I'm curious to see what other departments/agencies are using for CAD programs. I work at a dispatch center covering an area of New Hampshire about the size of Rhode Island and serving 38 different fire and EMS agencies. We are looking into a new CAD program. Any suggestions or pros and cons of different programs would be nice.
What CAD do you use?
- Thread starter psteele
- Start date
http://www.versaterm.com/
I got laid off a few weeks ago so I have only used it in training, but the Sheriff and PD here both use it. I believe it's also set up for Fire/EMS use. Seems to work well and has all kinds of functionality built-in and available via backend interfaces.
I got laid off a few weeks ago so I have only used it in training, but the Sheriff and PD here both use it. I believe it's also set up for Fire/EMS use. Seems to work well and has all kinds of functionality built-in and available via backend interfaces.
RolnCode3 said:
We are going live with the new Versadex cad in April next year. Currently we use a Northrup Grumman owned company called PRC. It pretty much looks like DOS lol. MDT's us the Motorola TX-Messenger to connect to the PRC. Pretty old tech, but it gets the job done. Tho we're all looking forward to the Versadex system.
A couple agencies around here use this brand http://www.data911.com/
Offer a full line of products from CAD sytem's to MDC / MDT's to In car camera's and etc.
Offer a full line of products from CAD sytem's to MDC / MDT's to In car camera's and etc.
AutoCAD 2009 Mechanical
...wait, we're talking about two difference CAD's aren't we? Hahaha.
...wait, we're talking about two difference CAD's aren't we? Hahaha.
My county used OSSI for years. It was a great system after the first year after all of the bugs and add-ons were worked out. Then, for some unknown reason, they switched to VisionAir. What a waste time AND money. They are in the process of bringing VisionMobile online, and they have been working on this one for 3 years now. All of the VFDs had to buy all these laptops and air cards, and everything is still sitting in the boxes waiting for VisionFire Mobile to come online.
Why my county went with such a huge system is beyond me. We are mostly a rural county anyways.
The VisionAIr system, one the user end, seems way too slow and constantly has errors that tech support cannot figure out. Such a waste of money.
Why my county went with such a huge system is beyond me. We are mostly a rural county anyways.
The VisionAIr system, one the user end, seems way too slow and constantly has errors that tech support cannot figure out. Such a waste of money.
It's a great software to use. Our county liked it so much that our detention center uses a sister program from them called InCustody. They are always asking for our feedback on both systems. The great thing is when we submit our feedback they listen to us and fix or upgrade the ideas we had.psteele said:
We use E911 and its companion program E911Stat, both made by Rad Software. Really kind of crappy but it works for us.
http://radsoftware.org/
I have also used Emergitech since the company is local.
http://www.emergitech.com/
http://radsoftware.org/
I have also used Emergitech since the company is local.
http://www.emergitech.com/
hawkspringsfire said:
It is good to hear that their customer service is good. It is hard to find a company that is willing to listen and actually do something about it.
New World CAD
http://www.newworldsystems.com/
Seems to be ok. Our digital pages are sometimes confusing but I think it is the dispatchers because they've only been using it for a year. The first six months were horrible but it has gotten better. Just seems to be a dispatcher hurdle.
Here is our live WebCAD: http://www.ycdes.org/webcad/
http://www.newworldsystems.com/
Seems to be ok. Our digital pages are sometimes confusing but I think it is the dispatchers because they've only been using it for a year. The first six months were horrible but it has gotten better. Just seems to be a dispatcher hurdle.
Here is our live WebCAD: http://www.ycdes.org/webcad/
We currently have Genisis CAD32. But we are supposed to be getting a new one in the near future, just not sure what it is yet...
Fluffy126577 said:
Saw that at FDIC this year. We used to use an older EMS version at the last place I worked. I wish we'd switch to Zoll here.
FireEMSPolice said:
That's what we have here now. Almost everyone here hates it. We keep buying all these other programs and they don't work right. We figure it's because they are all tied in to ETI. We've already dumped their EMS reporting software..
Fluffy126577 said:
ditto. seems like an ok program, but this is the only one i have used. pretty simple to learn and opperate.
