GOLDEN, Colo., Jan. 12, 2010 — Locution Systems Inc., a provider of advanced, automated public safety dispatching, zoned dispatching, and fire station alerting and control technology, today introduced a new version of its 911 dispatching and fire station alerting software — CADVoice Version 5.10. CADVoice 5.10 is available immediately, and is being implemented in all new Locution Systems installations. Due to customizations at some existing Locution Systems installations, current Locution Systems customers are being phased into the new software level over time; many customers already have transitioned to CADVoice 5.10. The price for the most basic configuration of CADVoice 5.10 is $9,995.00 for software for a 9-1-1 communications center, and $2,195 for software in each fire station.

“CADVoice Version 5.10 offers fire and EMS departments significant new functionality designed to improve response times and the efficiency of public safety operations, as well as reduce stress for 911 dispatchers and first responders,” said Glenn Neal, Locution Systems president and chief technology officer. “Locution Systems has fine-tuned its voice technology over 17 years of being used in the field. This latest version of CADVoice offers significant enhancements in the voice technology, especially with respect to the flexibility of 911 dispatch announcement content, as well as the fire station alerting functions.”

CADVoice automated dispatching technology separates the act of speaking the initial 911 dispatch from dispatchers in the 911 communications center. Instead, the dispatchers use their Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system to assign responding units to emergencies. Once a 911 dispatcher confirms a unit for a specific emergency, the CADVoice system takes over and automatically routes the 911 dispatch to the responding unit, either via a high-speed network connection to the fire stations or over the air via a radio system. This allows 911 dispatching teams, which often are chronically understaffed due to the high turnover rate in the job, to handle more 911 call volume with the same staff. It also allows them to spend more dealing with callers and talking on tactical radio channels with emergency responders to help coordinate responses to emergencies. This technology reduces stress for 911 dispatchers while also improving emergency response times to fires and medical emergencies.

Clarity of the dispatching voice is key to helping responding fire/EMS units understand the type of emergency and where they are going the first time, without having to call the 9-1-1 center and ask for information to be repeated. The CADVoice system is both highly effective and popular with fire and EMS responders because 9-1-1 dispatches spoken by CADVoice feature the same, consistent, accent-neutral computer voice that’s easy to understand. CADVoice vocalizes all the information in a 9-1-1 dispatch, including warning tones, the address, cross street, landmarks where the emergency is located, and the unit assigned to handle the call.

In addition, the CADVoice system performs other fire station alerting functions such as automatically activating lights in the fire station, providing the dispatch information in printed form, automatically opening and closing apparatus bay doors, turning off gas stoves when the responding unit leaves the fire station, and more.

CADVoice 5.10 Offers New Functions in One Universal Software Program
CADVoice 5.10 takes the most popular features and functions customized for various fire and EMS departments using Locution Systems’ automated dispatching system throughout North America (United States and Canada), and combines them into one “master” version of the software.

“Over the years, Locution Systems has developed a variety of customized functions at the request of various fire departments that have been using our CADVoice automated dispatching and fire station alerting system,” said Mr. Neal. “We’ve selected the most practical, and universal customizations that would be helpful for most fire departments and woven them into 5.10 version of CADVoice.”

Offering Significant Enhancements
CADVoice Version 5.10 has a number of significant enhancements that improve the clarity and flexibility of how the CADVoice system vocalizes of critical 9-1-1 dispatches being sent to fire or EMS units assigned to handle an emergency call.

For example, CADVoice 5.10 now offers greater versatility about how various announcement categories can be handled in the automated 911 dispatching portion of CADVoice. Examples of 9-1-1 dispatching announcement categories include the address where the emergency is occurring, incident types (such as a structure fire or cardiac call), apparatus needed for an emergency such as a hazmat unit or ladder truck, as well as other pertinent information required by emergency personnel such as map page and alarm level.

Previously, CADVoice offered one main way of interpreting each of these automated dispatch categories when it spoke the 9-1-1 dispatch. CADVoice 5.10 now offers fire/EMS departments multiple ways to interpret, and then announce, 9-1-1 dispatches.

Examples of new options for how CADVoice can vocalize dispatches include:

• Multiple ways of announcing dispatches in either Standard (A is referred to as “A”), Military/NATO-style (A = “Alpha,” B = “Bravo” etc.), or Commercial/Police-style (A = “Adam,” B = “Boy,” etc.);
• Multiple ways to pronounce numbers associated with addresses (1403 Main Street can be pronounced “one-four-zero-three” or “fourteen hundred three” as well as other formatting possibilities);
• Multiple ways to vocalize fractions and decimals (numbers in the 911 dispatches related to “half addresses” can be vocalized as “23-and-a-half” or “23.5”); and more.

“These upgrades might seem modest to those outside the public safety arena. However, when a fire/EMS unit is heading to an emergency and seconds can make the difference whether someone lives or dies, these very precise vocalizations can be key to arriving on the scene of an emergency in time to save a life or keep a building from burning to the ground,” explained Mr. Neal. “When you’re moving fast, it’s easy to misinterpret spoken instructions about an emergency, such as confusing ‘F’ and ‘S.’ But when you have the options such as hearing full words associated with those instructions, such as ‘Frank’ and ‘Sam,’ or hearing numbers in the particular protocol used in a fire department, then there’s no doubt about the dispatching instructions.

“These improvements have been added to CADVoice so that fire departments have more options about vocalizing dispatches according to their desired protocols and long-standing habits, and to make sure that responding fire/EMS units are crystal clear about the emergency and where they are supposed to go, the first time they hear the dispatch,” he said.

Another example of a helpful function in the new version of CADVoice 5.10 is the enhanced “Greater Alarm” function. For emergencies that start out small and escalate into an event that requires multiple responding fire/EMS units, CADVoice now can automatically alert adjacent fire stations if a fire has been escalated to a new level of urgency, so they can be prepared to respond.

“With this system upgrade, we’ve not only re-engineered and optimized the software, but we’ve combined a variety of very helpful functions developed for specific installations into one program,” said Mr. Neal.

About Locution Systems Inc.

Founded in 1986, Locution Systems Inc. offers a comprehensive suite of automated dispatching, zoned dispatching for multi-unit fire stations, and fire station alerting and control technologies for public safety applications (fire and EMS). Locution Systems’ CADVoice automated dispatching and alerting products are based on the most advanced public safety technologies on the market today. Locution Systems’ products feature software-driven technology that’s more cost-effective to maintain than traditional hardware-based systems. The CADVoice product line integrates with standard Computer-Aided Dispatching (CAD) systems operating in most 9-1-1 communication centers. Locution Systems’ products are being used in many major cities and counties throughout North America, and have been proven to speed response times, as well as reduce 9-1-1 “call stacking”, dispatcher stress, and operational costs. Locution can be reached at 303/932-0014, or www.locution.com.