OpenSource: Coming to the Rescue!

Linked by Robert Austin on Mon 1st May 2006 20:11 UTC

Two years ago, on April 1, 2004 an article appeared here on OSNews titled "Will Open Source Come to the Rescue?" Two years later, I am proud to report that there is indeed an effort to bring open source software to the Emergency Service community. I would like to take this time to tell you what has transpired in the past two years.

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http://osne.ws/b6k

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Great article!

by archiesteel on Mon 1st May 2006 21:21 UTC

Member since:
2005-07-02

I noticed that Google Maps is used for the mapping of Emergency tickets. I assume that there is a local cache of the maps on a rock-solid server for emergency services? Otherwise, this means that the mapping functionality would be dependent on Google Maps being up, which (while I've only seen it down once) seems a bit risky...

Apart from this, I applaud this real-world effort to bring Open-Source to cash-starved public services. This is where F/OSS software can shine, and save us taxpayers money at the same time!

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RE: Great article!

by ma_d on Mon 1st May 2006 21:36 UTC in reply to "Great article!"

Member since:
2005-06-29

That was my thought exactly.

Then I thought "fully reusing an existing tool, cool."

Seriously though, the 911 center doesn't die if the internet connection dies right?!

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RE[2]: Great article!

by corrosive23 on Mon 1st May 2006 23:42 UTC in reply to "RE: Great article!"

Member since:
2005-07-11

Not if they are like the one my wife works in. Yes they have ip based everything, however they also have regular multiline phones under their desks, everything is written onto 3x5 cards and then when the "crisis" is over, someone enters everything into RMS.

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RE[3]: Great article!

by eMagius on Tue 2nd May 2006 00:37 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: Great article!"

Member since:
2005-07-06

Yes they have ip based everything, however they also have regular multiline phones under their desks, everything is written onto 3x5 cards and then when the "crisis" is over, someone enters everything into RMS.

No wonder he has such an affinity for placards!

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bit by bit

by raver31 on Mon 1st May 2006 21:53 UTC

Member since:
2005-07-06

F/OSS will come.

Whole countries are dumping Microsoft and taking Linux.
Design teams for F1 dumped Solaris for Linux
Public transport all over Europe is dumping Microsoft solutions to take up F/OSS, Linux and FreeBSD
Some US states are dumping Microsoft formats for open formats.

Little by little, the money men are getting their territory chipped away.
some day, the rest will crumble around them

RANT OVER

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RE: bit by bit

by sappyvcv on Tue 2nd May 2006 15:06 UTC in reply to "bit by bit"

Member since:
2005-07-06

Sounds like you're looking for complete domination, which simply won't happen.

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Question

by lostnerd on Tue 2nd May 2006 15:32 UTC

Member since:
2005-07-27

Is there any effort trying to integrate a voip package like asterisk into it. I also have reservation about the Google maps usage. Its a ongoing project and much needed, keep up the good work.

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