(TEMECULA, Calif., April 26, 2010) – At the recent 9-1-1 Goes to Washington event, the Unified Communications Center (UCC) of Washington, D.C., received the Outstanding 9-1-1 Program Award. The prestigious award, now in its seventh year, recognizes a state or regional 9-1-1 program for excellence in servicing the public, including the handling of emergency situations and the deployment and management of new technology. A customer of PlantCML®, an EADS North America company, since 2006, the Washington UCC was the first emergency operations center (EOC) in the U.S. to install the industry-leading Sentinel® CM call processing solution.
“When our new facility opened in 2006, it was imperative that we implement the best emergency call processing solution available, as one of our objectives was to reduce the rate of abandoned calls. Not only have we been able to accomplish that objective, we have also improved the answer and response times for 9-1-1 and administrative calls,” said Philippe Gregory, Senior Telecommunications Program Manager, based at the Unified Communications Center in Washington, DC. “Without the ease of use provided by [the] Sentinel CM [solution], our call takers and dispatchers would not have the proper tools to assist the community and our first responders.”
The E9-1-1 Institute, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), the National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators (NASNA), the 9-1-1 Industry Alliance (9IA) and the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus, presented the award.
“It’s a tremendous honor for an EOC to be considered for an industry award such as this, but to be recognized as an innovative, premier, state-of-the-art communications center is an acknowledgement of all the hard work and commitment to the Washington region,” stated Darrin J. Reilly, COO, PlantCML. “This is yet another proof point of PlantCML’s NG911 innovation and unwavering commitment to public safety.”
The Sentinel CM solution provides call takers with the Sentinel® user interface and managed voice communications on an Avaya CM PBX using Avaya CTI technology. This solution provides a rich automatic call distribution (ACD) environment with high availability and scalability. Audio and visual alerts and easy-to-follow presentation of critical data, expediting a call taker’s response to the situation at hand, are also included.
With more than 100 call taking positions in a 127,000 square foot facility, the Washington UCC not only receives the city’s 9-1-1 and 3-1-1 calls, but also serves as the regional command and control center, supporting federal agencies and 18 Virginia and Maryland municipalities in the event of a regional emergency.
About PlantCML (www.plantcml-eads.com)
A pioneer and trusted leader in mission critical communications, PlantCML®, an EADS North America company, provides key technologies for public safety, federal and corporate markets. Our full-circle security and communications portfolio includes 9-1-1 call center CTI applications for call processing, CAD, mapping and information management, as well as managed services, notification solutions and services and P25 Land Mobile Radio networks. Headquartered in Temecula, California.
About EADS North America (www.eadsnorthamerica.com)
EADS North America is the North American operation of EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services. As a leader in all sectors of defense and homeland security, EADS North America and its parent company, EADS, contribute over $11 billion to the U.S. economy annually and support more than 200,000 American jobs through its network of suppliers and services. Operating in 17 states, EADS North America offers a broad array of advanced solutions to its customers in the commercial, homeland security, aerospace and defense markets.
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Media Contact: Tami Timperio
VP, Marketing
PlantCML®, an EADS North America Company
Tel: 951.719.2423
Email: ttimperio@plantcml-eads.com
First PlantCML Sentinel Call Manager-Installed Site Honored with Outstanding 9-1-1 Program Award
