911 & fire dispatch services 2016 open meeting...

9/16/2016

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diverse. vast. abundant.

9‐1‐1 & Fire Dispatch Services

Presentation Agenda

Open Meeting

1) Background on the PRRD 911/Fire Dispatch function

2) 911/Fire Dispatch Review & Strategic Plan Direction

3) PRRD Equipment Overview & Recommendations

4) Service “Review Process” & Examination of Options

5) 911 PSAP Proposal & Recommendation

6) Fire Dispatch Proposals – Fort St John’s Statement of Impact

Closed Meeting

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

2

Service Establishment

The 911 & Fire Dispatch service is a regional service that was established in 1999 by the Peace River Regional District.

The function provides for :

• 911 emergency call answer services

• fire dispatch for 11 fire departments

• Radio and repeater systems to support fire dispatch

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

3

Service Providers: 9‐1‐1 Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP)

• The RCMP provides PSAP Services through the Operational Communications Centre in Prince George

• In December 2013, the PRRD entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that expires March 31, 2017 to deliver the service

• RCMP service costs have increased:– 358% since 2002 to 2015 (~100,000 to $440,000)

– 55% from 2010 to 2016 (~ $294,000 to $458,000)

• The RCMP handle approximately 17,000 calls per year $‐

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$600,000

Service Providers: Fire Dispatch• Dawson Creek Fire Department

– Provides dispatch for 7 fire departments & handles approximately 700 calls per year

– Cost increases:

• 94% from 2002 to 2016 (~$122,000 to $238,000)

• 22% from 2010 to 2016 (~ $186,000 to $238,000)

• Fort St John Fire Department– Provides dispatch for 4 fire departments & handles approximately 1,000 calls per year

– Cost increases:

• 79% from 2002 to 2016 (~$122,000 to $220,000)

• 20% from 2010 to 2016 (~ $186,000 to $220,000)

• The PRRD has no formal agreement with the Cities of Dawson Creek or Fort St John for fire dispatch

– Current funding formula is based on a letter of intent from 2000 which provides an annual fee for service based on the cost of two first year fire fighters (wages and benefits) to each department

– The PRRD pays for core dispatch equipment repair, maintenance and replacement

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

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Strategic Plan

• Strategic Plan– 2012 Strategic Plan identified that the Regional District should examine the 911/Fire Dispatch

function for effectiveness and efficiency

– 2015‐2018 Strategic Plan:

• The PRRD will provide cost effective access to protective and emergency services, including 911 call services, by 2018 to its residents.

• 911/Fire Dispatch Review– POMAX Consulting was contracted after a request for proposals was issued

– Purpose: determine the service effectiveness, efficiency and affordability of the 911 call answering service and fire dispatch service, and propose operating options for service improvement and cost savings

• conducted review in 2012

• updated the review in 2015

• presented recommendations to the Board in June 2015

• POMAX Key Recommendations– PRRD Equipment

• Standardize as many components in the system as possible.

• Adopt an equipment model such that the dispatch centres own and maintain all dispatch equipment and the PRRD owns and maintains equipment used to alert the fire departments (e.g., repeaters and base stations)

– 911 PSAP Services• Conduct a Request for Expressions of Interest process to determine if there are more cost

effective options for the service

– Fire Dispatch Services• Conduct a Request for Expressions of Interest process to determine if there are more cost

effective options for the service to help determine if:

a) an alternative fire dispatch provider could provide the service

OR/

b) a single combined fire dispatch provider could provide the service in the region

Service “Review Process” & Examination of Options

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

5

PRRD Dispatch System EquipmentOverview & Recommendations

Current Equipment

Model

• Currently the PRRD owns and maintains most of the equipment utilized for fire dispatching which includes:

– Dispatch consoles in Dawson Creek and Fort St John

– Repeaters

– Base station radios and backup equipment at fire halls

• Fort St John owns and utilizes FDM software to supplement equipment provided by the PRRD

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

6

Proposed Equipment Model

• If approved by the Board:

– All 911 PSAP equipment will be owned by the service provider

– The Fire Dispatch Service provider will own and maintain all equipment at the dispatch centre

– The PRRD will either:

A. Own and maintain all base stations and repeaters

OR/

B. Will own and maintain most base stations and repeaters. Some equipment may be owned and maintained by the service provider.

