Tinley Park, IL firefighter views a scrolling dispatch alert on a Phoenix G2 Message Sign

In 2015, the village of Tinley Park—one of the fastest-growing suburbs in South Chicago, Illinois—completed the installation of a state-of-the-art alerting system within the Tinley Park Fire Department.

Designed and manufactured by Arizona-based US Digital Designs, the Phoenix G2 Fire Station Alerting System features illuminated speakers in the ceilings in all rooms, scrolling message signs in all rooms and hallways, and a strobe light in the apparatus bay.

“With a population approaching 60,000, we’re a fairly large community,” said Trustee T.J. Grady, who also is chairman of the village’s Public Safety Committee. “Over the years, we realized that the community had outgrown its fire and emergency safety alerting systems and that it was time for an upgrade.”

The old systems primarily relied on voice pagers and a second system that integrated the pagers with speakers and printers, and worked in conjunction with the fire station’s seven-year-old computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system.

While visual alerts via message signs are one of the most notable improvements over the old system, the decreased dispatch times and shorter “push-out” times have also been a great and welcome improvement, Assistant Deputy Fire Chief Kris Dunn said.

Tinley Park, IL Dispatcher sends automated dispatch messages to fire stations

“Our prior system required the dispatcher to take the call, take down all of the information and talk over the speaker, which meant putting the caller on hold,” he said. “Now we’ve got it down to 13 seconds from taking the call to pushing the button and sending the dispatch. Meanwhile, the dispatcher can still talk to the caller and continue to take down information.”

Lisa Kortum, Tinley Park’s Operations Coordinator, echoed Dunn’s enthusiasm for the new system. “We’re pleasantly surprised at how efficient the Phoenix G2 system has been,” she said. “Our dispatchers see the benefit of what automated dispatching can do for us. Another thing that we changed in 2014 was our CAD provider; the dispatchers really like the integration and how the Phoenix G2 and OSSI systems work together. It was pretty seamless, and it works well.”

The new system will help the fire department continue to improve its response time, Dunn said. “The U.S. standard is six minutes from call to scene,” he said. “All fire departments must have an average six-minute response time. Therefore, we’re looking for ways to shave off time. Previously, it had been roughly five minutes from the time we took the call to the time we dispatched and were en route. The Phoenix G2 system gives us more time to get to the apparatus with more information at hand. Our average response time now is about 4.5 minutes. I think the whole thing has been a really good experience.”

Tinley Park’s fire and emergency response capabilities include four fire stations and five ambulances that answer 2,600 annual fire calls and perform roughly 5,000 EMS-related services. The community employs 132 on-staff fire and EMS professionals.

For more information, visit www.usdd.com.

PHOENIX, AZ—With their recent acquisition of the Phoenix G2 fire station alerting system, the metro Saint Paul fire departments in Ramsey County, Minnesota, have gained the advantage of significantly speeding up the critical dispatch notification process and response times for fire and emergency calls. The Phoenix G2 system is automated dispatching hardware and software manufactured by US Digital Designs (USDD) in Phoenix, Arizona. Among many other advantages the system offers, it enables dispatchers to put out many more calls in sequence, as fast as they can type, generating more calls to more responders in far less time.

“Dispatchers can handle multiple station calls faster and deal with simultaneous calls more quickly,” said Scott Williams, Executive Director of Emergency Communications for Ramsey County, Minnesota. “It definitely has the potential for shortening response times.”

Minnesota’s Ramsey County Emergency Communications Center also purchased a new computed-aided dispatch (CAD) system from TriTech Software Systems. The CAD system interfaces with the Phoenix G2 system at the dispatch center and in each station. When a 911 call pops into the dispatcher’s CAD queue, the system makes recommendations on which responders to send to the scene based on drive time and the particular location of crews at the time of the call. The dispatcher can then approve the system’s recommendations and the chosen stations are alerted via the Phoenix G2 alerting system. They are subsequently dispatched by USDD’s computer-generated G2 VoiceAlert text-to-speech software, which reads the call over the air, freeing the dispatcher to take the next call.

As an increasing number of fire stations around the country are discovering, one of the great benefits of the Phoenix G2 solution is that it works by automatically transmitting emergency alert data to multiple stations simultaneously—in less than one second. What’s more, the G2 VoiceAlert technology offers consistency in tone and annunciation of streets, locations and vehicles. Each station receives and processes the transmitted data through an onsite G2 ATX Station Controller, which broadcasts the information within the fire station via electronic LED message signs and soft-start, ramped speakers.

