Marion County Next Generation 9-1-1 Ready with Airbus DS Communications' VESTA® 9-1-1 Call Processing Solution
Airbus DS Communications, an entity of Airbus Defense and Space, was selected by Marion County, Fla. to build the foundation for Next Generation 9-1-1 to serve its 350,000 residents.
Marion County migrated to the VESTA 9-1-1 solution to strengthen public safety communications to the community.
An Airbus DS Communications customer since 1999, Marion County receives more than 700,000 calls annually. Previously, the county had two public safety answer points (PSAPs) that operated separately, the Marion County Sherriff’s Office and the Ocala Police Department.
The new geodiverse VESTA 9-1-1 system allows the two PSAPs and one back-up location to operate as a single system. This increases redundancy between the call centers as well as provides the county’s call takers with a familiar interface, regardless of their location, simplifying the call taking process and decreasing response times.
“As technology continues to progress, public safety officials are seeking smarter ways to keep their communities safe,” said Bob Freinberg, CEO of Airbus DS Communications. “We are honored to be selected by Marion County to deliver our VESTA 9-1-1 solution, ensuring advanced and reliable public safety communications for their community.”
The new VESTA 9-1-1 solution has 28 call-taking positions at Marion County Sherriff’s Office, 10 call-taking positions at Ocala Police Department and eight back-up positions, all interconnected to provide greater redundancy, flexibility and reliability. The system was fully installed in September and is now operational.
“The new system puts Marion County on the path to the next generation of 9-1-1,” said Karl Oltz, Director of the Public Safety Communications Department for Marion County. “With this platform, we are able to gather more complete information from emergency calls as well as integrate new technologies and services in the future, such as text-to-9-1-1.“
“For 16 years, Airbus DS Communications has been a proven partner in delivering public safety communications for Marion County,” said Michelle Hirst, 911 Administrative Manager, Public Safety Communications Department for Marion County. “Combining the excellent service we get from CenturyLink, our service provider, with the new VESTA 9-1-1 solution, gives us peace of mind we didn’t have before.”
