specific services, will be handled Duration of agreement; withdrawal requirements; admission of new jurisdictions; mediation 5.4 Recommendations There are several options that could work for the four cities and careful consideration should be given to each: an independent consolidated communications center with an independent authority as a stand-alone supporting entity, consolidating under the City of Dublin and either establishing an Advisory Board for coordination with Cities on operational procedures or charging the Manager with that coordination. L.R. Kimball s first recommendation is that the City of Worthington, the City of Upper Arlington and the City of Hilliard consolidate under the City of Dublin for the reasons discussed above. Based on L.R. Kimball s first recommendation, the decision needs to be made whether an advisory board will be established to coordinate the operational input of the cities or if Dublin s Manager should be charged with that coordination. The cities should establish where the final decision and liability would lie for specific issues. The line between operational procedure and respective city policy/procedure should be interpreted the same by all entities. Establishing the finality of authority during the planning phase will alleviate delays and liability issues once the consolidation process and operations have begun. The importance of well-defined roles and responsibilities in a July 2013 Page 74

79 MOU and complete and up-to-date procedural guidelines for consolidated operations cannot be stressed enough and are absolutely critical. L.R. Kimball recommends an advisory board be established to provide a documented mechanism for the cities to be represented regarding operational decisions that impact their jurisdictions. Once the governance arrangement is decided, an MOU should be drafted that defines the agreement between the participating jurisdictions and agencies. This MOU will officially detail and define authority, roles, and responsibilities. 5.5 Funding Mechanisms With consolidation identified as the solution to the many service, operational, and technological problems that exist in the current emergency communications model, methods for funding must be identified and implemented to assure the success of the consolidated PSAP and its mission. A crucial element of a successful consolidation is establishing the funding mechanism by which operational and capital costs are identified, acquired and maintained. Municipalities have several options for financing the local operations under Ohio Statute. Allocation of costs to local political subdivisions according to the formula included in the final County plan Real property tax levy 13 Monthly Charge on telephone access lines 14 Wireless Government Assistance Funds 15 The Cities should assure that they are maximizing current funding opportunities. Each option has specific eligibility requirements and does not apply to every County or Municipality. For example, only those PSAPs that answer wireless calls receive Wireless Government Assistance Funds. Currently, the separate operations are funded by the individual Cities general funds and monthly charge on telephone access lines. The City of Dublin is the only participating City that receives State Wireless Government Assistance Funds. There are several funding options that can be considered if deemed politically and fiscally feasible. The most equitable methods of determining how operational costs would be shared between the four cities involve balanced individual factors or formulas. The most equitable, dedicated funding methods would be based on: Population Call volume (number of incoming emergency and non-emergency calls) Calls for service (documented responses) Real estate assessments 13 ORC ORC ORC July 2013 Page 75

80 Individually, these factors could be used to determine shared costs, or could be used in a formula that combines two or more of the factors. If a formula is used to determine how costs are shared, then that formula would require adjustment with the changes in growth patterns for the cities. L.R. Kimball recommends that if the City of Worthington, the City of Upper Arlington and the City of Hilliard consolidate under the City of Dublin, then a sliding contribution should be implemented. The first year the Cities should contribute their current budget to support start-up costs and capital expenditures and the second year the Cities should contribute a specific portion of their current budget for the continued support of the start-up costs for consolidated operations. For contributions following the first two years L.R. Kimball recommends that the Cities choose a simple contribution model such as population or real estate assessments in order to define the contribution of each city. These models have proven successful for similar consolidations and L.R. Kimball suggests keeping the contribution model as streamlined as possible. During the preparation of this study the City of Hilliard has been negotiating with the City of Dublin for contracted services. An executed contract is anticipated in August. The proffered payment formula is based on a pre-determined time per call for service conversion to cost per call. While L.R. Kimball does recommend a legacy budget phased based contribution method, a contract for services funding method would also be appropriate and most likely more acceptable to the City of Dublin as a host PSAP. The balance of this page is intentionally left blank. July 2013 Page 76

