The Three Faces of Integration Among Public Safety Software Systems

By Morgan Hardy - Content provided by Spillman Technologies

As technology has progressed over the last few decades, thousands of public safety agencies across the United States have migrated their records and processes from pen and paper to software and server. This transition has brought countless benefits to both agency personnel and their communities, including the ability to search for records in seconds and share information with other personnel and agencies with just a few clicks. This is all possible through effective software integration, which allows the various parts of a system to communicate with one another and exchange information as they perform their individual functions.

Most public safety personnel would agree that integration is an important component of a software system, but many don’t realize that there are actually multiple ways public safety software can be integrated.

One method of integration that is common among agencies is often referred to as “best-of-breed.” In this type of arrangement, multiple software programs produced by various vendors are combined to form the agency’s individual system. Each component is then connected through interfaces, allowing them to transfer information back and forth. For example, a sheriff’s office may choose to use a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system from a vendor that specializes in dispatch software, paired with records management (RMS) and jail management (JMS) systems from a second vendor that specializes in those fields. Two or three more vendors could provide software to meet the agency’s mobile, mapping, analytics, and any other specific software requirements. Interfaces would then be created to span the gaps between each of the systems so that the agency’s data could pass between them.

This method appeals to some agencies because, as the name “best-of-breed” suggests, it provides powerful individual software components that are often created by vendors leading the industry in their specialties. However, this conglomeration of software can come with some drawbacks. Because each component of the system is actually a separate program, agency personnel are often required to log into each application separately. This can be a time-consuming process that requires each user to keep track of several sets of usernames and passwords.

In a best-of-breed system, each program usually has its own distinct user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designs, which means personnel must learn the unique ins and outs of each platform separately. Creating and maintaining the interfaces required to connect the various platforms can also be a complex, expensive, and time-consuming process, both during the initial software implementation and in the event of major updates to one or more of the individual components.

In addition, individual applications often feature their own databases, which means an agency could have duplicate records for the same names, locations, incidents, etc., stored throughout several locations within the system. This makes maintaining organized and accurate records difficult because it requires someone to alter each version of a record, whether stored in the CAD, RMS, or elsewhere, individually any time there is an update. Even the smallest lapse or oversight in updating each version of a record would result in inaccurate and conflicting data, which reduces efficiency, lowers the quality of agency analytics, and even negatively impacts officer safety. Housing multiple databases within an agency’s software system can also slow down the investigation process for agency personnel who may need to conduct a separate search through each databases’ records before finding all of the information they are looking for.

The second type of software integration is quite similar to the first, but, instead of multiple software vendors contributing to the complete system, a single vendor provides each component of an agency’s software system (records, CAD, mobile, etc.) and then connects each platform using interfaces. This method could solve some of the issues a best-of-breed system presents, such as varying UI and UX designs and requiring multiple sets of login credentials for each person, however, it still presents a few of the same challenges. A system like this often includes a separate database for dispatch, records, jail, etc., which slows down searches and increases the likelihood of duplicate, inaccurate, or outdated information.

A third method of public safety software integration offers a departure from the interface-driven structures of the first and second options. Instead of connecting several different programs and their respective databases through a series of interfaces, this type of system features a single, centralized database around which each core software module is originally built, all provided by a single software vendor under one license agreement. Each piece in this truly integrated system pulls data from and contributes data to the same hub of integrated records.

This database-centered system enables personnel in every department, from dispatch to patrol to records to corrections, to create and update records on names, addresses, vehicles, and incidents by entering the new data only once, increasing overall agency efficiency. The single database then provides everyone with access to that same, accurate information in real time, without the worry of duplicate records or maintaining multiple databases. This type of system also lends itself to efficient, comprehensive searching and intelligence-led policing because the entire store of agency information can be pulled from the centralized database. This enables personnel to find exactly what they’re looking for when they need it with only one search, as well as gives command staff a quick and easy way to recognize trends and patterns occurring within their communities.

Personnel using this true integration can also enjoy continuity in UI and UX throughout each module of their agency’s system, as well as a single set of login credentials. The structure of software modules built around a centralized database also provides a less complex system than in the first two types of integration because it requires far fewer interfaces to be put in place and maintained. If and when an issue does arise, agency personnel can also turn to a single vendor for customer service and support, rather than dealing with several vendors at once.

Public safety agencies all around the nation are benefiting from software integration in its various forms, but many do not realize that there are different ways integration can be accomplished. True integration through a single, centralized database provides numerous advantages to personnel and communities that other methods simply do not offer. For more information about this method and Spillman Technologies’ approach to true software integration, click here.