Intergraph Corp, Huntsville, Alabama chose out-of-the-way Sparks, Nevada for launch of a major new computer-based mapping system, clearly reckoning that attendees at the 55th annual convention of the Associated Public-Safety Communications Officers Inc would want an easy method of finding their way out of Sparks to a less hostile environment such as the Lake Tahoe resort, which is not too far away (Sparks is a suburb of Reno, Nevada). Intergraph’s new graphics-oriented Computer-Assisted Dispatching/Mapping or Cadmap system will intially be marketed to public safety agencies for use in Enhanced 911 dispatch centres – the US emergency telephone number that matches 999 in the UK – but Intergraph has identified numerous other transport-oriented industries that can use CADMAP, including trucking companies, public utility and service vehicle fleets, air couriers, and delivery companies. It could also be used to monitor and dispatch waterborne or airborne craft. There will be a controlled release of the Cadmap software to evaluation sites in the fourth quarter with delivery of fully certified software scheduled for April 1990. Cadmap is designed to exploit the ability of geographic information systems to capture, display, manage and analyse data that has spatial qualities – Intergraph notes that spatial relationships are at the heart of a transportation management operation since the dispatcher must know each vehicle’s location relative to features on a map – yet most other computer-assisted dispatching systems are based on alphanumeric data. In Cadmap, information is organised and communicated using graphics as well as alphanumerics, and the map is a window through which the dispatcher can access multiple databases, which in the case of a police dispatcher might contain a history of related calls at a given address, which police car has a Spanish-speaking officer, and whether a particular building contains hazardous materials, what they are and where they’re stored. Window Cadmap can also be set up to communicate with databases from law enforcement and other agencies. The integral database can generate shift activity reports and long-term statistical reports, and sorts incidents by type, area, patrol unit, time of day, date or other useful classification. Using a graphics screen, the system displays a map of the service area, plus icons showing the location of emergency vehicles. When a person makes a 911 call, the dispatcher automatically receives the calling number, telephone billing address and billing name. As part of the 911 centre, Cadmap verifies that the address is valid, then translates it into geographic co-ordinates. A human calltaker determines the type of incident and asks the caller for details while the Cadmap software is creating an incident file, assigning an incident number and priority code, time-stamps the call, routes it to the proper dispatcher, and posts the call to a To Be Dispatched list. When the dispatcher picks up the the incident for action, all the known information is shown in a window adjacent to the-on-screen map, and Cadmap even suggests which emergency vehicle to dispatch, based on the address of incident, the beat assignments, and the location and status of vehicles. It also can detemine and display the responding unit’s shortest or fastest route to the address. Intergraph says it also plans to develop an interface to an automated vehicle location system, enabling Cadmap to track emergency vehicles, interactively showing their positions on the map. An interface to a mobile data terminal system is also planned, so that the Cadmap system can go out on the call with the cops, supplementing spoken dispatching with digital transmissions to an in-vehicle terminal. Intergraph does not say on what machines the software is written to run, but is is presum.cw 8 ably on the company’s Clipper RISC workstations.
