A number of companies offer RMS and MIS products, and all of them are changing as technology marches forward. While geared toward very different applications, both types of systems generate management information which is used to analyze, manage, and forecast the use of an agency's resources - whether those resources are 9-1-1 call-takers, police officers, fire fighters, or paramedics.
Records Management
Records Management Systems allow an agency to maintain effective operations by analyzing response trends, crime or fire information, and other data useful in maximizing efficient resources into the community.
"An effective automation solution is essential to the efficient operation of modern law enforcement and fire/EMS agencies," said Jean Schommer of Tiburon. "RMS provides immediate access to accurate, up-to-date information, reducing paperwork, improving officer safety, and enhancing both administrative and investigative operations." Tiburon's RMS/2000 records key operational information and includes tools for analysis and management functions. RMS/2000 can receive initial input from a dispatched event at key points in the dispatch process. Information from the CAD event populates the appropriate data fields in the RMS/2000 incident, eliminating duplicate data entry. The system's GUI workstation provides intuitive access to system functionality, ensuring that users can learn the system quickly and exploit the applications fully.
GTE offers separate RMS systems geared for police and fire/EMS applications. The Records/Police System organizes information, personnel, and equipment to insure each asset is used to its fullest, position resources efficiently, and make effective use of NCIC information. GTE's Records/Fire & EMS System uses fire records to manage field operations, position units, predict trends, and file NFIRS-compliant reports with state fire authorities.
"We are beginning to see radical changes not only in the way policing is performed but the tools that are supporting those changes," said PSI's Paul Wormeli. "There is a paradigm shift away from the traditional database in the department with records clerks inputting mounds of burdensome data, often times weeks after the event, to field reporting and field information systems. They still feed the RMS database but do it more timely and more effectively. By putting the RMS data collection in the hands of the officers in the field we are relieving the burden of every department, costly redundant data entry."
PSI's Enterprise Information System (EIS) has all the features of any well-designed RMS, but its software starts the data collection process in the field with its pen- or keyboard-based field reporting systems. EIS avoids the delays of the records department and avoiding redundant data entry. Extensive information is available almost immediately to everyone in the department.
Sunpro has debuted FireRMS.com, a Java-based Incident Reporting System which fire departments will access using the World Wide Web. For the first time, fire departments can deploy a full-featured records management system with nothing more than a desktop computer, web-browser, and modem. Sunpro is working closely with the Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Fire Departments to insure that the implementation of Web-based NFIRS product fully meets the needs of large, diverse agencies.
What About MIS?
Management Information Systems (MIS) suffer from many of the same issues as Records Management Systems. After all, they face many of the same daunting challenges. They need to pull information from a variety of sources, synthesize this information in a concise and meaningful way, and produce nicely-formatted, readable documents. Not an easy task!
In fact, the term MIS is misleading, since an MIS is not a standalone system. MIS is more of a capability - a capability to extract and manipulate information from other existing systems such as CAD, records, personnel, and other systems. From this perspective, the best way to plan for superior MIS capabilities is to choose the capabilities of the other systems carefully, paying particular attention to the database management systems. If the database management systems have an industry-standard query tool (such as the Structured Query Language, or SQL), this can be used to extract data from multiple databases as appropriate.
Management Information systems provide statistical data call frequency, handling, and performance. MIS monitors both E9-1-1 and administrative lines to provide detailed information on how those systems are being used.
MIS products are available from a number of manufacturers, often in conjunction with backroom telephone equipment. A few notable systems include:
MagIC is Plant Equipment's PC-based MIS designed for their MAARS controller system. MagIC integrated with the MAARS Call Record Unit, effectively eliminating the need for a system printer, as data is saved to disk. With the click of a mouse, the PSAP manager can generate standard overview and statistical reports as well as customized performance and research reports for both consoles and trunks.
GTE's PSAP MIS collects data from any type of ANI/ALI controller and presents that information in a variety of formats, using the latest in ISDN, Frame Relay, Internet, or Intranet technologies.
Positron's Emergency Call Management System (ECMS) is a call traffic analysis an management system which maximizes a PSAP's ability to analyze, maintain, and forecast their system's current and future operational performance.
