Cisco Cisco Aironet 1400 Wireless Bridge 전단
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BUSINESS VALUE
Cisco solutions have helped Kane County meet its top-level business goals, according to Siles: “Cisco technology has made Kane County a
‘connected community’ that can protect public safety, deliver effective services, spur economic development, and enhance our educational
programs.”
Improved Safety
The Cisco solution has improved public safety in Kane County by facilitating communications among emergency responder agencies, the health
department, and the Office of Emergency Management. “Citizens rely on us to provide them with the safest environment, and our Cisco solution
helps us provide effective prevention and response,” says McConnaughay. For example, the Kane County Office of Emergency Management
and Office of Emergency Communications set up a standing conference call with ten lines, available 24 hours a day throughout the year for use
in the event of crisis. “All our county public safety agencies are capable in their own right,” says Fahnestock. “By providing them with
communications tools to coordinate their services, the Cisco solution helps make the community even safer.”
Employee safety has improved, as well, the result of the county’s ability to comply with Illinois state regulations for enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1)
services, an emergency response system that allows emergency personnel to identify the telephone number and location of a call placed to 9-1-1.
In the past, if an employee moved to a different zone, an IT staffer would need to physically update the phone carrier’s database. Now all
telephone moves, adds, and changes are registered automatically so first responders can quickly and accurately determine a caller’s location.
“This not only improves employee safety, it also insulates the county from the potential liability that might ensue if a database update was not
made,” Siles says.
Increased Service Effectiveness
Kane County now provides more and better services to its citizens. Previously, the Circuit Clerk of Courts could handle only 16 simultaneous
callers. Additional callers received a busy signal. Now the county can handle exponentially more callers because callers are placed in a queue
for their call topic—civil matters, traffic violations, or child support—and are routed to the next available operator. In addition, interactive voice
response (IVR) allows callers to obtain automated information on child support payments and upcoming court dates, without human assistance.
“We handle about 1,300 calls a day and our volume continues to grow,” says Karin Herwick, chief deputy circuit clerk. “With Cisco
CallManager and Cisco IP Contact Center Express, we’re providing better service without adding staff.”
The flurry of calls preceding the presidential election of 2004 highlighted the value of IP Communications for improving service. “We handled
around 8,000 telephone calls from citizens, compared to 5,000 in previous years, thanks to Cisco CallManager,” says Fahnestock. “With our
previous Centrex service, half of those callers would have received a busy signal.” Citizens notice the difference. Not only is it easier to get
through to the county offices, but staff members are more responsive because they now have voicemail and e-mail.
Interagency collaboration has also become more convenient and cost-effective. The Health Department, for example, sometimes has 20
participants in conference calls to discuss county health issues. Previously, the county used a managed conferencing service, paying $2 to set up
a call, 25 cents per line, and long-distance charges if applicable. Monthly conferencing costs ranged from $3,000 to $4,000. Now county
employees can schedule conference calls themselves using the Web-based interface of Cisco Conference Connection, which integrates with
Cisco CallManager. “Cisco Conference Connection gives us the same functionality we had with the managed conferencing service at almost no
cost,” says Siles.
“All our county public safety agencies are capable in their own right. By providing them with communications
tools to coordinate their services, the Cisco solution helps make the community even safer.”
— Roger Fahnestock, Director of Information Technology, Kane County