November 20, 2008 -- Vancouver, BC – ESRI Canada recognized Emergency Communications for Southwest British Columbia Incorporated (E-Comm 9-1-1) with an Award of Excellence at the Regional User Conference in Vancouver earlier today. Myron Doherty, BC Regional Manager for ESRI Canada, presented the award to recognize the development of a unique public safety and emergency response application – The Emergency Event Map Viewer (E2MV).

“E-Comm took the initiative to develop a web application that will significantly streamline emergency response across the lower mainland of BC,” explains Myron Doherty, BC Regional Manager. “This innovative application will likely serve as a model for other provincial and large municipal agencies.”

E-Comm manages more than one million 9-1-1 calls each year, dispatches for 23 police and fire departments and owns and operates the province’s only fully interoperable radio system. Two years ago, E-Comm’s GIS department initiated a brainstorming session to envision an application that would improve the efficiency of emergency services across BC’s Lower Mainland. With the help of GeoConnections and BC Ambulance funding, E-Comm developed the multi-functional E2MV web application.

E2MV leverages ESRI’s latest server technology to provide a common operating picture (COP) so that current unit and incident data from a range of computer aided dispatch systems (CAD) can be viewed from a single interface. This facilitates information-sharing across multiple dispatch centres to more effectively manage and respond to incidents. The multifunctional tool will also serve as an address verifier for 9-1-1 call takers. E-Comm is currently working with a number of external agencies to develop interfaces and web map service feeds to municipal and provincial command centres, including Emergency Management BC.

The application serves as an effective back-up tool that can be used to locate incidents and available units should a main CAD system not function. However, in case of a major incident, it can also operate as a stand-alone application in smaller emergency operation centres. This impressive functionality has garnered interest from multiple public safety agencies including the RCMP, fire, BC Ambulance, TransLink transit authority, and others.

David Hamilton, E-Comm’s Manager of Public Safety and Geographic Information Systems, says E2MV will have a direct impact on public and first responder safety. “The ability to share accurate information in real time is critical to effective emergency response. Call-takers, dispatchers and responders will have more data at their fingertips and that will be of direct benefit in helping carry out response functions more collaboratively and in general, more effectively.”

E-Comm will leverage ESRI’s latest ArcGIS 9.3 technology which offers a new Javascript API to further develop the application. Future development phases will introduce new layers of functionality and E2MV will be extended to a greater number of dispatch centres.

For more information on the Emergency Communications for Southwest British Columbia Incorporated, please visit: www.ecomm911.ca

About ESRI Canada

Established in 1984, ESRI Canada is a Canadian owned company specializing in geographic information systems (GIS) solutions. ESRI Canada distributes the world's leading GIS software including solutions from ESRI Inc., Miner and Miner, I.S.M. International Systemap Corp. and Azteca. In order to provide organizations with complete industry-specific solutions ESRI Canada has established an extensive business partner program that includes more than 130 Canadian organizations. ESRI Canada also provides professional services including consulting, training, technical support, and enterprise GIS implementation. ESRI Canada is a leader in providing world-class enterprise GIS solutions for many industries including public works, land management, utilities, defence, public safety, business demographics, education, natural resources and transportation. ESRI Canada has fifteen regional offices across the country, with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit http://www.esricanada.com/ or call 1-800-447-9778.

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