Copyright GeoComm, Inc. All rights reserved.
"On paper, many firms look similar and it's frequently difficult to measure certain intangibles like
project management, communication or culture until you actually begin working with them. We've
been very impressed by the professional and responsive nature of GeoComm's staff. Communication
has been consistent, frequent and well prepared in the form of project status reports, conference
calls, and day-to-day contact as tasks require it. In short, our working relationship with GeoComm
has been effortless which has made them seem like an extension of our own staff."
Ray Weiser- GIS Coordinator, Scott County, Iowa
Featured in ArcNews Online - Fall 2011 Scott County Takes No Risks - Iowa County Creates Address Data and Improves Emergency Services
Ray Weiser- GIS Coordinator, Scott County, Iowa
Featured in ArcNews Online - Fall 2011 Scott County Takes No Risks - Iowa County Creates Address Data and Improves Emergency Services
Scott County, Iowa
Examining Address Data and Improving Procedures to Create Reliable
Emergency Services
Scott County lies along the Mississippi River in Eastern Iowa,
approximately 180 miles east of Des Moines. Covering over 460 square
miles, it is the third largest county in Iowa and home to almost 165,000
people. In 2003 Scott County conducted an independent study to review the
possibility of sharing public safety services across governmental
boundaries. The study revealed that one consolidated 9-1-1 center would be
beneficial to Scott County and thus the planning for Scott Emergency
Communications Center began.
Scott County officials determined that before the new consolidated Emergency Communications Center went into operation a new spatially based Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system was needed. However, the data the CAD system required was not yet developed and accurate map layers for the entire county had to be created. They also wanted a plan in place to handle the ongoing maintenance required to keep the data layers up to date.
Through an official RFP process GeoComm was selected to provide Scott County with the address data and process improvements necessary to ensure Scott County had reliable emergency services for their residents. This included providing Scott County with GIS data analysis and the development services required to create an implementation plan and county-wide dataset for use in the new consolidated Emergency Communications Center.
Ray Weiser- GIS Coordinator, Scott County, Iowa:
"On paper, many firms look similar and it's frequently difficult to measure certain intangibles like project management, communication or culture until you actually begin working with them. We've been very impressed by the professional and responsive nature of GeoComm's staff. Communication has been consistent, frequent and well prepared in the form of project status reports, conference calls, and day-to-day contact as tasks require it. In short, our working relationship with GeoComm has been effortless which has made them seem like an extension of our own staff."
Before address verification began in the field, Scott County and GeoComm realized that there were some unique challenges in collecting address information and developing it into GIS map data. These unique challenges were most notably buildings with more than one resident and/or address. There were areas that had multiple buildings with the same address, areas with one building and multiple addresses, as well as one building with multiple units (apartments), that all used the same address. To help pre-locate all suspected multi-unit addresses, GeoComm and Scott County's GIS staff used several resources, including the ALI database, energy company databases, and building footprints that fell within multi-unit zoning areas for each city. In all, over 8,000 suspected multi-unit structures were field-verified by GeoComm staff in less than 4 months. Address data was collected from these structures so they would accurately plot in Scott County's CAD system.
While the fieldwork was underway, review and development of the primary GIS map data layers, such as the street centerline, address point layer, and ESZ Boundary layer began. The street centerline, which is the primary layer required for public safety, was improved to have a better synchronization rate with Scott County's ALI database and MSAG. The ESN boundary map layer, which depicts the service area for fire, medical, and law responders, was reviewed and altered through several online meetings with local staff, to ensure proper location and synchronization with the MSAG. The synchronization of the GIS map data and the databases were key in Scott County so that their dispatch mapping system accurately plotted wireline calls. This includes better than a 98% geocode rate of the telephone subscriber records in the ALI database.
After each step was complete, GeoComm conducted a series of Quality Assurance/Quality Control audits to evaluate the quality of the map data. The results were compiled and a list of the errors and possible solutions were provided to the county's database provider and Scott County so changes could be made to the ALI Database and MSAG to increase the synchronization to the GIS Map Data. Scott County now had updated GIS map layers with addressable and field verified street centerlines, an updated Address Point Layer, updated MSAG, and an updated ALI Database.
Because Scott County was consolidating into one Emergency Communications Center they recognized the need to implement a strong maintenance plan that would ensure their map data, MSAG, and software was synchronized to effectively plot incident locations. Scott County wanted to ensure their data was managed well and that communication between departments and municipalities was effective to meet the County's goals for 9-1-1 call plotting. They also needed an efficient way to manage their GIS data and merge new addresses into the MSAG and ALI databases. To help them achieve their goals for GIS data maintenance, GeoComm met with personnel from several Scott County departments as well as representatives from all municipalities within Scott County. The information gathered at these meetings enabled GeoComm to create address assignment and maintenance workflow processes for the conversion, creation, maintenance, and transfer of public safety GIS data. These processes and procedures ensured that data synchronization and error reporting was also maintained.
During the project, Scott County also requested GeoComm help them develop some additional data layers. These layers included police beat boundaries, police reporting area boundaries, fire beat boundaries, and fire reporting area boundaries. The information contained in these data layers provides an invaluable resource when the dispatchers are answering emergency calls.
The new Scott Emergency Communications Center now has a complete county-wide, highly accurate GIS dataset and maintenance plan. More importantly, the project provides public safety responders with locatable addresses that display the correct location on a map in an emergency, resulting in improved response times. While the address point data model was designed with public safety as a priority, it also took into account other needs, making it a valuable resource across departments.
GeoComm and the company providing Scott County's new CAD system hope to have all of the data complete so the system can start being used in the middle of December 2010.
Scott County officials determined that before the new consolidated Emergency Communications Center went into operation a new spatially based Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system was needed. However, the data the CAD system required was not yet developed and accurate map layers for the entire county had to be created. They also wanted a plan in place to handle the ongoing maintenance required to keep the data layers up to date.
Through an official RFP process GeoComm was selected to provide Scott County with the address data and process improvements necessary to ensure Scott County had reliable emergency services for their residents. This included providing Scott County with GIS data analysis and the development services required to create an implementation plan and county-wide dataset for use in the new consolidated Emergency Communications Center.
Ray Weiser- GIS Coordinator, Scott County, Iowa:
"On paper, many firms look similar and it's frequently difficult to measure certain intangibles like project management, communication or culture until you actually begin working with them. We've been very impressed by the professional and responsive nature of GeoComm's staff. Communication has been consistent, frequent and well prepared in the form of project status reports, conference calls, and day-to-day contact as tasks require it. In short, our working relationship with GeoComm has been effortless which has made them seem like an extension of our own staff."
Before address verification began in the field, Scott County and GeoComm realized that there were some unique challenges in collecting address information and developing it into GIS map data. These unique challenges were most notably buildings with more than one resident and/or address. There were areas that had multiple buildings with the same address, areas with one building and multiple addresses, as well as one building with multiple units (apartments), that all used the same address. To help pre-locate all suspected multi-unit addresses, GeoComm and Scott County's GIS staff used several resources, including the ALI database, energy company databases, and building footprints that fell within multi-unit zoning areas for each city. In all, over 8,000 suspected multi-unit structures were field-verified by GeoComm staff in less than 4 months. Address data was collected from these structures so they would accurately plot in Scott County's CAD system.
While the fieldwork was underway, review and development of the primary GIS map data layers, such as the street centerline, address point layer, and ESZ Boundary layer began. The street centerline, which is the primary layer required for public safety, was improved to have a better synchronization rate with Scott County's ALI database and MSAG. The ESN boundary map layer, which depicts the service area for fire, medical, and law responders, was reviewed and altered through several online meetings with local staff, to ensure proper location and synchronization with the MSAG. The synchronization of the GIS map data and the databases were key in Scott County so that their dispatch mapping system accurately plotted wireline calls. This includes better than a 98% geocode rate of the telephone subscriber records in the ALI database.
After each step was complete, GeoComm conducted a series of Quality Assurance/Quality Control audits to evaluate the quality of the map data. The results were compiled and a list of the errors and possible solutions were provided to the county's database provider and Scott County so changes could be made to the ALI Database and MSAG to increase the synchronization to the GIS Map Data. Scott County now had updated GIS map layers with addressable and field verified street centerlines, an updated Address Point Layer, updated MSAG, and an updated ALI Database.
Because Scott County was consolidating into one Emergency Communications Center they recognized the need to implement a strong maintenance plan that would ensure their map data, MSAG, and software was synchronized to effectively plot incident locations. Scott County wanted to ensure their data was managed well and that communication between departments and municipalities was effective to meet the County's goals for 9-1-1 call plotting. They also needed an efficient way to manage their GIS data and merge new addresses into the MSAG and ALI databases. To help them achieve their goals for GIS data maintenance, GeoComm met with personnel from several Scott County departments as well as representatives from all municipalities within Scott County. The information gathered at these meetings enabled GeoComm to create address assignment and maintenance workflow processes for the conversion, creation, maintenance, and transfer of public safety GIS data. These processes and procedures ensured that data synchronization and error reporting was also maintained.
During the project, Scott County also requested GeoComm help them develop some additional data layers. These layers included police beat boundaries, police reporting area boundaries, fire beat boundaries, and fire reporting area boundaries. The information contained in these data layers provides an invaluable resource when the dispatchers are answering emergency calls.
The new Scott Emergency Communications Center now has a complete county-wide, highly accurate GIS dataset and maintenance plan. More importantly, the project provides public safety responders with locatable addresses that display the correct location on a map in an emergency, resulting in improved response times. While the address point data model was designed with public safety as a priority, it also took into account other needs, making it a valuable resource across departments.
GeoComm and the company providing Scott County's new CAD system hope to have all of the data complete so the system can start being used in the middle of December 2010.
GIS
Articles & Case Studies