81 6. OTHER FUNDING OPTIONS 6.1 Federal Grants Grant opportunities are scarce in the current economic environment, but Congress and Federal Programs are planning for emergency communications and preparedness grants. Whether those grants will be funded from year to year remains to be seen Federal Emergency Management Agency Preparedness Grants Despite a plan by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to transition to a new grants vision in 2013 by consolidating multiple, separate preparedness grant programs into a more streamlined mode, separate grant programs continued for The FY 2013 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) focused on the implementation of the National Preparedness System (NPS) by supporting the building, sustainment, and delivery of core capabilities essential to achieving the National Preparedness Goal (NPG) of a secure and resilient Nation. Federal Emergency Management Agency stressed that the building, sustainment, and delivery of these core capabilities are not exclusive to any single level of government, organization, or community, but rather, require the combined effort of the whole community. The FY 2013 HSGP supports core capabilities across the five mission areas of Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery based on allowable costs. The HSGP is comprised of three interconnected grant programs: State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) Operation Stonegarden (OPSG) Together, these grant programs fund a range of preparedness activities, including planning, organization, equipment purchase, training, exercises, and management and administration. The 2013 application period ended in June 2013 and all grant funding was funneled through States so that States are aware of the Grant projects within their borders and can leverage opportunities to consolidate and share grant project initiatives. It will be important for the Cities to communicate with the State to identify and apply for Federal Grant Funding in the case that states are the only eligible applicants, which is becoming common A Implementation Grants A Implementation Grants could be a potential funding source for the consolidation if the Program is fully funded by a Federal Communications Commission FCC TV spectrum auction. The passage of the Next Generation Advancement Act of 2012 provided a onetime appropriation of $115 M for implementation grants, but the funds will come from a TV spectrum auction that could take a few years to complete and several other initiatives must be fully funded before the Implementation Grants are funded. The implementation coordination grants will fund training, IP networks and NG9-1-1 services and will continue to fund basic and enhanced implementation. Both state and local entities are eligible grant recipients under the Act and grants will require a 40 percent local match. Any entity that diverted funds for other purposes will be July 2013 Page 77

82 ineligible for Implementation Grant funding. Details on eligible costs and the grant application process will come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration once the Grant has been funded and established. Eligible costs will include: The implementation and operation of services, Enhanced (E9-1-1) services, the migration to the IP-enabled emergency network, and the adoption of NG9-1-1 services and applications The implementation of IP-enabled emergency services and applications, enabled by NG9-1-1 services, including IP backbone networks and the application layer software infrastructure needed to interconnect emergency response organizations Training Public Safety personnel and other individuals and organizations that are part of the emergency response chain in service The FCC has to design and implement that auction before any proceeds will become available. Once auction proceeds start to flow, a waterfall funding model will be used to distribute the auction funds to six different funding initiatives in addition to the implementation grants. The waterfall model distributes money to initiatives in order of priority, funneling money to the first initiative until it is satisfied, and then funding the second initiative, and so on. The implementation grants are ranked sixth on that list. This means five other initiatives totaling more thatn $29 billion need to be satisfied before the implementation grants are funded and that assumes that the auction will generate more than $29 billion Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Programs The Cities should coordinate with the Grants and Community Services Division of the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services to explore whether parts of the consolidation project would be eligible as a Technology Enhancement Project under the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program. The intent of this Program is to assist local communities to improve or maintain local criminal justice efforts to effectively address crime. Projects must demonstrate increased efficiency, safety and cost effectiveness. The goal of the Program is to help criminal justice agency s better serve their communities by automating time-consuming tasks, dispatching personnel more efficiently, and improving an agency s ability to collect and analyze data as well as disseminate it to both internal and external audiences. The 2013 Application period occurred in January. If this Program is funded next year it could be a potential funding source if a part of the consolidation project could be considered an eligible technology project Bonds Issuing bond measures is another source of funding that could potentially assist the Cities in consolidating. A bond measure is an initiative to sell bonds for the purpose of acquiring funds for various public works projects. These measures are put up for a vote in general elections. Such measures are used when other revenue sources are limited or non-existent. July 2013 Page 78

83 Earmarks Earmarks are another funding option. They are provisions in legislation that allocate an amount of money to a specific project. Earmarks are difficult to come by and require legislative action, so they are not considered a primary revenue source but could be an option if funding is scarce Potential Cost Savings Actual cost savings may not be realized for several years after consolidation due to start-up costs that include renovation/construction costs, capital purchases, relocation costs, SOP development, training and acclimation of staff to new systems and protocols. For the first years beyond planning and transition, after the initial investments have been made and operational support is fully transitioned to a normal level, cost savings will be realized in the following areas: Reduction in duplication of services, systems and network and support, particularly during upgrading and/or replacing infrastructure and systems. Efficiency in operations and parity in Public Safety services through lower information and transaction costs. These costs savings are measured by convenience of performing tasks, and convenience of systems development, maintenance and upgrade/replacement. A reduction in the overall operational expenses should be noticed by the participating agencies. Annual maintenance fees will be reduced, while there will be initial start-up costs,. The balance of this page is intentionally left blank. July 2013 Page 79

