PowerPhone boosts 911 response capabilities

PowerPhone’s President and CEO Chris Salafia was recently interviewed about his company’s innovations in 9-1-1 technology by the New Haven (Conn.) Register.

MADISON, Conn., Jun 09, 2009 (New Haven Register) Imagine being at the scene of a fire, car accident, bank robbery or mass shooting that unfolds in seconds and being able to report it to 911, with a photograph.

Town-based PowerPhone Inc. has four patents pending, including one for technology that would allow witnesses to send pictures of, say, perpetrators committing crimes or a fire engulfing a structure — the kind of visual images that could help police and fire departments and emergency medical crews better plan and execute speedy responses.

Started in founder Philip Salafia’s home, the business was incorporated in November 1984, and has grown a client base across all 50 states and more than a dozen foreign countries.

His son, Chris Salafia, now president and chief executive officer, said PowerPhone has many milestones to celebrate as it hits the quarter-century mark. “We’re 25 years old, but it really feels like a startup because of all the opportunities and challenges,” he said.

Under a new contract, New Mexico’s emergency medical, fire and law enforcement dispatch systems use PowerPhone’s Total Response software, which prompts 911 operators with pre-arrival instructions to callers for more than 90 potential scenarios, including active shootings, domestic disturbances, incidents that might call for CPR or suicides.

“Not everyone knows the number for a suicide hot line, but everyone knows 911,” Salafia said. “From a cat in a tree to plane in a building, our products help them gather all the pertinent information from the caller and ask the types of questions to help not only the caller, but the responders.” The company also has developed an “active shooter” class that helps agencies handle gunrelated massacres like the Columbine High School incident in 1999. Singapore handles its medical calls with PowerPhone software.

Marge Acker, a retired state police lieutenant colonel and now travels the country providing training and business development services for PowerPhone, said the software is unique because it gives operators a computer-assisted set of consistent questions.

“They’re not flying by the seat of their pants,” she said. “This software helps manage call centers in a way that can minimize lawsuits. There’s no guesswork involved. It captures data in a usable way.” People who work in call centers are “very special,” Acker said, adding that the job is stressful and how a call gets handled can save or cost a life.

The PowerPhone system will be solving other types of glitches for three Connecticut cities.

James P. Donnelly, director of public safety telecommunications for New Britain, said his municipality teamed up with Hartford and Bridgeport to integrate PowerPhone’s product into their networks. In Connecticut, 911 calls roll over into another town if a municipality’s system becomes disabled.

“That sounds good,” Donnelly said. “But it can quickly overwhelm another town’s dispatch center.” The three cities are implementing PowerPhone software so that their protocols and queries will be the same as calls come in or get rolled over.

The goal is to start tests in September and refine things going forward, Donnelly said. There are about 25,000 call centers throughout the country and police, fire and emergency medical personnel answer about 300 types of events, he said. “No one can remember all those questions,” he said.

Philip Salafia retired in 2005. “He built a tremendous foundation, we’re just adding on to a beautiful home,” Chris Salafia said.

– By Angela Carter

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