Project Management Discussion. 3 questions ,200words+

1 Project Background: Rosa County Public Safety System Upgrade Note: this case study project focuses on the software development, physical installation, and personnel training required for a public safety system upgrade, the addition of a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system that allows municipal governments to receive and process incoming emergency calls to public fire and police departments and then to dispatch appropriate field units to required locations. Details included in this case study are based on review of several different CAD systems throughout the United States and are intentionally set in the late 1990s, when standardized project management processes and practices were used less commonly than they are today. No individuals from any municipality are included in this case study (either by name or pseudonym), and any similarities to actual systems, processes or events is coincidental. Rosa County (population 900,000, covering over 500 square miles) first investigated upgrading its public safety response processes in the late 1990s, when the County Police Department had been working with the County Fire Department to share handling all police and fire-related communications and dispatch functions internally and, due to a rapidly increasing population, both departments realized call volume was quickly exceeding current ability to respond. The existing cumbersome and labor intensive call response process also required a steady pool of internal support to maintain, made up of civilian call takers and dispatchers, and, more recently, uniformed personnel who were tasked on an as-needed basis during especially active periods (holiday weekends, for example). To address the growing problem, Rosa County public safety representatives attended a state- wide public safety symposium in early 1998 to discuss similar issues encountered by other counties, as well as potential solutions. One of several vendors at the symposium expo, OnCall Systems, caught the attention of Rosa Police Department senior personnel and scheduled a demonstration of their recently- developed computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system for the following week. OnCall gave their prepared demonstration as scheduled, the week after the symposium. The demonstration focused on assignment and tracking of units in response to calls for service, with enhanced electronic mapping and address retrieval capability at the dispatch center and inside units themselves. The demonstration also featured significant use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) to locate and track emergency vehicles using externally-mounted transmitters. The demonstration was attended by Rosa County police and fire department personnel, including the Chief of Police, his immediate assistant, and a handful of deputy and assistant chiefs from both departments. The Fire Chief was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict, but his Assistant Chief of Administrative Operations was present. OnCall was then a small, disabled veteran-owned business of 20 employees with revenues of $3M annually. The locally-based company typically employed personnel with backgrounds in public safety at state and local levels, and offered both general safety consulting and technical services. At the time, OnCall was among the first vendors in the area to develop a dispatch system aided by computers. Realizing the significant benefits (and County labor efficiencies) a CAD system might provide, as well as the paucity of vendors who could provide such technology, the County Police Chief, Randall Wade, in March 1998 authorized award of a sole source contract to OnCall to install and implement their system for the County’s Police Department, as well as to train County Police Department personnel on its use (the County Fire Department would be converted to the new system in a second, separate award phase, after Police Department installation, implementation and training was completed). The award was for $720,000 (roughly $1M in 2012 U.S. dollars), with Chief Wade widely announcing the new system would provide “tangible benefits and improved call response time” to County citizens “by the end of the decade”. 2 Maintenance of the system was acknowledged as a requirement, but as the first County system of its kind, maintenance activities and associated costs were unknown and would be negotiated with the County after the first contract period, once installation and training were completed. Upon award, Police Chief Wade selected Alex Jensen, a former uniformed officer and now an Operations Manager employed by the Police Department’s Division of Communications Services, to oversee the project on a day-to-day basis. With significant experience and history within the Department, Alex had a strong understanding of general Departmental processes and good personal rapport with the existing team. Although he did not have a technical background, Alex felt he came away from his first meeting with his OnCall counterpart, Paul Spires, with a good general knowledge of system and its high-level goals. (Alex’s notes from his meeting with Paul are included on the next page). OnCall began planning with the County to physically reconfigure the internal communications working area, which was consolidated into a single location in Police Department spaces (Fire Department personnel remained as part of the dispatch team, with the Police Department assuming the lead for the project). As is now common with CAD centers, OnCall also began plans to locate its technical personnel onsite with County dispatch personnel to provide support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 3 Rosa County Public Safety System Upgrade – Initial Meeting Alex Jensen – Paul Spires – April 5, 1998 System genesis: - too many calls for existing staff (13 civilians total) - uniformed support expensive (OT costs), plus burnout, little system training - State call time aiming for < 10 seconds - Need reliable electronic address retrieval, mapping OnCall planning:

- Need more space for new call center? How many workstations? (2 monitors each) - Training space?

- Complete system backup - Will subcontract call center reconfiguration (general contractor) - Space also for onsite OnCall personnel – tech support, trainers – sporadically - Tech Lead? (also who will be counterpart for the County? – need to check) - General phases:

 Call center buildout  Merge existing County data into new system databases, match up new modules with existing (not sure if complete replacement is coming…Paul needs more details from tech guys. How will this happen?)  New workstations loaded up, installed  Also modifications to mobile units (GPS)  What about old stuff – when does it cut off?

 Our people try out new system, process – additional modifications “likely”  When/where is training? How long? 1 week sessions…call takers, dispatchers, also training within all mobile units  Once County is proficient, new system goes live Need to verify:

- What is “real” final due date (end of 1989?) to be able to show ??? exactly?

- $720K is fixed price…what happens if project is too big?