84 7. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS In many consolidation initiatives the development of a new organization is necessary to establish the structure, responsibilities and placement of staff. For the purposes of this study there already exists an established and well supported organization in Dublin that with some expansion of space, technology and staff can absorb the call taking and dispatching functions for the remaining cities of Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard. At the time of this writing the City of Hilliard is nearing contract execution with the City of Dublin to transition Hilliard call taking and dispatching to Dublin. The impact of this transition has been studied internally and a plan has been prepared for the transition and payment terms have been proffered. The decision for the remaining study participants, Upper Arlington and Worthington, will be whether to negotiate a contracted service agreement with Dublin for merging call taking and dispatching or for all four participants to develop a consolidation agreement that includes an advisory board comprised of representatives from the participating agencies this Board would provide operational input to Dublin PSAP management and provide a path of communication for served agencies. Under both governance models Dublin would have operational oversight and would receive funding support for the regional consolidated center. In the current organizational structure of the Dublin PSAP there exist adequate support positions for the primary functions and programs such as training, QA, Human Resources (HR) and technical support. Should both Worthington and Upper Arlington decide to move forward with consolidation into Dublin s PSAP, there should be additional reviews of the workload impact on Dublin support, space, staff and technology. If the Cities of Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard decide not to merge with Dublin, but to proceed with a separate consolidation initiative that may or may not include Dublin, then a completely new organization would be needed that at a minimum has a civilian Director/Manager, Assistant Director/Manager, EMD and QA program lead, technical support staff, and training program lead. Payroll and HR support may be provided by one of the participating cities. Only Dublin has the organizational base to support a consolidated PSAP operation without incurring the excessive costs of creating a new organization. Therefore, L.R. Kimball recommends that Upper Arlington and Worthington work with Dublin following the example of Hilliard to either develop an acceptable contracted service agreement or a governance agreement that establishes Dublin as the host PSAP for the consolidated center. July 2013 Page 80

85 8. HUMAN RESOURCES AND LABOR CONTRACT/UNION ISSUES Individual Collective Bargaining Agreements (Agreements) are in place between the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council, Inc. (Union) and the four Cities considering consolidation, City of Dublin, City of Upper Arlington, City of Hilliard and City of Worthington. All of the agreement s were effective as of January 1, 2012 and expire on December 31, The Agreements generally cover the wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment for those employees included in each bargaining unit: City of Dublin, Communications Technician Bargaining Unit, State Employment Relations Board (SERB) Case No. 92-REP City of Upper Arlington, Communications Operators Bargaining Unit, SERB Case No. 92-REP City of Hilliard, Radio Technicians and Clerks Bargaining Unit, SERB Case Nos. 95-REP , 90- REP , 90-REP , 90-REP City of Worthington, Communication Technicians Bargaining Unit, SERB Case No REP In each Agreement, the respective City recognizes the Union for the purpose of collective bargaining as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all employees in each bargaining unit. Employees have the right to join or not to join the Union. The Agreements detail the benefits and terms for Union members. L.R. Kimball recommends that, ultimately, all employees of the Emergency Communications Center be employees of the same entity. In our experience, having co-workers work side by side in the same Center but for different cities or agencies is not operationally efficient and can cause confusion and issues surrounding scheduling, leave and even conduct. That one employer entity can either be a new entity established to operate the consolidated center or one of the existing cities can operate the consolidated center. If a new entity is established, a new bargaining unit will have to be established under section of the Ohio Revised Code for the communications employees and SERB will have to certify an employee organization to become the exclusive representative of such bargaining unit. In this scenario, a benefits programs would need to be established for the employees. If one of the Cities consolidating runs the Consolidated Center then transitioning employees could opt to join the existing Union for that city s bargaining unit and participate in existing benefits programs that the city offers. A plan will need to be established for the transition of communications employees regardless of the identity of the eventual employer. It is possible that the decision to consolidate could be considered a management right under many of the Agreements. Each of the Agreements sets out the specific management rights, below, for the cities pursuant to section of the Ohio Revised Code. July 2013 Page 81

