York County of Pennsylvania
Department of Emergency Services/911 Offline Dispatch System, Streetflex
4 Min Read
Industry: Government
Location: Chambersburg, PA
It is the mission of the Department of Emergency Services to provide the highest quality of customer service to the residents and first responders of the County of York, Pennsylvania through preparedness, planning, mitigation and providing of resources by using the latest in communication technology for the safety of all.
Business Need
York County 911 had an offline dispatch system consisting of three windows desktop applications: one to maintain street level records, a second to maintain commercial property records, and a third used by 911 dispatchers to search those records and find associated Fire & EMS information and protocols. All three were built many years ago on legacy FoxPro software. Consequently, they were out of support and very difficult to maintain. York County wanted to have replacements built with the same feature set, using modern development tools and an aggressive timeline.
What were the key factors of success for the project? The biggest was identifying the features and behaviors of the existing apps. This was achieved with the help of the staff at York County. The overall goal was a one-to-one replacement, so their knowledge was instrumental to us. GDC’s expertise in gathering requirements and putting together a clean, modern design, and the technical experience to build the solution.
The Solution
GDC developed a two-part solution to improve 911 dispatch operations in York County. The first part is an offline-capable desktop application for dispatchers, built using the Windows App SDK for Windows 10/11. This app allows dispatchers to search for street and commercial property information for dispatching, syncing periodically with a backend web-based records maintenance system.
The second part is a central web application for record maintenance, created with ASP.NET Core and React, featuring a user-friendly Material UI interface. This setup streamlines record management and eliminates the need for local software installations, with user accounts enhancing security and auditing features providing detailed records of changes.
Both components are developed in C# .NET, enabling York County to potentially manage maintenance with internal resources. This approach not only simplifies the management of records but also ensures extended support from Windows, a modern user interface, and increased control and security for York County’s off-line dispatch system.
GDC was an integral partner from requirements gathering, developing user stories, business, and data flow diagrams. We could not be more satisfied with the solution that was developed for the York County 911 department.
Joe Sassano
Executive Director Information Technology
Chief Information Officer
York County Government
The Results
Upon recognizing GDC’s capabilities, the York Department of Emergency Services/911 proposed additional enhancements beyond the initial project scope. GDC collaborated with York 911 to integrate as many of these enhancements as possible without deviating from the original timeline and scope.
The developed maintenance web application offers several key advantages:
- A unified platform for managing street and commercial property records.
- A single, central database for all records.
- A user-friendly, modern interface for easy searching and updating of records.
- Revamped color categorization for records to highlight specific features.
- No installation required for users.
- Enhanced security and functionality through user accounts.
- Comprehensive record auditing capabilities.
Additionally, the desktop application we developed enables 911 dispatchers to conduct offline searches of street and commercial property information. It supports critical emergency service dispatching information for fire, EMS, and police, ensuring compatibility and support by Windows for future use.
Desktop Application
Web Application
