PowerPhone, a leading provider of emergency communications training and technology solutions, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the company patent number 7,978,826, entitled “Response Advisor for a Call Handling System.” The embodiment of the patent, PowerPhone’s Total Response® emergency call handling software, is an application which provides a series of scripts for use by 911 dispatchers to standardize the emergency call intake process and compile, into one central repository, the critical information that may be needed during any type of police, fire or EMS incident.
The Response Advisor is designed to aid call takers in making objective dispatch decisions based upon conditions at the scene. A Risk Assessment Rating is created from the information and conditions ascertained during the call and displayed via the Response Advisor. Each condition is weighted to represent a risk level to either victim or scene. As information is gathered from the caller, the Response Advisor algorithm is determining not only what resources are best suited to respond, but also at what priority. Those dispatch decisions are then passed to the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system for specific unit assignments.
“Our Response Advisor method of allocating resources based on conditions at the scene is unique,” said Chris Salafia, CEO of PowerPhone. “Emergency responders are typically assigned based simply on an incident type and geographic region rather than the actual scene environment. Our approach ensures not only that appropriate resources are assigned but also offers better protection for both callers and responders.”
The Response Advisor is a core element of PowerPhone’s Total Response system, an integrated system designed to standardize the questioning and information gathering process on any emergency call. Built on the premise that effective call handling is the foundation for effective dispatch, Total Response presents call taking protocols in a unique, blended format to enable operators to ask the right questions and dispatch the appropriate resources regardless of the situation.
“The number one concern of public safety managers is appropriate resource allocation and response prioritization,” Salafia said. “The Response Advisor is significant as it adds a layer of objectivity to what has historically been a very subjective process. The old adage ‘when in doubt, send them out’ is no longer an acceptable method for dispatching first responders.”
This patent is the fourth issued to PowerPhone. All four are integral components of PowerPhone’s Total Response system.