86 8.1 City of Dublin Management Rights Section 5.1 Management Rights. Except as specifically limited, the Employer shall have the exclusive right to manage the operations, control the premises, direct the working forces, and maintain efficiency of operation of employees. Specifically, the Employer's exclusive management rights include, but are not limited to, the sole right to: Hire, discipline and discharge for just cause, layoff, and promote Promulgate and enforce reasonable employment rules and regulations Reorganize, discontinue or enlarge the Division of Police Transfer employees (including the assignment and allocation of work) within the Police Division Introduce new and/or improved equipment, methods and/or facilities, to determine work methods Determine the size and duties of the work force, the number of shifts required, and work schedules; Establish, modify, consolidate or abolish jobs (or ranks) Determine staffing patterns, including but not limited to assignment of employees, numbers employed, duties to be performed, qualifications required and areas worked The exercise of the above listed management rights is subject only to the restrictions and regulations governing the exercise of these rights as are expressly provided herein and/or as permitted or provided by applicable law. An employee or the employee s Union representative may raise a legitimate complaint or file a grievance based upon the provisions of this Article. 8.2 City of Upper Arlington Management Rights Section 5.1 Management Rights. The City retains the exclusive right to manage the operations, control the premises, direct the working force and maintain efficiency of operations. The City specifically retains the rights and responsibilities set forth in Section (C) of the Ohio Revised Code to: Determine matters of inherent managerial policy which include, but are not limited to, areas of discretion or policy such as the functions and programs of the public employer, standards of service, its overall budget, utilization of technology and organizational structure Direct, supervise, evaluate or hire employees Maintain and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of governmental operations Determine the overall methods, process, means or personnel by which governmental operations are to be conducted Suspend, discipline, demote, discharge for just cause, layoff, promote or retain employees Determine the adequacy of the work force Determine the overall mission of the Employer as a unit of City government Manage the work force effectively Take action to carry out the mission of the public employer as a governmental unit July 2013 Page 82

87 8.2.2 Section 5.2 Limitations. The exercise of the foregoing powers, rights, authority, duties and responsibilities, the adoption of reasonable policies, rules and regulations and practices in furtherance thereof, and the use of judgment and discretion in connection therewith shall be limited only by the specific and express terms of this Agreement. The City is not required to bargain with the FOP/OLC during the term of this Agreement on subjects reserved to its management and direction, except as it affects wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment and the continuation, modification or deletion of a provision of this Agreement. A bargaining unit member or the FOP/OLC may file a grievance based upon a violation of this Agreement. 8.3 City of Hilliard Management Rights To assure that the City continues to perform its legal duties to the public as required and limited by the Ohio and United States Constitutions, the Ohio Revised Code and federal statutes, and to maintain efficient and responsive service for and protection to the citizens of the City of Hilliard, the City retains the right to determine Departmental and City policies and procedures and to manage the affairs of the Department and City in all respects. References to Departments refer to the entities within the City employing employees in the bargaining unit covered by this Agreement Section 3.1 Management Rights Except where otherwise specifically limited by this Agreement, the City retains the right and responsibility to Determine the size and composition of the Department s work force, the organizational structure of the Department and the methods by which operations are to be performed by Departmental employees Manage the Departmental budgets, including but not limited to the right within the provisions of the Ohio Revised Code, to contract or subcontract any work or operations of the Department Determine the nature, extent, type, quality and level of services to be provided to the public by the Department s employees and the manner in which those services will be provided Determine, change, maintain, reduce, alter or abolish the technology, equipment, tools, processes or materials the Department s employees shall use Restrict the activity of an employee organization on City time except as set forth in this Agreement Determine job descriptions, procedures and standards for recruiting, selecting, hiring, training and promoting employees Assign work, subcontract work, establish and/or change working hours, schedules and assignments as deemed necessary by the Department to assure efficient Departmental operations Direct and supervise employees and establish and/or modify performance programs and standards, methods, rules and regulations, and policies and procedures applicable to the City s employees Hire, evaluate, promote, retain, transfer (permanently or temporarily); assign (permanently or temporarily) employees, unless otherwise abridged by the Agreement Discharge, remove, demote, reduce, suspend, reprimand or otherwise discipline employees for just cause Lay off employees, because of lack of work or funds July 2013 Page 83

88 Determine matters of inherent managerial policy which include, but are not limited to areas of discretion or policy such as the functions and programs of the City, standards of services, its overall budget, utilization of technology, and organizational structure Maintain and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the City s operations Determine the overall methods, processes, means or personnel by which the City s operations are to be conducted Determine the adequacy of the work force Determine the overall mission of the Employer Effectively manage the work force Take actions to carry out the mission of the City The rights and powers of the City contained in this Article do not list or limit all such powers, and the rights listed together with all other rights, powers, and prerogatives of the City, not specifically limited in this Agreement, remain vested exclusively in the City. 8.4 City of Worthington Management Rights Section 5.1 Management Rights The City hereby retains and reserves unto itself, except as limited by the specific and express terms of this Agreement and law, all powers, rights, authority, duties and responsibilities conferred upon and vested in it by the Charter and Ordinances of the City, the laws and the Constitution of the State of Ohio including, but not limited to, Chapter 4117 of the Ohio Revised Code, and the Constitution and laws of the United States, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the right: To determine the executive management and administrative control of the City and its properties and facilities To determine matters of inherent managerial policy, which include but are not limited to, areas of discretion or policy such as functions and programs, standards of service, budget, use of technology, and organizational structure To maintain and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of governmental operations To determine the overall methods, process, means, or personnel by which governmental operations are to be conducted To determine and to take action to carry out the overall mission of the public employer as a governmental unit To direct, supervise, evaluate, or hire employees To determine the adequacy of and effectively manage and schedule the work force, including the right to reasonably assign work and overtime To suspend, discipline, demote, or discharge for just cause, or lay off, transfer, assign, and schedule, promote, or retain employees July 2013 Page 84