• Important Note about PRRD equipment– In March 2016 Petron Communications examined the equipment owned and

maintained by the PRRD

“After completing the district wide inventory of emergency alert equipment there are a few obvious problems as follows:1. There is a mixed bag of repeaters in service which are digital capable but not with each

other. 2. None of the interconnect gear is digital or internet ready. 3. The privately owned radio gear of the volunteer fire departments is a variety of mostly

old and some new. Pouce Coupe and Charlie Lake have the greatest number of digital ready MotoTurbo handheld radios. There is a sprinkling of newer digital capable mobiles throughout the district but very few.

4. The battery backup for the Arras repeater located at Bear Mountain should be replaced with new batteries and an intelligent battery charger.

5. Best practice going forward should be a homogenous digital repeater system with internet capabilities. Having the same equipment in each area allows for seamless movement of personnel between their respective areas. For a digital radio system, mixing different brands of repeaters and mobile/hand held radios will be problematic if not impossible.”

System Equipment Upgrades

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

7

System Equipment Upgrades• Regardless of whether there is a change in service provider for fire dispatch, the

PRRD must make upgrades to our current radio and repeater system.

• In order to address the issues identified by Petron Communications, the estimated cost is $350,000

• PRRD currently has $150,000 in capital reserves

• The upgrading of equipment should commence soon after the new dispatch service provider is operable (mid 2017)

• In 2015 POMAX recommended standardizing equipment

• PRRD has budgeted funds in 2016 to develop a capital replacement and upgrade plan. A portion of this work has been completed by Petron Communications.


3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

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Step 2:Request for Expressions

Of Interest

Step 3: Review

Expressions of Interest Received

Step 4:Report back to

Board on findings& options

Step 2: Issue Two “Requests for Expressions of

Interest”1) 9‐1‐1 Services2) Fire Dispatch Services

Step 3: Review “ExpressionsOf Interest”

received by service providers

Step 4: Bring forward report to the Board on

the findings and options on how to

proceed


Step 1: Meet with currentservice providers to discuss theprocess and request them to

provide information on how they may be impacted

by a change in service

Step 1:Meet withCurrent Service Providers

Step 5:Request for Proposals

Step 6: Review Proposals Received

Step 7:Report back to

Board on findings& options

Step 5: 1) 9‐1‐1 Services – Invited E‐Comm and City of Fort St John to submit proposals

2) Fire Dispatch Services – issued public “Request for Proposals”

Step 6: Review “Proposals”

received by service providers

Step 7: Bring forward report to the Board on

the findings and options on how to

proceed


3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

9

911 PSAP Request for Proposals

• The Board invited both the City of Fort St John and E‐Comm to submit proposals for 911 PSAP

• E‐Comm was the only proponent to respond with a proposal for this service

911 PSAP Request for Proposals

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

10

Evaluation of E‐Comm Proposal

PROS CONS

E‐Comm currently handles 9‐1‐1 calls for over 3.5 million residents of BC representing 84% of the population base of the province

Although backup systems are good and there is a failsafe with BCAS in Kamloops if there is a problem with telecommunications to the lower mainland, there is no ‘hot backup’, such as the 9‐1‐1 queue operating out of two separate facilities so that one centre can assume all traffic if necessary

It is a cost effective proposal being approximately 30% of the current cost of the Prince George OCC to provide the service

When call volume exceeds the number of available operators, calls are put into a queue to be answered by the next available operator. While the Prince George OCC also gets overwhelmed with peaks in call volume, the method of handling overflows may initially cause some concern


PROS CONS

Annual increases in costs from E‐Comm have been historically low, and not the significant increases seen with the Prince George OCC

There may be some concern from residents that their calls are being answered at such a distance and that Peace River calls represent a small fraction of their total call volume

E‐Comm will work either on a fixed price model ensuring that all costs are known for the 5‐year duration of the contract, or based on their annual pricing model

‐‐

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

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PROS CONS

Excellent information technology and telecommunications engineering expertise on staff

