Letter to Interact
Mr. John McNulty
President and Chief Executive Officer
Interact Public Safety
Global Headquarters
102 W 3rd St., Ste 750
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
RE: Dunwoody-DeKalb CAD-to-CAD Interface Project
Dear Mr. McNulty:
I am writing this letter in hopes that your assistance may improve an exceedingly frustrating and disappointing experience my community continues to have with a project we are working on with your firm.
As a matter of background, in October 2011 the City of Dunwoody transitioned 911 calltaking services from DeKalb County to the Chattahoochee River 911 Authority (ChatComm). ChatComm provides call-taking and police dispatch but DeKalb County continues to dispatch fire and emergency medical services.
Prior to the transition, we embarked on project to connect these two 911 centers through a CAD-to-CAD interface between OSSI Sungard (CAD provider for Dunwoody and ChatComm) and InterAct Public Safety (CAD provider for DeKalb County).
All major development on the interface was completed in early 2012. It is now March 2014 and we continue to face delay after delay in testing to complete this project. The testing phase of the project has been a disastrous set of failures.
The Mayor and City Council are furious that this process has taken several years and is still incomplete. My staff and I have run out of answers as to why this project has been ongoing for nearly three years.
The public pressure has mounted to get this project completed to levels I haven't seen in my 17 years in local government. Frankly, the reputation of the City, our service providers and the vendors responsible for completing the job has suffered mightily. Every missed expectation and additional "bug" in the interface that prevents the system from working properly is growing the discontent astronomically.
I am at the breaking point with my patience with the failure of this interface to work properly. Your immediate attention is critical to bring this matter to a successful conclusion. Sincerely,
Warren Hutmacher
City Manager
Memo to Council dated March 10, 2014
Update on CAD-to-CAD Interface
A center-to-center testing call at the end of February revealed four final challenges from the CAD system update that was completed in February. Following the testing call we launched an action plan to address each of the issues identified and are making steady progress.
One issue relates to fire response zone mapping and staging. As part of the CAD update, an outdated response zone map had been connected to the interface. Rather than staging units from the nearest Dunwoody station, for certain parts of the City, the system was suggesting dispatch from stations further out in the surrounding area. To correct this issue we had to review the code, locate the outdated response zone map, and replace it. The second relates to how incidents on Interstate 285 displayed once transferred to DeKalb. We determined that because these incidents are shared with cross streets (such as I-285 Eastbound / Ashford Dunwoody), the issue was that the"/" character was not transferring correctly. To address that issue, the developers are making additional code changes so the "/" character would be properly translated. The final two issues relate to the transference of certain determinant codes from ChatComm to DeKalb. This issue will be addressed by updating the translation table which connects the two systems. We are working with the developers to determine how long these final changes and updates will take.
All the key parties in the project are focused on the decisive steps for completion so we can surpass the industry standard for call transference.
ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATIONS
In recent days, Council has requested clarification related to the development of the interface. First, regarding who is developing the interface and secondly related to the ability to outsource that development.
Unlike a traditional software project, the City has not hired a software vendor to write code and develop the interface. The interface code is developed by the two CAD vendors. One of which is under contract with DeKalb County and the other under contract with ChatComm. There is no technology vendor that is responsible to the City on this project.
Secondly, it has been suggested that a third party could connect these two disparate CAD systems and develop the interface in a manner that was more efficient. Early in the process the City explored this option. We found a third party software vendor that agreed to develop the interface but the two CAD vendors would not agree to the arrangement. Utilizing a third party developer would have allowed each CAD vendor's proprietary code to be held by a third party and they did not feel comfortable with any level of confidentiality agreements.
Both of these issues highlight the fact that had we been allowed to utilize a third party software vendor, we would have had a party beholden to us to complete the interface. As it is, we have little leverage over the two CAD system providers building the interface. We are forced to allow the two vendors to work together to build the interface using a software requirements document they jointly developed and to which they jointly agreed.
In short, we do not manage the technology or the development of the technology. Staff works diligently with both 911 centers and the CAD vendors to ensure resources are appropriately dedicated to the project and that time and attention is focused on the decisive
steps needed to reach completion.
