Expertise and Passion for Public Safety

Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC) serves as the primary public safety answering point for Spokane County, Washington, supporting 20 fire and law enforcement agencies. Consolidated into a regional center in 2019, the agency has simultaneously undertaken several major projects including the buildout of a new 911 facility, a phone system upgrade, and a major Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) project.

After consolidation, SREC operated on two separate CAD systems – one for law enforcement and one for fire. To streamline operations and better serve the County, the agency needed to unify on a single multi-jurisdictional CAD system.

Having never done a CAD project before and fully understanding the time and investment involved in a major technology project like this, SREC knew they needed outside support.

“I know what my bandwidth is, I know what my expertise is, and it’s not procuring and implementing CAD systems,” said Executive Director Lori Markham. “There are people that exist who specialize in this, and I wanted to make sure we had a partner working for us that would be advocating for us and looking for things we wouldn’t think to look for throughout this process.”

Why National Public Safety Group?

SREC issued an RFQ for a consultant to support their CAD project. After meeting with two firms, National Public Safety Group (NPSG) stood out as the best fit to work with the agency. While the other consultant gave a boilerplate presentation explaining their services, NPSG immediately took time to understand SREC’s unique challenges.

“NPSG wanted to know us first,” said Deputy Director Kim Arredondo. “Before even pulling up their presentation, they had a ton of questions about our organization, our workflows, and what our needs are. It was clear NPSG really wanted to know how they could meet our needs.”

In addition to listening first, NPSG has a team with decades of public safety experience. In fact, 80% of the NPSG team has worked in the public safety software industry.

“It was the expertise, the passion for public safety, and making sure we are going to get our needs met for our specific community that set NPSG apart,” said Markham. “The open communication and dialogue were really refreshing.”

Guidance and Focus During a Complex Project

Every agency, and every public safety software project, is unique. NPSG has supported hundreds of agencies through software procurement and implementation using the proven four-phase NPSG Operating System (NPSG-OS). While the phases of this approach are the same - Needs Assessment, Selection, Procurement, and Project Management – each is tailored specifically to the individual agencies’ operations and needs.

Phases I: Needs Assessment

NPSG started by conducting a thorough Needs Assessment with SREC. This is always a critical first step in understanding an agency’s processes and requirements and builds a solid foundation for the rest of the project.

“NPSG spent time with our dispatch and call receiving staff, actually observing, asking questions and taking notes,” explained Markham.

Leveraging their CAD experience, the NPSG team also helped SREC explore capabilities to fill gaps that they didn’t even realize were possible.

“I don’t know what’s missing, I don’t know what’s out there,” said Markham. “Having expertise from people that have worked in the industry for a long time was valuable. They know tricks of the trade and what’s available that we weren’t aware of.”

Phase II: Selection

NPSG supported SREC in building a remarkably thorough RFP. NPSG brought clarity and structure and ensured the agency stayed focused during the long RFP and software demonstration process. Vendor demonstrations can be exhausting, and fatigue often sets in, NPSG helped to keep the process aligned and consistent for SREC.

“They know the ins and outs of each CAD product,” said Arredondo. “When companies would say ‘We can meet your need,’ NPSG would tell us, ‘They can, but this is what it would look like.”

This guidance helped SREC better evaluate all vendors using the same criteria and make an informed decision.

Phase III: Procurement

Contract negotiations can be challenging for agencies, and this is where SREC appreciated NPSG’s experience, advocacy, and attention to detail.

“I’m a dispatcher at heart,” explained Arredondo. “I don’t want to sit and read all that fine print, and I don’t want to decipher what it means. There are so many hidden pieces in contracts. It was awesome to see the NPSG team pull those out, like it was second nature.”

NPSG advocated for SREC and handled the back-and-forth negotiations during the contract phase removing the burden from the agency and ensuring their investment was protected. With multiple major technology projects in progress simultaneously, having NPSG manage this level of detail was essential.

Phase IV: Project Management

CAD implementation began in 2025 and NPSG is providing steady leadership and responsiveness. The advocacy for SREC continues as NPSG works with the vendor to ensure the agency’s needs are met.

A Partnership Built on Trust

As SREC continues through its CAD implementation, agency leaders agree—the partnership with NPSG has been invaluable.

“At no point in this journey have I regretted bringing NPSG on,” said Markham. “They have been nothing but supportive, nothing but helpful. Even if we’re not as engaged as we need to be – we have 100% confidence that they’re doing what needs to be done in the background to make sure that we’re successful in meeting timelines.”

For the agency juggling so much at one time, NPSG’s support has provided confidence, clarity, and capacity.

“We found an awesome match with National Public Safety Group,” said Arredondo.