89 8.4.2 Section 5.2 Limitations The exercise of the foregoing powers, rights, authority, duties and responsibilities by the City, the adoption of ordinances, resolutions, policies, rules, regulations, and practices in furtherance thereof, and the use of judgment and discretion in connection therewith shall be limited only by the specific and express terms of this Agreement and applicable law, including, but not limited to, Chapter 4117 of the Ohio Revised Code, and then only to the extent such specific and express terms hereof are in conformance with the Constitution and laws of the State of Ohio and the Constitution and laws of the United States. No two agreements are exactly the same in terms of the management rights that are laid out but, generally speaking, the Cities have the right to determine the functions, processes, means and personnel used to perform their legal duties to the public. However, these rights are limited in some of the Agreements, quoted above, to the extent that they impact the specific terms of each Agreement. In L.R. Kimball s review of the existing agreements there was found no mention or direction on the right to sub-contract. Therefore, the appropriate process for transitioning or transferring communications employees to a new bargaining unit and employer will need to be identified as well as the potential need for bargaining with the Union related to those transitions. Typically, consolidation initiatives adopt a do no harm approach to employees who transition from their existing center to a consolidated operation. Special consideration must be given to compensating those employees who do not fit into the established salary ranges and/or would suffer from a reduction in benefits. Some employees may have to be grandfathered into the new pay and classification system at their current pay rate and/or benefits package; or be compensated for differences. Nothing in this section should be construed as legal advice or counsel. The cities legal counsels will need to define the options the cities have for consolidating employment operations under applicable law. The balance of this page is intentionally left blank. July 2013 Page 85

90 9. TRANSITION PLAN AND TIMELINE In this section, Kimball provides the participating Cities a high-level strategic plan and migration path to implement the recommendations to achieve consolidated operations. This plan includes key milestones to be achieved and obstacles that need to be addressed and mitigated by the City agencies and stakeholders to achieve success. L.R. Kimball also assesses the risks associated with implementing its recommendations and identifies alternative approaches whenever possible if obstacles prevent implementing the principal recommendations made during the assessment. L.R. Kimball also recognizes that significant steps toward consolidation have already occurred and that specific information is already known. The Cities of Dublin and Hilliard are nearing execution of a contract for services to be provided by Dublin. The Cities of Dublin and Worthington are partners with Delaware County on the COIRS and the City of Hilliard is planning to join COIRS for purposes of full function radio dispatching by Dublin of Hilliard response agencies in the anticipated consolidated operation. The City of Dublin has robust, feature rich high functioning CPE, CAD and logging recorder. These systems are expandable to easily accommodate a consolidated operation that includes Upper Arlington, Worthington and Hilliard. Considering these factors and planning to the unique requirements of the participating agencies, the following phases are crucial components of a successful consolidation. Without the implementation of these components, overall services, productivity and future cost saving benefits will be tempered and system performance will suffer. L.R. Kimball recommends implementing changes in operations, services and technology that yield the highest returns first. These changes are described and offered in order of priority. 9.1 Planning Phase To move forward with consolidating the four Cities emergency communications buy in is required from all stakeholders and next steps must be taken to maintain the momentum of the project. Political, financial, and visionary roadblocks often derail similar projects when studies and recommendations documents and planning tools are set aside and not acted upon immediately. Based on Kimball staff experiences and current successful similar projects, such as Charleston, South Carolina; Atlantic County, New Jersey; and Morris County, New Jersey; Kimball recommends progressing immediately into the planning phase following the acceptance of this study and the recommendations provided. The planning phase should be approached in the following manner and order. Note where actions or decisions should occur in parallel or conjunction with other actions or decisions as described. July 2013 Page 86

