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Garfield County

Home | Customers | Case Studies | Garfield County
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Carl Stephens, Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority

Putting Technology to Work

Carl Stephens puts technology to work for the citizens of Garfield County, Colorado. Serving a population of 54,000, Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority answers an average of 250 calls per day, including 911 and non-emergency calls. The Authority also serves as the essential link between seven law enforcement agencies, six fire/EMS agencies, and its citizens. Every day, Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority uses the Everbridge emergency notification system to deploy first responders and provide essential information to citizens in emergencies.

The Multi-System Dilemma

The Authority previously relied on several systems to contact first responders and residents: an alpha-numeric paging system linked to its Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, an emergency notification system capable of sending calls only to landline phones, and a call tree system. Further complicating the matter, with many residents trading in landlines for cell phones and VoIP phones, the Authority’s emergency notification system was becoming less effective by the day.

Streamlining with Everbridge

In 2008, the Authority began searching for an emergency notification system to notify residents about emergencies and other important events. The Authority needed a system that could:

  • Streamline multiple systems into a single emergency communication platform
  • Leverage its 9-1-1 database
  • Separate emergency and non-emergency communications
  • Enable citizens to provide more contact information through a sign-up portal
  • Deliver messages in a variety of ways
  • Provide the ability to coordinate emergency responders in a major disaster
  • Integrate with internal systems and processes

Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority evaluated several emergency notification systems and chose Everbridge as its exclusive provider. According to Carl, “Everbridge is the most forward-looking incident notification company and offers the easiest to-use system. We’re confident that Everbridge will continue to develop innovative, effective ways to send emergency messages while allowing the public and emergency responders to update their own contact information, taking a great deal of work off our staff.”

Integrating with CAD

After implementing the Everbridge system, Carl quickly identified other areas of the organization that would benefit from Everbridge’s emergency notification platform, including the Authority’s CAD system, which is a critical operations hub. The Authority worked closely with Everbridge’s Professional Services team to integrate the Everbridge system and its CAD system for faster, more effective messaging. When the paging software provider for its CAD system informed Carl that product support was being discontinued, it reaffirmed his decision to integrate with Everbridge. Today, the Authority’s team of dispatchers sends alerts to first responders every day via the integrated Everbridge-CAD solution, which allows the Authority to reach first responders via multiple contact methods—such as pages, text messages, and instant messaging—with the ability to add more.

Emergencies and Beyond

Numerous agencies within Garfield County use the Everbridge system for meetings, training scheduling and reminders, and call-out notifications for negotiators, search-and-rescue volunteers, shift coverage, and more. In addition to faster, easier communications, the Authority has been able to collect invaluable information about volunteers and have a means of tracking who is receiving these messages and what their responses are.

Sample Messages
”Garfield

Peer-to-Peer: Carl’s Advice

  • Use the system often. You will be more familiar with using it and responders and residents will know what to do instead of calling Dispatch.
  • Apply the Everbridge system to non-emergency communication needs. Doing so not only saves you time, but also enables you to collect information and confirm whether people have received your message. No more having to deal with “lost” messages.
  • Integrate your internal systems and processes with the Everbridge system. Leverage Everbridge’s Professional Services team to help you complete the integration to avoid technical headaches.

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