Mobile Data Solution For 42-County Service Area

The Center for Rural Development (The Center) in Somerset, Kentucky, placed VisionTEK Inc. on price contract to provide a mobile data solution for local agencies in The Center's 42-county service area as part of its Law Enforcement Technology (LET) program. The LET program is intended to serve as a national model for achieving regional data interoperability using computer-aided dispatch, records management system and mobile data communications solutions provided by multiple vendors. The applications will communicate in a transaction-based environment using a data exchange standard based on the Global Justice XML Data Dictionary (GJXDD).

Part of the solution VisionTEK will deliver to The Center will be its UNITY messaging. UNITY allows public-safety users to securely exchange text messages, pictures and other types of files in real-time and to dynamically create response groups for emergency situations. These features are critical in numerous scenarios, allowing responders to obtain an accurate assessment and view of a situation prior to and during an incident. For example, in the case of an unplanned chemical release, experts can analyze pictures, maps and descriptions of the scene instantly. A proper response team can then be assembled, and a tactical plan can be formulated and distributed efficiently to everyone involved.

"The Center is looking forward to working with VisionTEK and the other vendors that are part of the LET program," said Lonnie Lawson, president and CEO for The Center for Rural Development. "The solution VisionTEK is providing exceeded the requirements we were looking for to support the 110 local agencies in The Center's service region of Southern and Eastern Kentucky."

In addition to UNITY messaging, VisionTEK will be providing its Frontline mobile software to provide law-enforcement users with mobile access to the Law Information Network of Kentucky (LINK). Along with the ability to access information in the various systems, users will have the ability to complete reports electronically in the field with VisionTEK's field-based reporting software.

The $26.5 million Law Enforcement Technology program, funded by grants secured from the U.S. Department of Justice by 5th district Congressman Hal Rogers, was developed and initiated by The Center for Rural Development as a holistic approach to helping law enforcement agencies improve communications. The program was designed to not only provide the greatest benefit to law enforcement and the citizens they serve, but also to ensure compatibility and connectivity across the entire region. One of the most ambitious multi-jurisdictional law enforcement initiatives ever undertaken in Kentucky, the LET program breaks down geographic barriers and also facilitates the sharing of critical, time-sensitive information across county lines and jurisdictions.