‐‐

Very large pool of call taking staff on duty at all times. Provides ability to respond to large increases in call volume due to unplanned events

‐‐

Onsite 24/7 management ‐‐

Have an established Quality Assurance (QA) Program

‐‐

E‐Comm is fully involved in next generation 9‐1‐1 planning at the provincial and federal level

‐‐



• Cost:

– As per the request for proposals E‐Comm originally provided a “fixed” five year price quote for the provision of 911 call taking

– 5 year Fixed Price Contract = $921,520 plus $89,500 in maximum contingency

– E‐Comm also offered to provide a quote based on their annual pricing model that they offer to other local governments

– 5 year Annual Pricing Model = $741,780 (no contingency)

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

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Agency 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 TOTAL

RCMP $ 467,357 $ 476,605 $ 486,044 $ 495,765 $ 505,680 $ 2,431,451

• Cost Comparison:

– RCMP estimated cost over 5 years is over $2.4 million

Agency 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 TOTALRCMP $ 175,259E‐Comm $ 110,295 $ 138,710 $ 142,870 $ 147,160 $ 151,570total cost $ 285,554 $ 138,710 $ 142,870 $ 147,160 $ 151,570 $ 865,864

• If contract with RCMP until May 17, 2017 and then switch to E‐Comm, the 5 year estimated cost is $865,864

• This represents a savings of $1.56 million over 5 years, a 64% cost reduction

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

13

911 PSAP Recommendation

• That the Committee of the Whole support entering into a 5 year

agreement with E‐Comm for the provision of 9‐1‐1 Primary Safety

Answer Point services based on the annual pricing model provided

in their proposal and that an agreement be brought back to the

Board for final authorization.

Fire Dispatch Request for Proposals

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

14

Fort St John’s Letter of Impact

• On February 29, 2016 the PRRD received a letter from the City of Fort St John on the potential impacts to Fort St John should the PRRD choose to change the current fire dispatch service model

Item Comment

Lack of communication

Expressed that there has been a lack of communication and consultation between the service delivery providers and PRRD. Concern raised that the exercise has been financially driven and not based on service delivery needs.

They stated that having spoken with other fire departments that have gone through the change they have found those departments in worse position.

Concerns raised about loss of autonomy from having a local service embedded and attached to communities resulting in inefficient service delivery similar to that experienced by the ambulance service. They believe there are better solutions available that will be a win‐win solution for the funding partners and citizens.

Loss of autonomy

Fort St John’s Letter of ImpactEstimated financial impacts

Facilities $500,000 The City has invested close to this amount to develop a post disaster facility. Security, redundant HVAC, emergency power supplies represent an investment of $350,000

Apparatus $20,000 Estimated potential costs if another service provider is chosen and requires new business rules. This is the projected cost of changing apparatus numbering and naming or other potential “transaction costs”.

Training $20,000 Estimated training costs to review and align operations to a new provider.

Technology $500,000 Projected costs if they have to change to a different Records Management System if a new provider does not support an interface to their FDM Records Management System.

On‐going Personnel costs $200,000

Represents the 2 FTE funding from the District for dispatch personnel.

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

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Operational concerns The city states that there are many no cost value‐added services that are provided for the betterment of fire service delivery in the North Peace.

They reference the integration with the other North Peace Fire Departments “May Day” protocol that ensures external stakeholders are in constant communication with dispatch during a major incident.

They have referenced other potential service shortfalls such as incomplete benchmarking, mapping, mobile data terminals, records management system.

They also expressed concern about responder safety if they do not have in apparatus digital map displays; pre‐plans, and partner agency notification including Hydro, Gas, etc.

Fort St John’s Letter of Impact

Fire Dispatch Request for Proposals

• The Board authorized staff to publicly advertise for proposals for the provision of fire dispatch services

• Three proposals were received:

– E‐Comm

– North Island 911 Corporation

– City of Fort St John

3.1

September 22, 2016

9/16/2016

16

Closed Meeting onFire Dispatch Options& Recommendations

3.1

September 22, 2016

911 & fire dispatch services 2016 open meeting...

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