New Police Department Comm Centre

With a new police building and communications system in place, the Town of Gananoque Ontario's Police Department is ready for the future.

The move to a newly constructed building in early 2004 coincided with plans to overhaul the department’s communications system, making for a major logistical undertaking for the Gananoque Police.

Glentel / Time MCI played a central role in this massive project. According to Don MacKenzie of Glentel / Time MCI, the scope of the deliverables was substantial.

“We embraced the challenge of designing a customized, code-compliant system while relocating an entire communications centre and maintaining uninterrupted service,” says MacKenzie.

What was key to Time MCI’s approach?  “Our willingness to assume responsibility for managing the whole process, including areas that aren’t normally part of our service offering,” says MacKenzie.  This included coordinating the procurement of phone lines from Bell Canada, and managing deadlines with construction sub contractors.   
 
“We became a partner in the project planning of the new building, not just the communications equipment component,” says MacKenzie.  

According to Bob Parrish, Gananoque’s Chief of Police, it was precisely this approach that led to the Town’s selection of Time MCI.
“Glentel / Time MCI was much more thorough in asking questions, understanding our needs, and just generally performing a more consultative role than the other vendors we considered,” says Chief Parrish.  “Once we awarded the contract, Glentel /Time MCI got the ball rolling on the project before the shovels hit the ground in the new building site,” he says.

One of the first objectives Glentel / Time MCI tackled in the design of the new communications centre was the issue of redundancy.  The 15-year old communications system that was to be replaced, had a number of single-points of failure, with one main radio console linked by telephone lines to various radio equipment. The new system is fully redundant, allowing a higher and more consistent level of service to the community.

According to Chief Parrish, the backbone of the new communications centre is the digital call logger/recorder system.  “It has streamlined our whole operation,” he says.

The logger digitally records all 911 telephone calls and all emergency radio traffic on separate channels, and stores the captured files on DVD.   Previously, calls were recorded on an analogue multi-track tape recorder, with 15-inch tape reels.  

“Searching for calls used to be a cumbersome, labour intensive process,” says Parrish.  “Now we can archive an entire month’s worth of calls on a single DVD, versus having to physically store and maneuver 30 enormous metal tape reels!”
 
A key improvement with the new system is that it allows for faster communication with other community service providers, like emergency fire and ambulance services.
Operators in the communications centre also appreciate the much more user-friendly, efficient work environment that the digital logger provides.

“At Glentel / Time MCI, our job is to match complex technology with an easy to use user interface and process,” says MacKenzie.  “The Gananoque Police solution is a text book example of this.”  

Chief Parrish agrees.  “I can’t say enough about Don MacKenzie, Charles Mills, and the rest of the Glentel / Time MCI team,” he says.  “Through their expertise and guidance, they delivered an end-to-end solution that translates into better, higher quality service for the citizens of Gananoque.”