21st CENTURY DISPATCH

At 1 p.m. Friday, the Kimball Dispatch Center went from using paper and pencil to recording calls into the 21st Century using a web-based computer program.

With Kimball County now into the 21st Century, only four other agencies in Nebraska – including Banner and Sioux – are operating with paper and pencil and written reports. So what used to be recorded in notebooks and on paper will now be logged on the computer with an easy retrieval.

According to Nick Conley, product manager for EFORCE, the "goal of our system is to reduce the amount of time they are spending looking for information, reducing the amount of time it takes to log that information, and then get them info that they need."

This system reminds dispatchers of open calls and makes them accountable. Conley said: "We don't want anything falling through the cracks, we don't want anything getting forgotten about, we want everything completed in a quick, efficient and timely manner."

The program will improve the performance of dispatchers, and it will be easy for the administrators in the sheriff's office to have the information they need and to improve the service to the community.

The program EFORCE Computer Aided Dispatch, or CAD for short, will operate in real-time and send information to mobile units, reduce the amount of time to give information, is very secure, and has a quick retrieval system.

The easy-to-use program has screens for alerts, who is on duty, open calls for service, and an information sheet.

In addition to the dispatch program, a mobile program exists for police, fire, and EMS in the field, and a program was also purchased for reports to the National Crime Information Center.

The sheriff's office dispatch program is a one-year program and was approved by the County Commissioners for $32,000.