Equipping public safety agencies of all sizes with modernized capabilities including call-taking and dispatch, records, analytics, major event management and mobility, the HxGN OnCall Portfolio can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud, depending on the structure and needs of your organization.
Next-gen CAD system
Part of the OnCall portfolio, HxGN OnCall Dispatch is a continuation of the I/CAD technology that helped solidify Hexagon’s position as the world’s leading computer-aided dispatch (CAD) provider. This next-gen CAD system retains many of the features public safety agencies love about I/CAD while modernizing its architecture, streamlining administration and customization and transforming the user experience (UX).
The foundation of the software – our CAD Core Library – remains the same, meaning the system behavior of HxGN OnCall Dispatch is similar to that of I/CAD. At the data level, it mirrors I/CAD 9.4 as well, recording events in the same way. The CAD Core Library underpins the I/CAD product suite: I/Dispatcher, I/NetViewer, I/NetDispatcher, and I/Mobile Data Terminal. In OnCall Dispatch, the CAD Core Library forms the basis of HxGN OnCall Dispatch core, which serves as the core of all services.
The UX features streamlined workflows with information display and screen layouts optimized through hundreds of scientific studies with dispatchers and call-takers. The system architecture increases flexibility and simplifies administration.
On-premises or in the cloud
The world of public safety has changed dramatically during the 30 years since we first developed I/CAD. Traditionally, agencies kept everything on-site – control room, server room, workstation, etc. Today’s environments are far more complex. Some agencies want remote systems in various counties, states and locations, while others prefer to have or must house their CAD systems in centralized and homogenous environments.
The good news is that OnCall Dispatch is ideally suited for both on-premises and cloud deployment. And both solutions are easily configurable, allowing agencies to adapt software to their unique and changing needs.
OnCall Dispatch is browser-based and leverages Microsoft Azure’s cloud technologies (including support for Azure Gov Cloud) for those agencies that would rather not be confined to on-premises deployment. It is a consolidated and integrated solution that is built for the cloud – not re-engineered for the cloud – but rather built from the ground up to take full advantage of the security, advanced analysis and scalability that the cloud provides.
No longer do agencies need to have their call-takers and dispatchers in the same room, or even in the public safety answering point (PSAP). OnCall Dispatch allows far greater flexibility in your public safety agency’s operations setup. It also improves resilience by making it easier to deploy across physical sites and quickly set up contingencies if a site becomes inoperable.
Faster upgrades
As anyone who is familiar with managing and maintaining legacy CAD systems knows, agencies spend a lot of time and resources maintaining and upgrading their legacy CAD systems. This is no longer the case with OnCall Dispatch. As opposed to legacy systems, OnCall Dispatch can address many customization needs via configuration as opposed to custom code. This, together with its services-based architecture and centralized administration, allows organizations to adapt and update their systems more quickly and easily. Agencies can immediately benefit from enhancements as they are delivered multiple times a year, and they can do it with less disruption because the updates eliminate the need to rework custom code and are delivered incrementally as opposed to all-at-once requiring significantly less time and effort to implement new enhancements, features, and fixes.
Greater flexibility and scalability
With legacy CAD systems flexibility, when it comes to map providers, has become exceedingly difficult, especially as the number of map providers continues to grow. But that’s not the case with OnCall Dispatch. With OnCall Dispatch users can select from a previously defined list of map providers to fully harness their geographical data. Additionally, since OnCall Dispatch is built on a multi-tier, micro services architecture, scaling and reliance problems are a thing of the past; agencies can scale horizontally, allowing for more consistent results – regardless of how agencies lay out their networks – when rapidly increasing capacity to handle additional load during major events.
New technologies
Underneath the hood, we’ve also added new technologies to support our core infrastructure. OnCall Dispatch provides peer-to-peer data sharing capacity through its industry-standard message bus (RabbitMQ), along with HTML5-based clients, which deliver a rich, interactive experience for the user.
Improved mapping
Finally, OnCall Dispatch was built using a modern services-based approach to mapping. We now leverage geospatial services to handle most map-based tasks, such as map rendering, geocoding and routing. Instead of focusing on where (and in what files) information is stored, IT managers can ask, “What map services do users want, or what does a workflow need?” And because this map information is now readily available, we can now monitor and ensure the map services are running which now allows agencies to leverage their existing data from GIS systems like ArcGIS or other external map services.
Learn more
Find out more about HxGN OnCall, Hexagon’s next-generation public safety portfolio, including HxGN OnCall Records, HxGN OnCall Analytics, HxGN OnCall Planning & Response and HxGN OnCall Field Mobility.
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