Trending Topics

Spillman Touch Provides Time-saving Tools to Personnel in the Field

Personnel can access critical data from a smartphone or iPad

Salt Lake City, UT – The Spillman Touch® module is supporting public safety personnel by providing access to powerful data in situations where desktop or laptop computers aren’t accessible.

Spillman Touch enables personnel to access information from their agency’s Spillman database using iPads or Blackberry, iPhone, or Android smartphones. Field personnel can use Spillman Touch to complete a wide range of tasks, including searching for real-time data on names, vehicles, properties, and incidents; reviewing dispatch assignments; and accessing calls and critical information.

“It works great for us,” said Commander Billy Siems of the Calumet City Police Department in Illinois. “When a call comes in, the staff can use Touch to check the incident to keep ourselves informed of what is going on. For example, in a battery case where someone is badly beaten up, we can look directly at the case number on Touch to answer everything we need answered.”

Detective Mike Burke of Toms River Police Department in New Jersey said that at his agency, eight staff officers and 15 detectives all use Spillman Touch to access real-time information about incidents.

“It makes their job a lot easier to get an email or text about something and then be able to log in to Touch to see all of the information on that call,” he said.

In addition to assisting in critical communications, Spillman Touch also helps agencies prepare for investigations and interviews. Burke said that officers at the Toms River Police Department will often use Spillman Touch to search from the field for information on potentially dangerous subjects.

“Searching for information on names is a huge thing to be able to do out in the field,” Burke said. “It brings across a photo of the individual and any information on what he has been involved in before.”

The tactical unit in Calumet City uses Spillman Touch during investigations relating to gangs, prostitution, and other types of crime, Siems said. Being able to verify someone’s identity out in the field is important because it allows the detectives to confirm information without having to rely on a laptop or return to the office.

“My tactical unit uses it to verify faces when they are out on the street and on foot,” Siems said. “They just bring up Touch on their phones, type in a name, and a picture pops up.”

Siems said Spillman Touch is also a valuable timesaver for the city’s SWAT team, which uses the application to quickly update their status when responding to a scene without tying up radio communication.

“Since [SWAT team members] deploy right from their houses, they use it to log in and put themselves en route to a scene. That way they don’t have to use radio communication to tell dispatch that they are on their way. During an event, that is valuable – they don’t have to flood the call center.”

Commander Siems likes that his agents are able to do their jobs better, faster, and more efficiently with Spillman Touch.

“It is a very useful tool. We enjoy the heck out of it.”

Spillman Technologies is a public safety software provider headquartered in Salt Lake City, serving police departments, sheriff’s offices, communications centers, fire departments, and correctional facilities nationwide. Spillman specializes in integrated software solutions, including Computer Aided Dispatch, Records Management Systems, Mobile Data & Field Reporting, Mapping & GIS, Crime Analysis & CompStat, Jail Management Systems, Fire, Data Sharing, and Personnel & Resources. For more information about Spillman, visit www.spillman.com.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU