Armonk FF Develops Fire-Event Tracker

[x635 4,066]

ARMONK, N.Y. -- Armonk Fire Department Lt. Phil Goulet has developed a GPS-Global Reponding Solution (GRS) that will allow fire departments and volunteers firefighters to know who is responding to a call in real time.

"Unlike other systems where you have to call in and you just see the responders estimated time of arrival, this system uses the phones GPS to show where the members are in real time as they're responding and when they arrived at the firehouse," Goulet said of his system. "No more calling in while driving

FULL ARTICLE and further details: http://greenburgh.dailyvoice.com/police-fire/westchester-fire-lt-phil-goulet-develops-fire-event-tracker

[ks1980 36]

Well not for nothing but we have been using the "I am responding " app. It does the same thing we have been using it for a year. We get a pop up window then press which station we are responding to, or scene, not available, or delayed. It also has schedule, apparatus status, and mapping with gps.

[somebuffyguy 190]

Well not for nothing but we have been using the "I am responding " app. It does the same thing we have been using it for a year. We get a pop up window then press which station we are responding to, or scene, not available, or delayed. It also has schedule, apparatus status, and mapping with gps.

My FD uses IamResponding as well, never heard of a GPS feature. Is that an extra feature or are we just over looking it ?

[ks1980 36]

Somebuff, sorry I mean the gps mapping.

[RWC130 594]

The more tools and products like this for Emergency Responders the better.

As I recall "I Am Responding" came in with a super low deal for a County in our area getting all FD and EMS agencies including the 911 Dispatch to buy in then a year later BOOM! Doubled the fees. We got ya!

Nice huh?

[Bill204 16]

I'm Phil... creator of Fire GRS.

I first want to thank everyone for the support I have gotten for developing this product. You have most likely read the article already, but let me summarize. I developed this product because I have a passion for both the fire service and technology. I wanted a way to bridge the two together in a unique way. I very much feel like this should be a community product and I'm doing as much as I can to keep it going in that direction.

KS1980, Somebuffy Guy.... Thanks for pointing that out. I am not claiming to be the first guy to develop an app that uses push notifications. I do believe that this is the first (or one of the first) that is using GPS in the way that Fire GRS does for the fire service.... Not just mapping calls, but mapping responders as well. This post isn't meant to bash any other programs or services out there. Departments have the freedom to choose what service they go to, what features they want, and how much they want to pay.

As RWC130 said, the more tools out there the better. Some other services cost almost $1,000 / year, that being said, they also come with tons of features. Admittedly Fire GRS doesn't have as many features. If departments want them, I have no problem adding them, but for now, because the product is still in it's early stages, it seems like bloat and a distraction from the main purpose of the app. That being said the price tag of $0 / month makes up for the fact that this isn't feature rich, but the app does do the job that it claims. There are costs associated with this product, server costs, etc. Because of my background I'm able to keep these so low and as a result give this product away for free. I played with various pricing models ranging from $10-$25 / month with no contract, but for now I'm happy to make it free.

Back to the community part... I have a department using this in MO. They get about 50 calls a year. They don't have a dispatch center that can send out text messages, or e-mails and were looking for a way to know who was responding to calls. They also don't have the budget for other systems. The Chief mentioned it would be great if there was a way that they could have calls get sent out as text messages to the members with out iPhones. They wanted this feature which I didn't have yet, so I added it for them. I want this product to be something that everyone in the community can contribute to and share ideas. The product is so new that we can quickly add features, and make enhancements.

If you have any direct questions or would like to try Fire GRS please email try@firegrs.com

[Bill204 16]

So Phil, this will be used by the firefighters only or buffs too?

Fire / EMS departments only. We don't want to share location information of members with the general public.