“The Ramsey County Emergency Communications Center utilized a phased approach to replace their old fire station alerting system with the Phoenix G2 system, which is a great way to stretch budget dollars,” noted Dominic Magnoni, General Manager, US Digital Designs. “The 911 dispatch center provided the ATX Station Controller and VoiceAlert licenses for 10 fire agencies in the Saint Paul metropolitan area, then 31 fire stations purchased the equipment they wanted to outfit their individual stations.”

USDD partnered with Iowa-based RACOM to manage the Phoenix G2 installation and provide technical assistance to the fire departments for the new equipment, which includes a G2 ATX Station Controller for each fire station; G2 peripheral devices (signs, speakers, and lighting); and a G2 Communications Gateway at the Ramsey County dispatch center.

The following fire agencies are part of Ramsey County Emergency Communications Phase 1 installation:

• Falcon Heights Fire Department
• Lake Johanna Fire Department serving the communities of Arden Hills, North Oaks and Shoreview
• Little Canada Fire Department
• Maplewood Fire Department
• New Brighton Fire Department
• North Saint Paul Fire Department
• Roseville Fire Department
• Saint Paul Fire Department
• Vadnais Heights Fire Department

The Ramsey County Emergency Communications Center in Saint Paul is responsible fo

PHOENIX, AZ—U.S.-based fire agencies seeking to streamline the purchasing process for a fire station alerting system are in luck, thanks to US Digital Designs’ (USDD) Master Price Agreement available through the FireRescue Group Purchasing Organization. Among numerous other benefits, the FireRescue GPO contract promises to have a pronounced time- and effort-saving effect on the procurement process used by fire agencies as they procure USDD’s flagship product, its “Phoenix G2 Fire Station Alerting System.”

USDD’s Vice President Dominic Magnoni said that the purchasing contract would eliminate the need for them to complete their own formal RFP process. “We couldn’t be more excited about this since many of the fire agencies that we’re talking with right now are already FireRescue GPO members, which means their process to purchase a Phoenix G2 system will be markedly expedited,” Magnoni said.

USDD’s agreement with FireRescue GPO came following a rigorous vetting process of USDD by the third-party lead public agency, Public Procurement Authority. “The bottom line is that that fire agencies will be assured that they’re getting the best station alerting products on the market at the most competitive pricing,” added Magnoni.

Because the FireRescue GPO is a nationwide program that represents its member government agencies, USDD will now be prominently included on a list of preferred vendors available through the FireRescue GPO, a program of NPPGov,” said Vice President Crosby Grindle, NPPGov. “The advantages of the agreement will accrue to USDD’s prospective customers in all 50 states.”

USDD and FireRescue GPO encourage prospective fire station alerting customers to review their local and state procurement requirements to ensure that participation in the FireRescue GPO program satisfies their purchasing requirements.

About US Digital Designs
US Digital Designs is a product engineering and consulting company specializing in designing, developing and installing high-quality and high-reliability mission-critical systems related to fire station alerting, robotics and more. Based in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area, the company prides itself on its reputation for developing the outstanding Phoenix G2 Station Alerting System, which plays a major role in helping save lives and reducing property losses in emergency situations. Download USDD’s product catalog at stationalerting.com.

About FireRescue GPO
The FireRescue Group Purchasing Organization is a program of NPPGov, a national cooperative purchasing organization, serving government and non-profit organizations. Members have access to publicly solicited contracts specific to their industry, saving time and money in the procurement process. Membership is free and there are no purchasing obligations.

TORRANCE, CA—Pelican Products, Inc. offers the compact Pelican 9490 Remote Area Lighting System (RALS), available as a self-contained, mobile lighting solution with a quick-release, rechargeable and swappable power supply.

The unit features:

• Up to 6,000 lumens (calculated)
• Three preset light levels
• Up to 24 hours of run time
• Intelligent Control (allows for varied light output levels) that calculates and displays current time remaining, allowing the user to regulate the intensity of the light and choose the desired run time.
• Multiple position deployable mast telescopes to 72 inches 

Applications include rescue operations, disaster preparedness, and crime scenes.

Also available is the 9480 RALS, featuring:

• Up to 4,000 lumens (calculated)
• Up to 28 hours of run time
• Three preset light levels 

Both systems are engineered with a maintenance-free LED array that has a life expectancy of more than 50,000 hours and a 12-volt auxiliary power adapter for convenient mobile device charging. The 9480 RALS and 9490 RALS both feature remote operation via a Bluetooth® App (iPhone® and Android platforms) which allows for varied light output from 0 to 100 percent. A padded, adjustable nylon shoulder strap is also included. Tested to military standards, both lighting systems are available in black or yellow.

For more information, visit www.pelican.com.