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4th Quarter, 2007
FireVISION is a quarterly publication from ACS Government Systems with fire-industry news, FIREHOUSE Software tips, and other helpful information. We hope you find this and future issues to be both informative and useful.
If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, see the instructions at the bottom of this page. If you have any questions or concerns related to the newsletter distribution, please email: FHdocumentation@acs-inc.com.
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 2007 Was a Special Year!
2007 was another year of new activities and experiences. New products were released and partnerships were created. Here's a look at some of the items of 2007...
As always, we thank you for choosing ACS FIREHOUSE Software. We know there are other software options available in today's market. We appreciate the dedication thousands of you have given to our software. We will continue to create product enhancements with our customers valued suggestions in 2008 and beyond. We pledge to continue to be the leading software for customer satisfaction, and the most widely used software in the industry. Thank You!
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FHETS 2008
The 2008 FIREHOUSE Software Education and Training Seminar will be held September 24th through 27th at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana. The New Orleans Marriott is in the historic French Quarter, located just a few short blocks from shopping, restaurant and entertainment options. Riding the wave of success the FHETS '07 produced in San Diego, CA., we anticipate at least 500 attendees to join us in 'The Big Easy'. The New Orleans Marriott will have very spacious classrooms for the event. If we have a larger than expected turnout, we may increase the number of concurrent class sessions to ensure everyone can attend their classes of interest. The seminar price will be $695 for the 3 day event. Registration will open for FHETS '08 in the 1st quarter of 2008. The hotel rooms will be available for $99/night, with this special event rate to extend 3 days prior and following the seminar based on guestroom availability. Breakfast, lunch, and between class snacks will be provided for the attendees during the seminar.
We will post more details at www.firehousesoftware.com as they become available. If you have any questions, please contact our Training Coordinator, Darrell Hagans at fhtraining@acs-inc.com . We'll see you in New Orleans!
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Tips from the Field....
This column details different ways FH clients have put FIREHOUSE Software to work for their department. We encourage clients to submit tips and suggestions for future FireVISION articles. Please email them to: FHdocumentation@acs-inc.com.
"What's the difference between automatic locking and manual locking of records?"
As today's accuracy and security of information takes a high priority, locking records in FIREHOUSE Software could be essential to retain data integrity. Locking records can be performed two different ways: with Administrative Options, and individual locking a record before saving. So what's the difference?
The Administrative Options are located on the Authorizations & Locking sub heading of the Incident tab. These options are functions performed by the software to analyze if a record should be locked from being resaved with changes. Automatic locking can be enabled in three ways:
- Allow only the user who entered the report or a system administrator to modify. This option compares the internal user id of the user logged in against the user id recorded in the record modification history. If the ID doesn't match, the save button is disabled.
- Disallow changes after a quality control check authorization has been entered. This option confirms if a report authorization record exists with the QC code established. If the incident QC record exists, the save button is disabled from save attempts.
- Disallow changes ### hours after initial report entry. This option compares the time in the record modification history with the computer's system clock date/time. If ### hours have expired since the last record modification history, then the save button will be disabled for further save attempts.
These Administrative Options are only available in conjunction with Fire and EMS incident records, and do not alter the record in any way when a record meets the requirements.
Manual locking is something which can be performed on individual records in most modules of FH. This act can be performed whether the Administrative Options noted above are enabled or disabled. Located on the Other tab, the Record Lock Status button can be selected to see if a record is locked, when it was locked, and by which user. Users with Lock Record security rights for the module can place a checkbox in the Lock Record field, then press OK. This 'manual' locking action sets a 'true' lock status in the data record, identifying it as locked to all other users (except administrative access users). Other users will not be able to save any changes they attempt to commit to the record.
While the desired end result may be the same, there are two distinct methods to locking records in FH. Give each option a try to see which is best for your needs.
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FIREHOUSE Software NEMSIS Gold Compliance update
In 2006, FIREHOUSE Software was the first to earn gold compliance certification for submission of EMS patient records using the National NEMSIS submission guidelines and requirements. Today, we are happy to announce that FIREHOUSE Software has new installation components available for Alabama users. The state specific installation components are developed in conjunction and accordance with the Alabama NEMSIS validation and compliance rules for EMS reporting. While the validation and compliance rules are state specific, the data export follows the national export definition. Alabama departments interested in the additional components should contact your sales representatives at 1-800-921-5300 ext 1 or e-mail fhsales@acs-inc.com .
