This year, APCO 2024 was in sunny Orlando, marking the second time in the city for many public safety professionals, as NENA was just down the street a few weeks earlier. As always, Intrado was proud to be a part of this essential event, continuing our longstanding commitment to the APCO community with well over 25 years of participation.
Highlighting Our Innovative Solutions
Our focus at this year's APCO remains consistent with every year: connecting with our customers—the dedicated professionals responsible for answering critical calls and protecting their communities. This event provides us with the invaluable opportunity to listen to their needs, understand their current challenges, and showcase our latest innovations designed to support their mission.
One such innovation is Intrado LifeHub, which we proudly launched at NENA. LifeHub represents the future of emergency services, offering a geo-redundant, cloud-based, and browser-accessible call-handling solution tailored to meet the evolving needs of public safety agencies.
In addition to LifeHub, VIPER as a Service (VaaS), Intrado's hosted solution, attracted significant interest from attendees. Our flagship solution offers unprecedented uptime, local survivability, and a browser-based interface, making it an indispensable tool for emergency call handling. Both solutions are complemented by our best-in-class reporting tool, Intrado ECaTS, which stood out at the show, further demonstrating why it remains a critical asset for public safety agencies.
Lastly, but certainly not least, we were thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with GeoComm, focusing on indoor mapping of critical buildings. This partnership will enhance situational awareness for first responders, ensuring they have the precise information needed to reach the right room quickly and improve emergency outcomes. Intrado is proud to deliver this innovative solution to agencies at no cost through Intrado Spatial Insight.
Connecting with the Community
One of the most memorable aspects of this year’s APCO was simply making it to the event, despite the challenges posed by Hurricane Debby. Navigating these weather-related obstacles to engage with our peers and showcase our solutions highlighted the resilience and dedication that defines the public safety community.
Attendees who made it to the event were delighted with the demonstrations, reinforcing our belief that Intrado’s offerings are perfectly aligned with the current and future needs of public safety professionals. The ongoing conversation around the industry’s digital transformation, particularly the shift towards cloud solutions, was a hot topic. It’s evident that separating hype from practical, necessary solutions will continue to be crucial as the industry evolves. Intrado is well-positioned to lead in this space, offering solutions that meet our customers wherever they are on their journey—whether on-premises, hosted, or in the cloud with Intrado LifeHub.
Reflecting on Longstanding Relationships
Personally, attending the NENA and APCO National Events has always been an annual highlight. I’ve been participating in these shows for over 20 years with this organization, under various names, but alongside many of the same great colleagues. It’s always a pleasure to reconnect with our critical partners and industry professionals who share our greater purpose. Being back at APCO as Intrado, with our renewed focus on our emergency mission and innovation, felt like a return to the good old days—a reminder of why we do what we do.
While the wording of our mission at Intrado has evolved over the years, its core has remained unchanged. Today, Intrado is dedicated to saving lives and protecting communities by helping them prepare for, respond to, and recover from critical events. Meets like APCO are vital because they allow us to connect our mission with the people who use the solutions, we’ve developed over the past 45+ years.
Looking Forward
As we look ahead, we’re eager to build on the connections and insights gained at both NENA and APCO this year. Our solutions are crafted not just to meet today’s challenges but to anticipate and address the evolving needs of tomorrow’s public safety landscape. We’re excited about the future and remain committed to working closely with our partners and professionals across the industry.
A sincere thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth, engaged with our demos, and participated in the conversations that are shaping the future of public safety. We look forward to seeing you again soon!