91 9.1.1 Step One Obtain commitment from all stakeholders to proceed with the planning phase. This commitment should be in writing and should include similar verbiage as follows: Each participating municipality and agency is named and commits to and accepts the consolidation feasibility study. Appropriate municipal legal support needs to be elisted to plan how any transitioning employees collective bargaining agreement coverage will transition to the City of Dublin agreement; or a new agreement designed to meet the needs of all participating cities. A cost allocation scheme need to be developed based on the funding and revenue opportunities recommendations. If all participants agree, establish stakeholder input mechanism through creation of an Advisory Board, comprised of user agency heads. Note that although fire and EMS service is provided by township fire departments and dispatched by one of the four cities, each response agency has individual needs and dispatch requirements. There should be an input and feedback mechanism in place for all user agencies to participate in the professional growth and upkeep of the consolidated center. The experiences and insight of the agency management staff members that currently oversee the separate emergency communications operations will be of great value in developing converged SOPs and addressing technical and personnel transition planning. L.R. Kimball recommends tapping into this knowledge base when adapting and standardizing policies and procedures. L.R. Kimball recommends that the Advisory Board be formed under a charter agreed upon and executed by the Cities. This charter defines and formalizes the advisory-only responsibilities of the Board Step Two (In Conjunction with Step One) Selection of a primary site and backup/alternate site: Proceed with the current efforts to identify the renovation needs of the Dublin center to accommodate the additional workload of Hilliard. This process will need to be expanded to accommodate the workload impact of the addition of Upper Arlington and Worthington. If another site is/must be considered, the ownership and suitability will also need to be determined. Obtain cost estimates for demolition, renovation, and/or new construction, as appropriate. Establish a construction timeline to be coordinated with the technical and personnel transition schedules Step Three Dublin PSAP management and the Advisory Board will need to address together the development of: Develop a communications plan and schedule to monitor progress, and detect and correct issues within each phase of transition Identify any existing equipment to be re-used and any new equipment or systems to be purchased in the technical transition plan(s) and schedules. Develop physical relocation plans and schedule if applicable. Develop personnel training and transition plan and schedule July 2013 Page 87

92 Establish pay and classification of consolidated center staff. Acknowledging and working within labor agreement(s) in effect at time of transition. Establish qualifying criteria for evaluating existing staff for proper placement based on skill set, seniority, and current position held. Acknowledging and working within labor agreements in effect at time of transition. Plan for hiring process to fill remaining positions with focus on any identified need for additional systems administrators, supervisory, and training positions first. Develop cooperative standard operating procedures Step Four: The following are start-up investments of time toward maintaining levels of service, training and equipment to fully realize consolidated services: Implementation of new technology and/or expansion of existing Dublin systems. Staff Training. Training on systems and protocols is primarily an investment in time. Phasing staff into a consolidated environment can be scheduled in an overlapping manner, training staff on systems and phasing duties based on pre-evaluated skill sets will ease acclimation to the systems and environment. Time investment may be as follows and is predicated on transitioning existing staff from Upper Arlington, Hilliard and Worthington to Dublin: Protocol, policy, and procedure familiarization training: 16 to 24 hours in groups of ten dispatchers or less. 24 to 40 hours of CAD user training per group of ten dispatchers or less Four to eight hours each (per dispatcher) for other systems (e.g., CPE, radio control consoles, logger, furniture, and ancillary systems, as/if needed) 40-hour acclimation period with close supervision in consolidated environment as call-takers and dispatchers, as their existing documented skill sets allow Equalization of pay within existing labor agreements or through negotiations New personnel: administrators, supervisors and support staff 9.2 Planning Benchmarks The time dedicated to fully and properly plan the transition will be rewarded in a reduction in duplicated efforts, reworking and/or retrofitting implementation processes. The crucial benchmarks to accomplish are as follows: Establish a governance agreement or a MOU between the participating Cities and if necessary adjusting organizational and management structure for the Dublin center in the early stages of planning to avoid work stoppage and delays caused by political/turf battles. Address the space needs through a renovation of the Dublin PSAP Decide which radio system(s) configuration will best serve participating agencies, then engage vendors to determine infrastructure, equipment and subscriber costs Engage automated systems vendors to determine upgrade/expansion needs for existing Dublin systems to accommodate a consolidated operation Determine if there is a need for additional support staff and hire accordingly. Any new administrative or support staff should be brought on early in planning process. July 2013 Page 88

