In an effort to increase interoperability, three agencies in Arizona’s Cochise County are adopting software from Spillman Technologies.
 
The Sierra Vista Police Department, Sierra Vista Fire Department, and Fry Fire District will utilize a shared Spillman system. The agencies plan to store data on a common server, located at the Sierra Vista Police Department. Data on the server can be accessed by all three agencies, giving each access to a wide range of information and allowing personnel to identify regional crime trends.
 
The Fry Fire District will use Spillman software to improve communications with Sierra Vista Fire Department, said Fry Fire District Chief Bill Miller. The Fry Fire District covers the unincorporated areas of Cochise County, while the Sierra Vista Fire District responds to calls within Sierra Vista city limits. As part of a shared system, the agencies will be able to access the same data and reduce duplicate entry.

“Now we'll be able to communicate better and share information between both agencies,” Miller said.

The Fry Fire District plans to use Spillman’s Mobile Communications solution to access data while in the field. Miller said the ability to send and receive information using a secure Internet connection rather than a radio will help protect sensitive information.
 
“Emergency medical information and patient information will be private,” Miller said. “We’ll also be able to log on with the police units on the scenes and pass information to each other.”
 
Using Spillman’s Fire Records module, the Sierra Vista Fire Department can record information gathered from field interviews, including names, dates and times, and interview locations. The module also allows the agency to submit reports to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NIFRS).

Miller and Chief Deputy Tom Alinen of the Sierra Vista Police Department both said the agencies selected Spillman because of the company’s reputation in Arizona as a reliable and innovative software provider.

“Every time we talked to a Spillman user they told us that they thought the product was great,” Alinen said. “That meant a lot to us.”

The Sierra Vista Police Department has gone through two software vendors in as many decades, Alinen said. He is confident that Spillman is a solution that will last the agency for years to come.
“We’re looking at Spillman to be our final vendor product,” Alinen said. “I don’t see its lifecycle ending.”

Sierra Vista has a population of 42,000 residents and is located near Fort Huachuca. The agencies are among 51 in Arizona and more than 800 agencies across the nation using Spillman software. The Sierra Vista Police Department and Sierra Vista Fire Department both went live on June 29. The Fry Fire District is expected to go live in 2009 after contracts with Sierra Vista are finalized.

Spillman Technologies provides a full range of integrated software solutions for public safety agencies, including records management, computer-aided dispatch, mobile communications, corrections management, fire/EMS management, resource management, and data sharing.