How Interoperability Helps Dispatchers, Responders, and the People They Serve

When a 911 call comes in, there’s more happening behind the scenes than most people realize. Especially when the call requires multiple agencies or crosses jurisdictional lines.

When regional emergencies impact multiple cities, or if an incident occurs between jurisdictions, those invisible boundary lines can cause confusion. Meanwhile, incompatible systems force dispatchers to rely on phone calls with neighboring agencies. Inefficient communication leads to delays, duplicated efforts and units arriving without mission-critical data.

In an emergency, those gaps in communication can waste time and even cost lives.

That’s why CAD-to-CAD interoperability matters. It connects agencies with real-time emergency data, allowing them to share critical information across jurisdictions instantly.

Virginia Beach understands the benefits of interoperability. They’re leading a five-city tech collaboration designed to break down communication barriers. By implementing CAD-to-CAD systems, these cities will replace slow, error-prone transfers with seamless coordination. Keep reading to learn how this initiative is transforming regional emergency response.

The Cost of Disconnected Systems

Disconnected emergency response systems create costly delays – sometimes with life-or-death consequences. During a 911 call, it’s not uncommon for the caller to reach the wrong city’s dispatch center, especially near jurisdictional boundaries. That means the call has to be manually transferred to another agency, wasting precious time.

Sometimes the closest available unit is overlooked simply because they belong to another jurisdiction. If the incident requires a joint response (i.e. police from one city and EMS from another), dispatchers must make multiple calls, repeatedly relay the same information, and manually coordinate response.

Without system interoperability, first responders often operate with limited data. When responders arrive on scene without shared call details, hazard warnings or location history, it reduces their ability to act quickly and effectively.

CentralSquare’s CAD-to-CAD solution, Unify, eliminates those barriers. It connects neighboring agencies in real time, allowing dispatchers to automatically identify and deploy the closest, most appropriate unit – even across jurisdictional boundaries.

The result is faster responses, better outcomes and safer communities. Keep reading to see how five Virginia cities are using Unify to collaborate across city lines.

Moving Beyond Jurisdiction Lines

Emergencies don’t stop at city lines, but traditional dispatch systems often do. Virginia Beach realized those limitations were negatively impacting their emergency response.

When calls need to be transferred between Norfolk and Virginia, for example, the process is often manual and slow. A dispatcher may need to relay the same information multiple times, and the caller may end up waiting in a second queue before help is dispatched.

This fall, Virginia Beach and four neighboring jurisdictions plan to change that (Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Suffolk). Through CentralSquare’s Unify, a CAD-to-CAD system, these cities will be able to share real-time call data instantly across agency lines.

“Before discovering this tool, we used to get calls more frequently from other jurisdictions that we would then have to transfer over to them, meaning now we’re in their queue, and the citizen is still having to wait. With the CAD-to-CAD project, it will allow us to process the call and then send it to the other agency’s CAD system with very little delay.”

Jada Lee, Director of Emergency Communications and Citizen Services, City of Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach already has automatic aid agreements with surrounding cities. If there’s a fire near the city line, dispatchers can identify the closest fire engine. What’s been missing is the ability to act on that information automatically. That gap closes with Unify, making regional collaboration more efficient and effective.

Freeing Dispatchers to Focus on What Matters

Unify by CentralSquare frees dispatchers to focus on what matters most: coordinating fast, accurate emergency response. Instead of relying on back-and-forth phone calls to neighboring agencies, dispatchers can use Unify to send controlled messages and notifications directly to partner organizations.

This reduces duplicate data entry and time spent on manual coordination. The result? Faster, clearer communication across jurisdictions and more time for dispatchers to support their teams and communities.

Unify automates key parts of the emergency response process through bi-directional communication, enabling true interoperability. Agencies no longer have to operate in silos. Data flows seamlessly across systems so every responder has access to mission-critical information.

The impact is tangible. Agencies using Unify report significant reductions in call processing times – from 30 seconds to 2 minutes on average. In emergencies, those saved minutes and seconds can lead to more successful outcomes for citizens.

CAD-to-Anywhere

Unify is a CAD-to-CAD interoperability network that helps dispatchers spend less time on the phone and more time managing emergencies. Built to connect with the systems you already use, Unify helps automate joint response and reduce manual data entry.

Unify is flexible and scalable, designed to work with any CAD system, even homegrown solutions. You control what data you share and with whom, whether it’s neighboring agencies or organizations you rely on daily: schools, DOT crews, hospitals, towing companies, universities, or local newsrooms.

Dispatchers aren’t the only ones who benefit. Unify works across mobile and handheld devices so that responders receive real-time updates directly.

When dispatchers spend less time relaying messages, they can spend more time supporting field units and protecting the public. Schedule a discovery call today to learn how Unify can help your agency and community.