Mr. John McNulty
President and Chief Executive Officer
Interact Public Safety
Global Headquarters
102 W 3rd St., Ste 750
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
RE: Dunwoody-DeKalb CAD-to-CAD Interface Project
Dear Mr. McNulty:
I am writing this letter in hopes that your assistance may improve an exceedingly frustrating and disappointing experience my community continues to have with a project we are working on with your firm.
As a matter of background, in October 2011 the City of Dunwoody transitioned 911 calltaking services from DeKalb County to the Chattahoochee River 911 Authority (ChatComm). ChatComm provides call-taking and police dispatch but DeKalb County continues to dispatch fire and emergency medical services.
Prior to the transition, we embarked on project to connect these two 911 centers through a CAD-to-CAD interface between OSSI Sungard (CAD provider for Dunwoody and ChatComm) and InterAct Public Safety (CAD provider for DeKalb County).
All major development on the interface was completed in early 2012. It is now March 2014 and we continue to face delay after delay in testing to complete this project. The testing phase of the project has been a disastrous set of failures.
The Mayor and City Council are furious that this process has taken several years and is still incomplete. My staff and I have run out of answers as to why this project has been ongoing for nearly three years.
The public pressure has mounted to get this project completed to levels I haven't seen in my 17 years in local government. Frankly, the reputation of the City, our service providers and the vendors responsible for completing the job has suffered mightily. Every missed expectation and additional "bug" in the interface that prevents the system from working properly is growing the discontent astronomically.
I am at the breaking point with my patience with the failure of this interface to work properly. Your immediate attention is critical to bring this matter to a successful conclusion. Sincerely,
Warren Hutmacher
City Manager
Memo to Council dated March 10, 2014
Update on CAD-to-CAD Interface
A center-to-center testing call at the end of February revealed four final challenges from the CAD system update that was completed in February. Following the testing call we launched an action plan to address each of the issues identified and are making steady progress.
One issue relates to fire response zone mapping and staging. As part of the CAD update, an outdated response zone map had been connected to the interface. Rather than staging units from the nearest Dunwoody station, for certain parts of the City, the system was suggesting dispatch from stations further out in the surrounding area. To correct this issue we had to review the code, locate the outdated response zone map, and replace it. The second relates to how incidents on Interstate 285 displayed once transferred to DeKalb. We determined that because these incidents are shared with cross streets (such as I-285 Eastbound / Ashford Dunwoody), the issue was that the"/" character was not transferring correctly. To address that issue, the developers are making additional code changes so the "/" character would be properly translated. The final two issues relate to the transference of certain determinant codes from ChatComm to DeKalb. This issue will be addressed by updating the translation table which connects the two systems. We are working with the developers to determine how long these final changes and updates will take.
All the key parties in the project are focused on the decisive steps for completion so we can surpass the industry standard for call transference.
ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATIONS
In recent days, Council has requested clarification related to the development of the interface. First, regarding who is developing the interface and secondly related to the ability to outsource that development.
Unlike a traditional software project, the City has not hired a software vendor to write code and develop the interface. The interface code is developed by the two CAD vendors. One of which is under contract with DeKalb County and the other under contract with ChatComm. There is no technology vendor that is responsible to the City on this project.
Secondly, it has been suggested that a third party could connect these two disparate CAD systems and develop the interface in a manner that was more efficient. Early in the process the City explored this option. We found a third party software vendor that agreed to develop the interface but the two CAD vendors would not agree to the arrangement. Utilizing a third party developer would have allowed each CAD vendor's proprietary code to be held by a third party and they did not feel comfortable with any level of confidentiality agreements.
Both of these issues highlight the fact that had we been allowed to utilize a third party software vendor, we would have had a party beholden to us to complete the interface. As it is, we have little leverage over the two CAD system providers building the interface. We are forced to allow the two vendors to work together to build the interface using a software requirements document they jointly developed and to which they jointly agreed.
In short, we do not manage the technology or the development of the technology. Staff works diligently with both 911 centers and the CAD vendors to ensure resources are appropriately dedicated to the project and that time and attention is focused on the decisive
steps needed to reach completion.
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