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I Am Responding
has any one used this web based response tool at their fire house? If yes, do you have more than one monitor? How easy was it to hook up? what did you need?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Frausini on
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Yes, we are under a two month trial and will keep it. We love it. It is unbelievable for the money. We have a 27" monitor connected to a computer in our radio room. The computer connects wireless to the internet. We also have a 50" plasma in the Apparatus Room. It is connected via HDMI. You must make sure the computer has HDMI output if going this route. It sits about 8' up and is easily readable from the apparatus area where we dress before going to a call. Our ladder has a Panasonic ToughBook laptop and we were thinking of even keeping that on live to the iamresponding.com site and the officer would be able to take another look at who he has coming before he pulls out of the station. He also knows who he has going to the scene. We hit a hot key on our cell phones and it takes like, 3-5 seconds to pop up on the screen with an ETA to the station. It costs about $800 a year and there is a fee for each cell sign in..but no more than $300.00 for the year. I think it's like 2.5 cents per sign in. So, for $1100.00, we have a tool that is worth 10x that as far as we are concerned. Also, no software to buy, no updates to worry about, no security issues other than normal internet security. We went to Best Buy and they gave us a special rate on a plasma TV and a computer and we had a firefigher donate the other 27" monitor. We also bought two wall mount units and did the install ourselves. Since we have a plasma, we did put the plasma monitor on a time so it will shut off every 24 hours for about 5 min or so. Helps with not having burn in. We also have the monitors and computer on APC back up system so if power goes out, it will stay on. We have an automatic generator that kicks in so we should never lose power. If we lose internet, that is a different story. Since we run paid/volunteer, we have the laptop facing the officers seat so driver is not distracted. All you need is a computer and monitor, and an internet connection and you could be up on your trial in a few hours. We love it..and it's easy to use for all of us. We do not know how we lived without it. If you do investigate it, could you say you were directed to them from the Salem Fire Company in Salem CT? Chief Gene Maiorano. If you do, we can get a free month of service. Thanks so much.
andy F
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Permalink Reply by Steve Howard on
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We have been using it for over a year for our combination department. Very effective and relatively easy to use. Our volunteers all sign up for on-call status and it tracks it very well with the monitors showing who is on call. You can access it from a smart phone so you can see who is on if you are the on call officer.
When a call comes in, responders can easily dial in to the 1800 number, press a single key and have their response status show up on the system. We also have our dispatch send alerts though the system so you can get calls via text or email (this is in addition to the radio paging.)
The other feature we use is the certification tracker. It sends out an email every week reminding folks who have certifications expiring in the next 6 months. I'm sure it has other features we aren't using.
I don't know the details of the technical requirements as I don't manage the system but I don't think they are very intensive. We'll keep using the system.
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Permalink Reply by Captain William Frazer on
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We have been using it for a little over a year for ambulance only. We tried it for the fire side but having FFs using thier cell phones while driving to a call was not what we wanted. The companies software has had a lot of issues such as not automatically switching shifts, lockouts, even unscheduled changes. I am not a big fan of it, but when it came out there really wasnt much out there. Try EMS Manager, or Fire Manager, http://www.firemanager.net/ they also have a free trial and I hope to use that here in place of IAR. I think that the IAR can make a good program but it has its limitations, and like everything, you have to try it to see if it will work with your department. The good thing I like about it is you can see the schedules at anytime from anyplace, but there are better programs out there. GL
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Permalink Reply by Arthur S Collatz on
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We have been using it for about a year. IT IS a very good system... depending on your call volume.... we have about 80 calls a year, so there are times when we go without any calls and then the guys forget to use it. There are other great features like sending mass txt and email messages, apparatus status, scroll on bottom of screen, you can do scheduling, have dispathes sent to cell phones. certification tracker with email reminders. I highly recommend it.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Acosta on
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We did the trial basis and many enjoyed it but the money was too much for us to keep.
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Permalink Reply by Marty Hrinko on
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We have two monitors in our truck bay. One in between the Engine and Rescue and one in between the Rescue and Ladder. I'm not sure how hard it was to hook up. The one guy who belongs to our dept is a wizz with computers, so he did everything for us. I believe that it works very well. Our comm centere also can see all of our counties screens who has it.
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Permalink Reply by Rob Vest on
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We used it for the trial period and discontinued it. It just wasn't working well for our operation. The few times everyone used it the way it was designed it worked great. We just couldn't justify the expense vs. the benefit.
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Permalink Reply by Nick S on
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We use the I Am Responding system in my fire house. I LOVE IT. We have 2 monitors evenly spaced in front of the apparatus and another in the comm. office. Someone previously posted that they don't want their FFs using their phones while driving. Not a problem. When you get in the car push the speed dial and thats it. The phone call ends automatically. PLUS you can call while still inside your house when the pager goes off. We don't use it for scheduling b/c we are all volly and I heard it isn't that great for scheduling. However, it is wonderful for seeing who is going to show up. You can wait for someone if you need them, or alternatley, you can leave sooner b/c you know no one else is coming. I highly reccomend it.
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Permalink Reply by Brandon "QTR" Larson on
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We have been using for a few months now and we like it, it is nice to come in to the station and see who else is coming so we dont leave without a full truck and then we met someone comin up the road.
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Permalink Reply by Dennis Reynolds on
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The department I used to work for was a combination department comprised of about 60 personnel. We used IAR. We did the trial and liked it. We used it for more than just response. It was completely customizable (at the time) and allowed us to set defaults. For instance, if a firefighter was responding to his/her normal station, when they dialed the number, it would default to their assigned station. A monitor was placed in each station on the apparatus floor to ensure all personnel would see who OR what was responding and where they were responding to. We also used the text message feature to institute call backs for off duty personnel or volunteer staffing, rather then relying on dispatch. It also helped to see who was at each station each day and who was on vacation etc. There are also apps for your smartphones.
The downside, we could not get our dispatch to use it to send messages. The set up was a bit "techy" for me.
Good luck with your endeavor.
Dennis
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