Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Information Systems

TO:	Dave Corliss, Interim City Manager
FROM:	James Wisdom, Network Manager Mark Bradford, Fire Chief
CC:	Alan Landis, Ron Hall, Bill Stark, Rich Barr
Date:	6/13/2006
RE:	Firehouse Software purchase approval $45,145  (via State of Kansas Software Contract)

The Fire & Medical Department included funds in the approved 2006 budget to purchase Firehouse Software by ACS.  Firehouse Software specializes in all aspects of information management, scheduling and reporting for fire departments and will be an important tool used in improving the operations of the Fire & Medical Department.  The department has had an implementation team group meeting regularly for several months making preparations for a successful implementation. 

The software was demonstrated by ACS personnel for Information Systems and Fire personnel again last month at Fire Station No. 5.  Information Systems personnel included Ron Hall, John Williams, Tim Hanzlik, Bill Lloyd and myself.  The software was full-featured and proved to have the features the Fire Department was seeking.  The software also had many features that Information Systems prefers, a database using Microsoft SQL on the back end, the ability to import and export data, a query builder to make building complex SQL queries easier, the ability to create user-defined fields, a large number of pre-defined reports, and a built-in report writer to custom design reports.  The software also included necessary system rules to protect the integrity of the data and a database audit log feature that documents any changes to the database and who made them.  The file server hardware and necessary SQL software licenses are already in place to accommodate the installation.

Firehouse Software is currently used by 13,000 fire departments, including the State of Kansas Fire Marshall’s office.  The recommended purchase includes the required software licenses, maintenance, training, and the CAD interface module.  The H.T.E./CAD module integrates the H.T.E. Computer Aided Dispatch software used by dispatch in supporting the Police and Fire & Medical Departments.  Information Systems recommends purchasing the Firehouse Software via the State of Kansas purchasing software contract number 07359 and has entered purchase order requisition number 60627 for $45,145, pending approval by the City Commission.  Please put this item on the consent agenda for the June 20^th City Commission meeting for approval.