UK Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) have deployed Motorola Control Room Solutions to create a new Fire and Rescue Services Hub.
FRS’s including Hereford and Worcester FRS, Shropshire FRS, Cleveland Fire Brigade and County Durham and Darlington FRS have selected Motorola Solutions to deploy a new Control Room Solution (CRS).
The four Fire and Rescue Services operate 77 fire stations which covers a population of 2.5 million people.
Utilisation and integration
Utilising a shared control room platform will allow the four control rooms to work independently as well as a collaborative services hub.
The new solution integrates workflows from the initial call taking to dispatch, then into an intuitive and unified response system.
Motorola Solutions notes that it will standardise data and processes and provide control room staff with the ability to respond quicker to incidents and be able to scale operations and capabilities in times of high demand.
“Maximise the capabilities”
Jon Pryce, Chief Fire Officer, Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service commented: “Our control room is an essential function and the first point of contact to our communities in any emergency situation.
“By creating this new multi-agency hub, our four fire services can manage incidents together when they need to, such as in spate conditions, when a control room may need to cover a large amount of incoming 999 calls.”
He added: “The new Control Room Solution will help us to maximise the capabilities of our control room staff and use the latest technology to mobilise and coordinate front-line staff.”
“Seamless information exchange”
Fergus Mayne, U.K. and Ireland Country Manager at Motorola Solutions stated: “By adopting this innovative approach, fire and rescue services can enhance capabilities, improve service delivery and minimise costs by sharing the same underlying infrastructure.”
He concluded: “By choosing a hub solution, emergency services foster standardisation for seamless information exchange during joint operations and increase scalability to accommodate varying demand levels especially leading to faster response times.”
Aiding incident response
To help each FRS to increase the effectiveness and resilience of incident response, the shared platform encompasses an integrated communication control system (ICCS) for:
- Call taking
- Computer aided dispatch (CAD)
- Data recording
