If you’ve been thinking of deploying incident management software in your department, here are six key questions you need to consider before making the leap:

1. Is it mobile? 

Having the ability to track an incident from the very first seconds of dispatch from ALL of your devices is key to faster response times and higher situational awareness not just for the IC but for everyone in the department.

2. Does it automate my existing processes?

Two things happened last week in my life as a Fire Captain that simply could not have happened a generation ago.

Here’s a funny fact about entrepreneurs: The most common reason people start businesses is to avoid working for others. 

Guest post by Eric Tomlinson. Eric is a Deputy Chief with the Kent Regional Fire Authority in Washington State

Much has been said about the brotherhood of the American Fire Service. Put firefighters from neighboring departments together at a conference, watering hole, or other neutral ground and we will buy each other beverages and compare our Maltese tattoos until the wee hours, celebrating our brotherhood of public service. For some reason though, when we broach the subject of change to our practices or operations with our mutual aid neighbors, we suddenly become very tribal and defensive. After all, most of us were hired by a Fire Chief who told us that

Apple’s release of the iPad Pro unveiled a world of new possibilities to me both as a Fire Captain and as the founder of a tech company that provides Incident Management software.

As the technical lead for Tablet Command, the most frequent question I hear is “Which iPad should my department get?”

The answer comes with some personal preference but some absolute requirements or recommendations. I’ll walk you through the difficult questions that everyone wonders about. I’ll start by getting to the point and then explain the different options.

My official recommendation for public safety (fire) users:

iPad Air 2
64GB
Wifi + Cellular (includes GPS receiver)