FireEMSPolice said:
First of all; It's not really windows based, it's DOS panels stuck in windows
Second, many dissimilar vehicle statuses will be the same color and grouped together: ie on the air, to hospital, OOS are all the same color. The previous CAD I used had different colors for all those statuses.
Crashes & locks up ALOT. I know they all do, but 2 to 6 times during a 12 shift, really??
Support is horrible. Our 911 software provider is in Vermont and they provide more on site help than ETI, who is 20 miles away.
Their mapping software looks like some thing a 6 year old drew it with MS Paint.
And like I said, other programs we get will not play well with it. Our EMD questioning does not get send to the vehicle MDCs until we hang up from the call and close EMD Pro QA (software version of the flip cards). May of 2009, we all took EFD (Emerg Fire Dispatch). Priority Dispatch still has not authorized the interface that ETI wrote for EFD QA, because of the EMD problem. At this rate we will all have to recert our EFD cards before we even begin to use them.
FireEMSPolice said:
We use E911 also, and you're right... it's pretty basic but it does get the job done.
code60a said:
What version are you guys on over there? I talked to the guy at Rad Software and he said we are on the original version. The software has been upgraded but my employer refuses to modernize.
Most Agencies in Vermont use Spillman. The system is great, but seems to be more geared towards Police dispatching. There are other programs that can be added to Spillman that are geared towards Fire and EMS- We just dont use them at my center since the Fire Departments dont use alarm cards and stuff like that.
mfdbenji said:
Same here, I was going to comment that i didn't see any east coast Spillman users. We too, are a law enforcement only agency. Spillman is great for CAD, Records, Evidence, Warrants, Detention, and their mobile application is nice too. I haven't played with the Fire & EMS applications at all.
I was just in Salt Lake City to attend the 2010 Spillman Users Conference... lots of neat stuff.
mfdbenji said:
We too use Spillman. We dispatch for Police - Fire - EMS in my town. Seems to be working well compared to the Enforsys system that we were using previous... How can you disbelieve a bunch of mormons trying to sell it to you! :lol:
However, nothing can beat the original DM Data CPLIMS running Linux. Talk about user friendly.
-Steve
rwo978 said:
Wow, You guys are still in the 80's? lol. Seems to work decent, just a dispatcher hurdle. Of course we didn't like it in the beginning because it was change and It was integrated with the wonderful M/A Com radio system :evil: . That made it look bad, but doesn't seem to be treating us too bad.
Visionair (sp?) CAD and MDT system. The CAD itself can be used for police, fire, ems, and sheriff, it has the capabilities for EMS move ups, suggestible units for each call, a real multitude of features. The reports it can generate are fairly detailed and easy to get to. The CAD itself is a starting shell, and each agency can program their own information into it, including streets, neighborhoods, businesses, etc. Once we learned the system in our dispatch center the use of it became much easier. We dont use it to the fullest extent, but all we dispatch is our city police and fire. There have been very few glitches in the dispatch room, but there are other glitches with the MDT portion. Of course I think that may be related to our network, but I'm really not sure.
My biggest gripe with the system is the mapping software in the dispatch room, being GeoLynx 9-1-1. It moves slow, its very slow to load, searching it takes time you really dont have in this field, thats why most dispatchers up here still use a secondary mapping program. Its faster, and easier to use, but we loose AVL capabilities and satalite imaging. Just an adjustment for use. Hope this helps!
My biggest gripe with the system is the mapping software in the dispatch room, being GeoLynx 9-1-1. It moves slow, its very slow to load, searching it takes time you really dont have in this field, thats why most dispatchers up here still use a secondary mapping program. Its faster, and easier to use, but we loose AVL capabilities and satalite imaging. Just an adjustment for use. Hope this helps!
http://www.newworldsystems.com/Public_S ... /index.aspBoss429 said:
Same here, and we just recently upgraded to SP4. Has it's fair share of issues, but is somewhat functional.
We operate with 37 fire departments, 13 police agencies, and 5 commercial EMS agencies. Some FDs run BLS service, some run BLS and ALS, and some departments want nothing to do with EMS.
We use Intergraph which the CAD part of it is called I/Moblie. I like it and works for the most part.
Ben E. said:
Ditto on Shieldware. The department I started with uses it, and I have always liked it.
My current dept uses SunGuard.