Hancock County Selects Zetron’s Next Generation 9-1-1 Solution to Enhance Emergency Communications Reliability

The system currently in place has been plagued by routine service outages, failing to meet the critical emergency handling and response needs of the county. The project to replace the current system with Zetron’s MAX Call Taking solution for receiving and managing emergency communications county-wide has already begun and is scheduled to cutover in August.

“Enhancing our Next Generation 9-1-1 call handling and response capabilities is a major focus, but improving reliability is the really critical factor here,” said Andrew Buffington, Communications/911 Director for Hancock County, Iowa. “Eliminating system failures is paramount to providing a consistently high level of service to our communities. Combined with other time saving functionality and efficiency benefits of employing a fully integrated mission critical system, this transition creates a real win-win for the County.”

In December 2017, Zetron was awarded a contract by the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to deliver a Next Generation 9-1-1 solution that will significantly enhance public safety services state-wide.

Working closely with the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department (HSEMD), Zetron has now also scheduled a control room upgrade for Hancock County. The MAX Call Taking implementation will mark the beginning of the planned upgrade of their 9-1-1 system, with additional solutions planned to be fully integrated in the future.

“The Iowa HSEMD is dedicated to optimizing the state’s critical communications infrastructure and services,” said Scott French, Zetron vice president and general manager, Americas. “Together with our valued partner Racom, it’s been a highly collaborative process between multiple private and public entities to facilitate a viable solution to the system outage issues hampering Hancock County’s emergency services. A reusable model is also being developed here that will help accelerate the rollout of NG9-1-1 Shared Services infrastructure for other organizations state-wide.”