Hillsborough County USA Selects Airbus DS Communications' VESTA 9-1-1 Solution

Airbus DS Communications also will install an IP network that will allow for greater redundancy and resiliency and serve as the foundation for the next generation of Hillsborough County's public safety communications.

An Airbus DS Communications customer for more than 20 years, Hillsborough County is the fourth most populous county in Florida with more than 1.3 million residents. It answers more than 900,000 emergency calls per year. The county is comprised of 10 public safety answering points (PSAPs) that will have 100 call taking positions once the upgrade to the VESTA 9-1-1 solution and the new IP network is complete. The full transition to the new system is estimated to take place by October 2017.

"We are honored that Hillsborough County has chosen to work with Airbus DS Communications to upgrade to our latest VESTA 9-1-1 solution," said Bob Freinberg, CEO of Airbus DS Communications. "With the new call-handling solution and IP network infrastructure, Hillsborough County will have the flexibility to take on next-generation features such as text-to-9-1-1 and multimedia calls in the future."

The VESTA 9-1-1 solution will provide Hillsborough County with a geodiverse infrastructure that interconnects the 10 PSAPs. This will allow the agency to establish back-up scenarios so that if one PSAP goes down, its 9-1-1 calls are routed to another. The county also will have access to the VESTA® Analytics solution which provides powerful reporting tools such as the ability to review individual PSAP performance to strengthen response times and better manage resources. Additionally, the VESTA 9-1-1 system provides a user-friendly interface for Calltakers that can be personalized to match their needs.