Fire Department IT Case Study
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How VoIP & IT Services Helped Timber Mesa Fire District Find Success
With a team of almost 100, Timber Mesa Fire & Medical District provides emergency, safety and educational services to the White Mountain communities of Linden, Lakeside, Show Low, and White Mountain Lakes as well as to surrounding areas.
They handle calls that range from house or wildland fires to medical and hazardous material incidents. Admittedly, it’s no easy task to cover 250+ square miles, serving communities that can double in population during the summer, but it’s much easier today than it was a few years ago…
“It was like the Brady Bunch on steroids,”
..said Deputy Chief Clay Wood. “But everyone involved collaborated so well, and the merger has been incredibly successful. Of course, getting the right technology in place was a big part of making it work.”
The newly formed fire district was immediately faced with how to effectively communicate between five fire stations and a new central campus with an administrative building, a fleet maintenance shop, and training facility. They needed help to determine how to blend and optimize everything from phone systems to servers and computer hardware and software. Ensuring proper data backup and security was also key!
To provide uniformity for all stations and increase efficiency, Office 365 was implemented with its feature-rich computing programs.
Of course, Sunstate also provides 24/7 IT “help desk” support for all staff, ensuring peace of mind and quick attention to any technology issues that might arise, including issues with specific programs such as Firehouse, TeleStaff, ImageTrend, and QuickBooks.
Simplified billing is another big benefit for Timber Mesa.
Sunstate Brings Solutions: With fewer bills to pay to various vendors and all of their technology needs organized to maximize their budget, Timber Mesa could afford to replace old hardware and ensure that all staff have access to efficient, up-to-date technology.
the
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Technology is essential to what we do every day.
Combining four small fire districts into one supercharged fire district was no small task, but it was absolutely the right thing to do.
We have reduced operational costs and pooled resources, which has allowed us to expand our service area and deliver outstanding quality of service to the communities we serve. We also completed another successful consolidation with White Mountain Lakes Fire in late 2018, adding a fifth station to Timber Mesa.
Sunstate has been a truly integral part of making all that happen!
RANDY CHEVALIER, DEPUTY CHIEF
TIMBER MESA