Since our initial commitment to NEMSIS, FH has enhanced all of our aspects of EMS incident and patient care recording to promote the new national reporting standard. Our development team is working with and reviewing other state specific NEMSIS validation and compliance rules for future releases. We will announce their availabilities when more information is available. We ask for your support as well, in promoting the national NEMSIS reporting guidelines.
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We like our new home!
The main office of ACS Emergency Services Group and FIREHOUSE Software moved to a new location in mid-December. The new location provides a larger office space to increase our staffing in support, sales and development. The new address as of December 17th is:
ACS Government Systems
2900 100th Street, Suite 309
Urbandale, Iowa 50322
If your municipality has a partnership with ACS Government Systems for other services, please contact your Accounts Payable department to inform them of the FH home office address change to use in future payments of FH invoices.
New Staff members and Role Changes
New Voices on the phone: The next time you call our main office, you will hear some more new voices. Melissa Mock joins the staff as the Administrative Assistant/Receptionist. She comes to us from Principal Life Insurance Co., with 6 years of office experience assisting with the disability insurance needs inside & outside of the company. FH Technical Support has a couple of new team members. Greg Hampton joins us bringing ten years of IT system and support experience. Sarah Leonardi-White joins us from Mediacom and Dice.com. She brings 5 years of customer service and technical support experience to the team. Both are excited to be new members of the team and look forward to contributing to the support group.
The FH support team is still actively pursuing additional new hires to join us in the upcoming quarter.
New FH development addition: Adam Brucker joins the FH development team from the ITA Group with his 7 years of development experience. Adam is involved with the future .NET product development.
New Roles for Current FH Staff: The technical support leadership is now extended to Aaron Laird, Support Manager for FH desktop applications, and Rob Rippentrop, Support Manager for FH Mobile and FH CAD Monitor applications.
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Stop By and See Us
Look for us at these upcoming events in the coming months!
01/26/08 to 01/27/08: Long Island Fire, Rescue & EMS Show, Uniondale, NY.
01/25/08 to 01/26/08: Fire Rescue East, Jacksonville, FL.
01/26/08 to 01/27/08: 19th Annual Iowa Winter Fire School, Ames, IA.
01/31/08 to 02/02/08: WI Working Together Conf., Milwaukee, WI.
02/05/08 to 02/07/08: Firehouse World, San Diego, CA.
02/04/08 to 02/05/08: Fire Chiefs Executive Development Conf., Tuscaloosa, AL
02/08/08 to 02/08/08: 2008 Missouri Winter Fire School, Columbia, MO.
02/22/08 to 02/23/08: VA. Fire Chiefs Assoc. Mid-Atlantic Expo & Symposium, Virginia Beach, VA.
03/15/08 to 03/16/08: 2008 SE Minnesota EMS Conf. "The Heroes Among Us", Rochester, MN.
03/28/08 to 03/29/08: EMS Update 2008,Seven Springs, PA.
04/07/08 to 04/12/08: FDIC 2008, Indianapolis, IN.
04/21/08 to 04/22/08: IAFC 2008 Fire-Rescue Med Conf., Las Vegas, NV.
04/25/08 to 04/26/08: Michigan EMS Expo 2008, Grand Rapids, MI.
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Department Profile(s)
Each quarter, we profile a different department using FIREHOUSE Software. If you would like your department profiled, please send information about your department to: FHdocumentation@acs-inc.com.
Fire Department: Cresson Volunteer Fire Company
Location: Cresson, Pennsylvania
Fire Chief: John Briel
Personnel: 40 Volunteers
Stations: 1
Pop. Served: approx 10,000
Calls: 260 per year
Apparatus: 3 Engines, 1 QRS vehicle, 1 Brush Truck, 1 Tanker, 1 100' Tower,
Software: FIREHOUSE Software Version 7
Comments: The Cresson Vol. Fire Company is located about halfway between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, in the Allegheny Mountains of central Pennsylvania. The Cresson Fire Service area encompasses three boroughs and three townships covering approximately 30 square miles. The area is a diverse community with light manufacturing, farming, and tourism all situated in a rural setting. The Cresson Volunteer Fire Company was officially created September 22nd, 1908. The Company plans a community wide celebration of the 100th anniversary this coming September. The Volunteer firefighters of Cresson Volunteer Fire Company are highly trained firefighters in addition to being very involved in local, regional and state activities.The fire service area supports a medium-security State Correctional facility and medium-security Federal Correctional facility. Transportation routes include two major highways and the Norfolk Southern main railway for transportation on east-west routes. You can find more interesting information for the fire department at: http://cms.firehouse.com/dept/CressonPa.
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