Technology Reseller v26

14 Information Technology for Small to Medium-sized Businesses Audio Visual Case Study: Fire Department decreases loss of life and property loss through InFocusMondopadmeetings Addison Firefighters save travel time and tax-payer funds with remote trainings via annotatable video conference. The Challenge Travelling to and from trainings is costly in fuel for the fire engines and traveltime, but having the crew together for training is critical to assess strategies and tactics at fire scenes. AFD needed to keep its personnel at their respective stations and ready to serve its community of about 35,000 while still holding important collaborative trainings. Solution Each of the three AFD stations installed a 55-inch InFocus Mondopad. The high-definition touchscreen device enables an AFD trainer to: • Concurrently engage all three crews in each of their stations face-to-face • Share a presentation, picture or whiteboard • Collaborate using Mondopad’s built-in annotation tools The trainer can also invite the attendees in other stations to interact andmark on the documents from their local Mondopad in real time. Additionally theMondopad supports screen sharing with any other standardised video conferencing system; a valuable feature for those whomay not useMondopads. Results AFDs' firefighters use theMondopads regularly and its video conferencing and annotation capabilities allow the entire district tomeet and train collectively, while remaining at their respective stations. Essentially, the devices have helped save tax-payer dollars and ensure quick response to emergencies, which saves lives and property. "Training meant that whatever vehicle you’re assigned to that particularday… is coming to the station here so that we can all sit in one room." Mike Heimbecker, Fire Inspector, AFD