FY2018 Arlington Fire Department Annual Report FY 2018 | Page 27

Call Center Activity
EMS Calls Dispatched 55,247
Fire Calls Dispatched 46,707
Police Calls Dispatched 336,954
Tele-Serve Calls Processed 10,746
NCIC/TCIC Transactions
1,442,782
Dispatched Calls for Service by Initial Call Type (Incidents)
FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18
Fires 3,647 3,653 3,570 3,596 3,794
Emergency Medical Service 30,744 33,200 35,059 36,481 36,560
Other 4,173 5,960 5,775 5,848 6,353
Totals 38,564 42,813 44,404 45,925 46,707
At the end of FY 2018, the City’s 9-1-1 Dispatch Center’s call-processing equipment was replaced by the Tarrant
County 9-1-1 District as a part of systemwide upgrade effort. Positron, the previous 9-1-1 call-processing equipment,
was originally installed in 2008 and then upgraded in 2010. Positron system configuration changes designed to
improve efficiencies were not sufficiently supported, resulting in the inability to use other technologies which could
have improved some service delivery issues.
Arlington’s new 9-1-1 call-processing equipment system, called VESTA, has been configured to give 9-1-1 calls priority
over all other calls received in the Dispatch Center thus permitting operators to process emergency calls with the
upmost urgency. Multiple queues are supported in this system allowing for better utilization of staff, as the system
provides daily performance reports that are issued to Fire management each morning to ensure the Arlington 9-1-1
Dispatch Center is meeting our community’s needs.
While both the Positron and VESTA systems use automatic call deliver (ACD) to present calls to 9-1-1 operators, the
way the systems deliver abandoned calls differ dramatically. The VESTA system has eliminated duplicate presentation
of abandoned calls to multiple operators which reduced personnel availability and resulted in some duplicated efforts
and extended wait times for callers. Prior to VESTA, the Arlington 9-1-1 Dispatch Center operated in isolation from
other 9-1-1 centers as it relates to connectivity, including our own backup location. With the VESTA system, Arlington
can answer 9-1-1 calls from any of the other Tarrant County agencies that have completed their VESTA equipment
migration and can staff the primary and backup sites simultaneously – all of which has enhanced 9-1-1 system
resilience, reliability, and capacity. The Tarrant County 9-1-1 district serves all cities in Tarrant County, Grand Prairie,
Irving, and DFW Airport.
Fire Chief Don Crowson
serves as Chair of the
Tarrant County 9-1-1 District
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