911iNET Portable Radio

[cavmedic]

If they are true 911 PSAP dispatchers, the state usually has training requirements. There's usually very in depth background checks.

Their job description doesn't match any 911 dispatcher position I've ever seen. And the "$11/hour" is down right insulting. 911 dispatchers are well underpaid for their work, but $11 is well below what most fast food workers make. That should tell you the level of service you are getting from these guys.

The liability of that whole thing is scary. Really sounds like some whacker/security types got together and decided to spin up their own dispatch center so they can feel important.

This is not a paid advertisement, just first hand knowledge as a former user.

When I was using the service, and this was about 6 years ago, the Constable association that had worked on getting the group rate packages together did a pretty good job of establishing requirements from the service. The main person who worked on the project was a former county dispatcher and worked with them to make sure they had proper PSAP contact information for every County in PA, their "CAD" and " mapping" system properly geobased municipal boundaries etc. They ( 911inet) had the typical call types with appropriate priority levels associated which would trigger timed " security checks" for subscribers for high priority or high risk call types like warrant services.
If you were say serving a warrant at location A, and say you didn't give status updates or answer their dispatchers security check after say the 4 minutes, they would try your cell phone, if that went unanswered, they could see your location with the GPS and would call the PSAP where you were and request to have the local LEO come out and check to make sure you were ok. They did an overall decent job. And like mentioned before, the service was better than out doing the job with nothing at all.


While on the outside it seems very whackerish, but in this setting, it worked well.
Elected at the local municipal level, sworn in at the county court level with state wide jurisdiction, very few agencies would allow you on their systems as you reported to basically no one but the Judge who signed the individual warrants.

 

[mmckenna]

Going into Google street view for their Alabama "headquarters" I can see some type of radio active symbol on the front door.. Also, back in February of 2019 they had a whole black and white "mobile command" RV parked outside like a fire truck just soaking in the curious eyes as people drive past.

Quite the story to that building if you look back through the streetview history.

 

[mmckenna]

While on the outside it seems very whackerish, but in this setting, it worked well.

Sounds a lot like a natural progression of a telephone answering service. Added in cellular and PTToC.

But them selling themselves as a PSAP'ish sounding provider does rate high on the whack-o-meter. The $11/hour on a 12 hour shift doesn't help their credibility, especially when someone working at McDonalds can make more.

 

[WB5UOM]

Hurry and order your inet911 decal for your car. only $5.00!
Mine is on its way!!

 

[mmckenna]

Hurry and order your inet911 decal for your car. only $5.00!
Mine is on its way!!

Yeah.

But them selling themselves as a PSAP'ish sounding provider does rate high on the whack-o-meter.

The APX styled PTToC radios and "tactical" supplies they sell just nudge the whack-o-meter even farther over towards the peg.

Not to dig at this too much, but the way they market this as "911", tactical, "Mission Critical", MDT/CAD, when they seem to be more of a glorified telephone answering service just sets off a lot of alarms. We've all seen the whacker/tacticool/security/Jeremy DeWitt/self assigned rank people out there and this marketing seems to cater towards that. Using Chinese PTToC devices for "mission critical" and "federal" use doesn't add up.

If some user really is "mission critical" and needs that sort of dispatch, then they'll have access to a properly accredited dispatch center.

 

[cavmedic]

Yeah.



The APX styled PTToC radios and "tactical" supplies they sell just nudge the whack-o-meter even farther over towards the peg.

Not to dig at this too much, but the way they market this as "911", tactical, "Mission Critical", MDT/CAD, when they seem to be more of a glorified telephone answering service just sets off a lot of alarms. We've all seen the whacker/tacticool/security/Jeremy DeWitt/self assigned rank people out there and this marketing seems to cater towards that. Using Chinese PTToC devices for "mission critical" and "federal" use doesn't add up.

If some user really is "mission critical" and needs that sort of dispatch, then they'll have access to a properly accredited dispatch center.

Guess you don’t quite understand how elected constables in PA work and why the service was used.

 

[mmckenna]

Guess you don’t quite understand how elected constables in PA work and why the service was used.

I don't, although I've looked it up. We don't have such an appointment in my state. Usually those services are handled by county Sheriff and they have their own dispatch.

As for PTToC, it's a legitimate service. Motorola/Harris and others support that now. A modern PSAP with modern dispatch consoles can roll that into their offering easily. I'd much prefer talking to a trained/accredited PSAP that has the right resources at their disposal.

 

[cavmedic]

I don't, although I've looked it up. We don't have such an appointment in my state. Usually those services are handled by county Sheriff and they have their own dispatch.

As for PTToC, it's a legitimate service. Motorola/Harris and others support that now. A modern PSAP with modern dispatch consoles can roll that into their offering easily. I'd much prefer talking to a trained/accredited PSAP that has the right resources at their disposal.

If you read my earlier comments, Most Counties in the commonwealth will not allow them on their system due to not having any oversite over them.

So this was the next best option to have some sort of capabilities to get help when some schmuck wants to hands on as you attempt to take them into custody.

Cause whipping out the cell to call 911 while rolling around in the dirt just doesn’t cut it.

 

[mmckenna]

If you read my earlier comments, Most Counties in the commonwealth will not allow them on their system due to not having any oversite over them.

Lack of oversight would make sense.

 

[WB5UOM]

If I read Cavmedic right, then maybe PA Constables should find other work, then those duties they used to do would fall on other agencies. Then maybe that would trigger said Comonwealth's to rethink the position of not allowing their Constables to have the proper tools to SAFELY conduct their duties, in this case radios on a public safety system like others allowing communications with those that can offer help when needed. Just my two cents.

 

[cavmedic]

If I read Cavmedic right, then maybe PA Constables should find other work, then those duties they used to do would fall on other agencies. Then maybe that would trigger said Comonwealth's to rethink the position of not allowing their Constables to have the proper tools to SAFELY conduct their duties, in this case radios on a public safety system like others allowing communications with those that can offer help when needed. Just my two cents.

It will never happen. No oversite to hold someone accountable, as they aren’t an employee of anyone.

So they have adapted , and this service was an option that worked for some.