93 Adapt and standardize operating procedures during the planning phase to provide the backbone for the training and transition of personnel and service Address labor agreements through negotiating pay and classification toward a single agreement with focus on bringing any transitioning employees under the Dublin agreement. Failure to appropriately address disparity in pay and benefits among the projected staff of the consolidated center will result in morale issues that will directly affect the productivity and quality of service (QoS) for years after the nonpersonnel issues are resolved. 9.3 Transition Phase The following phase involves the transition of technology and staff. The crucial benchmarks of the transition phase are: Systems expansion/upgrade, transition, centralization, and network convergence procurement if necessary. Staff development to include training on systems, processes, and procedures already established in the planning phase, and Physical transition of staff following eligibility, placement/hiring activities. The last phase involves the actual migration of service and staff into the new center. A detailed migration plan must be developed with the input of the participating stakeholders and technical support staff. A migration plan is flexible and will have several iterations before the final tasks are determined and accomplished. This phase includes pre-cutover and post-cutover activities. Once the consolidated center goes live, it is important to monitor the operation for a pre-determined period (approximately one to two weeks) to identify and correct any issues or hiccups in the new technology and operational configuration. For this regional effort a phased approach in alignment with the planned Hilliard transition would best suit the addition of Worthington and Upper Arlington. Transitioning fire/ems services first followed by law enforcement. Municipal or non-dispatch services that are deemed appropriate and accepted for transition to the consolidated operation should be transitioned individually and as accommodations of space, technology and training are addressed. If designed and documented properly, the transition phase will follow the overlapping timelines of renovations and technology upgrades. Pre-transition risk identification and ongoing management, and quality assurances and checks scheduled periodically will ensure that problems are discovered and are corrected in a manner that does not adversely affect other transition processes. Any variances from the plans/schedules must be addressed and rectified, as it could have a domino effect on other schedules or tasks. The transition phase focuses on three critical components: facilities, technical transitions and operational transition. Facilities considerations include site engineering, space programming and design, and construction process. Technical transition considerations include automated systems, equipment, network design and implementation, service transition (telephony, RF, data, LAN/wide area network [WAN]). Operational transition considerations include development and acceptance of cooperative SOPs, workflow processes, personnel (hiring, salaries, and benefits), training, acclimation and migration. July 2013 Page 89

94 The transition phase may be lengthy, as each component must be addressed simultaneously and carefully segmented and reconfigured into the consolidated environment in a manner that does not interrupt and negatively impact service. All transitions must be seamless to the public and responders. L.R. Kimball recommends implementing the transition components as follows: Facilities If a contractual relationship does not yet exist between the City of Dublin and a qualified architectural firm, one should be chosen through the City s selection process with expertise in PSAP design and technology, to program, design and administer the construction of the facility renovation. It is imperative that all infrastructures exist before any equipment is installed Technical (Equipment) Phasing of automated systems and console furniture expansions/installations based on integrations and interfacing systems allows for coordination of vendors and enhanced ability to monitor installations, testing, training, and acceptance Operational (Personnel) Identify staffing needs based on call volume and workload, determine existing staff eligibility and placement adding new hires if needed. Phase staff into the consolidated center immediately after SOP acclimation training and systems training. 9.4 Completion and Acceptance Testing and acceptance of equipment must take place prior to use and prior to training and transitioning staff into the consolidated center. Once all equipment is accepted and all staff have been hired, trained, and integrated into the consolidated environment, an acclimation period of two-three months will be needed to make adjustments in protocol, policy, procedure, and culture. 9.5 Non-Participating Agency Impact There is a cooperative relationship between the four participating cities and two townships; however consideration should be given to the impact on the consolidation initiative if one of the cities/agencies does not participate in the consolidation. With one city/agency outside of the consolidated center operations, coordination of response on a daily basis and during a major incident(s) becomes exponentially more difficult and confusing. This is particularly the case when dealing with outside agencies from neighboring jurisdictions and state and federal response agencies. July 2013 Page 90

