Number: 7.0

Date Issued: January 28, 2003

Date Effective: January 28, 2003

Subject: Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Technical Support

Policy: The Enhanced 9-1-1 Authority shall follow a standardized procedure for the use of CAD Technical Support.

Purpose: To provide all PSAP personnel with the necessary understanding of whom, how and when to contact technical support for CAD related issues.

Procedure:

1. The 911 Authority technical support staff will be the initial contact for all CAD related problems.
2. Upon discovery of a CAD problem, PSAP personnel shall use the procedures listed below to notify the 911 Authority technical support staff.
1. Normal technical service hours are 8:00am through 4:30pm, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
2. During normal technical services hours the PSAP will call the 911 Authority Office at (719)-785-1900 to report CAD problems. The receptionist will take the initial report and will then forward the information to the 911 Authority technical support staff. The 911 Authority technical support staff will either speak immediately with the PSAP personnel or will call the PSAP personnel back if not immediately available.
3. The PSAP will need to follow the telephone notification with a written CAD Problem Report. This report will set forth the problem noted with specificity requested by the 911 Authority. The written report can be faxed to the 911 Authority at (719)-579-6427 or can be emailed. If the report is to be emailed, PSAP personnel must obtain an email address of where to send the report during the telephone report, as there is not a set email address for technical support.
4. After hours, weekends and holidays PSAP personnel can contact technical support staff by pager. The on-call technician should only be paged for Critical Priority and High Priority situations as outlined below. All non-critical priority problems should be reported during normal business hours or a message can be left at (719)-785-1900 and the technical support personnel will call back during normal technical support hours. For Critical and High Priority problems PSAP personnel should page (719)-389-8672. This is a numeric pager. Once prompted, enter a call back telephone number.
3. Initial response by the 911 Authority personnel will be based upon the priority assigned by the agency. Resolution response will be based upon the priority set by the 911 Authority technical support personnel and (or) that set by TriTech Technical support staff.
4. TriTech provides telephone support service twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week as more fully described below. PSAP personnel should only contact TriTech support in Critical Priority and High Priority situations and only after attempting to contact 911 Authority technical support staff. If the 911 Authority technical support staff does not respond to a PSAP’s request for Critical Priority assistance in what the PSAP determines to be an appropriate time, then they can reach TriTech support staff at 1-800-Visicad (1-800-847-4223). Only personnel properly trained in the operation and usage of the TriTech Software shall utilize the TriTech telephone support service. Every attempt should be made to first contact the 911 Authority technical support staff.
5. TriTech’s normal technical services hours are 5:30a.m. through 5:30p.m. (PT/PST), Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Normal TriTech office hours are from 8:30a.m. through 5:30p.m. (PT/PST), Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
6. An automated attendant will answer TriTech’s main support line at all hours. The PSAP can either remain on the line or press 1 to transfer to the Technical Services Department. If a technical services representative is available, the call will be answered and handled immediately. If all representatives are busy, then the PSAP will be given the option to leave a message or press 0 (zero) when a call is a Critical Priority problem, as described below. All other problem reports will operate on a callback basis after leaving a message in the support voice mailbox.
1. During normal TriTech office hours, pressing zero will transfer the caller to the receptionist who will assist the caller. The receptionist will use these procedures to handle the call appropriately, including finding a technical services representative or other personnel to assist the caller.
2. After normal TriTech office hours, pressing zero will transfer the caller to TriTech’s emergency answering service. When connected to the service, the caller shall provide the operator with their name, organization name, call-back number where the technical services representative may reach the calling party, and a brief description of the problem (including, if applicable, the information that causes the issue to be a Critical Priority problem).
7. Both the 911 Authority support personnel and TriTech support personnel will use the following criteria to set CAD problem priorities and support response.
8. Critical Priority-
1. Technical support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

2. Description-

· A critical software error, which severely impacts the ability of the PSAP to dispatch emergency vehicles. These errors include:

o Software Server software lockup

o Data corruption caused by TriTech Software

o TriTech Software is inoperable due to one of the following conditions:

§ Inability to enter new requests for service

§ Inability to assign a call to a unit

§ Inability to change status

§ Inability to dispose of a call

3. Initial response-

· PSAP personnel can expect a call back within thirty (30) minutes during normal technical services hours. After normal technical services hours a callback can be expected within two (2) hours.

4. Resolution response-

· Technical services staff will work continuously to provide PSAP with a workaround solution or completely resolve the problem.

5. Notification-

· It is the responsibility of the PSAP to notify technical support staff of a Critical Priority issue. The technical support staff will update the PSAP contact of progress frequently during the problem resolution and provide a final report of the status of the system once the workaround has been provided or the problem has been resolved.

9. High Priority-

1. Technical support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
2. Description-

· A non-critical software error that does not prevent the dispatching of emergency vehicles, but which does prevent the user from performing a common-call taking, dispatching, or system administrative function. These issues would not have reasonable workaround. These do not include cosmetic, documentation, reporting, or similar problems. These also do not include questions or inquires regarding the operation of the software or its installation and training.

3. Initial response-

· Technical support will respond with a call back within one (1) hour during normal business hours. After normal business hours technical support will respond with a call back within two (2) hours.

4. Resolution response-

· Technical support staff will provide a workaround for the PSAP when possible within an average of twenty-four (24) hours. (Providing a workaround would usually result in lowering the priority of the problem.) TriTech will provide a problem resolution in the form of an upgrade or modification to the software in future updates.

5. Notification-

· It is the responsibility of the PSAP to notify technical support staff of a High Priority issue. The 911 Authority technical support staff will notify the PSAP supervisor when a workaround has been provided or the problem has been resolved. The 911 Authority technical staff will provide the PSAP a monthly list of outstanding and resolved issues showing all problems reported during the period or unresolved as of the date of the report.

10. Medium Priority-
1. Technical support is available during normal business hours.
2. Description-

· A software error that is not critical, and would be a high priority, except that there is a reasonable workaround. These include but are not limited to:

o Reporting errors or calculation problems

o Questions or inquires relating to TriTech Software functionality, system administration, or installation

3. Initial response-

· 911 Authority technical support staff will respond within twenty-four (24) hours during normal business hours, or on the next business day.

4. Response resolution-

· TriTech will correct Medium Priority errors in upcoming releases.

5. Notification-

· It is the responsibility of the PSAP to notify the 911 Authority support personnel of Medium Priority issues. The 911 Authority support staff will notify the PSAP supervisor when a workaround has been provided or the problem has been resolved. The 911 Authority technical support staff will provide the PSAP manager a monthly list of outstanding issues and resolutions showing all problems reported during the period or unresolved as of the date of the report.

11. Low Priority-
1. Technical support available during normal business hours.
2. Description-

· All other software or documentation errors not described above.

o Documentation inaccuracies

o Cosmetic issues

o Misspellings

3. Initial response-

· The 911 Authority support personnel will not respond to these items unless specifically requested to do so at the time of the notification. If a reply is requested, the 911 Authority support personnel will respond within an average of twenty-four (24) hours during normal business hours, or on the next business day.

4. Resolution response-

· TriTech will correct Low Priority problems in upcoming releases of the software or documentation.

5. Notification-

· It is the responsibility of the PSAP to notify the 911 Authority technical support personnel of Low Priority issues. The 911 Authority technical support personnel will notify the PSAP manager when a workaround has been provided or the problem has been resolved. The 911 Authority technical support staff will provide each PSAP a monthly list of outstanding issues and resolutions showing all problems reported during the period or unresolved as of the date of the report.