95 The impact of one entity not participating in consolidation is categorized as follows: Continued inefficiencies in service Lack of or reduction in interoperability coordination between the consolidated center and the nonparticipating agency Reduction in funding and grant opportunities for the non-participating agency Overlapping interdependencies creating need for unnecessary duplicate infrastructure and associated costs Recommendations for Dealing with Non-Participating Agencies L.R. Kimball recommends maintaining a cooperative relationship with all cities/agencies, allowing the non-participating entity to continue to participate in the planning and attend decision-making meetings toward consolidation. L.R. Kimball also recommends planning facilities and equipment to accommodate all agencies, participating and non-participating. Planning facilities to accommodate all agencies should consist of programming a facility to actually or potentially accommodate through future build-out. Planning equipment to accommodate all participating and non-participating entities will require upgrading/procuring systems that can be expanded both by function and by licensed users. By maintaining the positive relationships and planning facilities and equipment to accommodate all agencies, the non-participating entity has an opportunity to be brought back into the fold in the future when consolidating their services is determined to be best for their municipality. The Cities should approach all aspects of planning outlined earlier in this report with consideration primarily to actual participants, and establish plans for future prospective participants. This type of planning is recommended also toward realizing a potential long-term goal of expanding to a larger regional consolidated operation Timeline If the Hilliard contract with Dublin is successfully executed the planned timeline for consolidation is reportedly to have fire dispatch services transitioned by October 2013 and police dispatch services by February This is a reasonable amount of time based on the effort to date. Discussions began with Hilliard prior to the commissioning of this study. Impact studies were conducted by Dublin to determine what changes may be needed in space, staff and technology to accommodate the Hilliard call volume and workload, as well as what non-dispatch services may need to transition to Dublin and their respective impacts. As a contracted service provider Dublin has determined what changes are needed to their PSAP and associated costs, as well as an ongoing service fee. These factors are included in the negotiations with Hilliard and are anticipated to result in an executed contract by August Effort has been under way for a few months to adjust Dublin operations and systems to accommodate the Norwich Township fire/ems dispatch services in time for an October 2013 cutover. A similar effort is due to begin shortly to make accommodations to transition the police dispatch services from Hilliard. As these plans are anticipated to be implemented successfully they can used as a model for transitioning the fire/ems and police dispatch services of the cities of Upper Arlington and Worthington. Using this template and including further potential space, technology and staff expansions, a reasonable timeline for transitioning Upper Arlington and Worthington will be as follows: July 2013 Page 91

96 August 2013 December 2013: Allow Each City and Township to determine whether they will participate in consolidation. Draft and execute an Intergovernmental Agreement(s) that details the membership, authority and responsibilities of the Advisory Board, provide direction on operational input from served agencies representatives, and detail how funding contribution or contractual payments will be made; as well as a method for modifying the agreement and a termination clause. Re-evaluate impact of merging services on space, staff and technology based on decision of participants regarding what services beyond call taking and dispatching may transition. Plan for any adjustments to space, technology or staff plans. December 2013 February 2014 Review lessons learned from Hilliard fire dispatch services and adjust plans for Hilliard police, and future agency transitions accordingly. Form appropriate committees for addressing adapting, merging and standardizing policies and procedures, and for adapting/adding as appropriate to the CAD data sets to accommodate the incoming agencies. Finalize plan for transitioning fire/ems and police dispatching services for areas covered by Worthington and Upper Arlington s PSAP. February May 2014: Observe and analyze how well the Hilliard/Norwich transitions of fire/ems dispatching planned for October 2013 and the police transition planned for February Adjust plans for future transitions. Transition fire services for one or both cities (Upper Arlington and Worthington) to Dublin May 2014 July 2014: Transition police services for one or both cities (Upper Arlington and Worthington) to Dublin Work through any issues and adjust operations as needed Do not begin to address any additional PSAPs that express desire to join the Dublin PSAP until after at least three to six months of consolidation with the initial participants. It is possible to accomplish this consolidation within a year, however the final planning and transition schedule should include a contingency of 2-3 months to allow for delays that may arise from document reviews, agreement execution, potential issues in standardizing or accommodating participating agencies needs and more. L. R. Kimball recommends an 18-month implementation schedule to bring all four cities PSAPs together. Should the participants decide not to consolidate under the City of Dublin PSAP with the City of Hilliard, it is unlikely that the cities of Upper Arlington and Worthington would pursue constructing a new facility separately. If the study participants did determine that a new facility was in their best interest and could be funded, then the transition to a consolidated operation would extend to months or longer. July 2013 Page 92

97 APPENDIX TITLE The balance of this page is intentionally blank July 2013 Page 93

98 Delaware County Master Site at County Fairgrounds Trunked Controllers 2 T1's 4 CEB FT1's 1 Ntwrk FT1 Bowl Park 7 Channel Remote Site Avery Rd Prime & 7 Channel Co-located Remote Site RF Site 1 T1 Trunked Controllers 2 T1's 2 CEB FT1's 1 Elite Ntwrk FT1 Worthington Dispatch 3 Elite Clients RF Site 2 T1's RF Site 1 FT1 Dublin Dispatch 5 Elite Clients, NM Client, & GWS RF Site 1 FT1 Hard Rd. 7 Channel Remote Site Dublin_Worthington Delaware County ASTRO 25 Trunked 7/29/2008 D. Svoboda Simulcast Sub-System

99 Delaware/Dublin/Worthington 800MHz System System Frequency Plan Pre-Rebanding Frequencies Dublin: WNPJ Worthington: WPFR Post Rebanding Frequencies Dublin: WNPJ * * Worthington: WPFR *Pending final FCC Approval Updated: 01/20/09