Ohio software firm aims to save time on 911 calls

Many employees at Creative Microsystems Inc. are also responders

By Marc Katz
The Dayton Daily News

ENGLEWOOD, Ohio — Mark Jordan, like many employees at Creative Microsystems Inc., is a part-time first-responder. He works as a deputy with the Shelby County Sheriff's office in Sidney, where he lives.

He also works in the public safety division of CMI, which recently installed new software for the Englewood police, fire and EMS departments and that will allow for a more efficient system that saves an operator's time when responding to emergency calls.

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"We have on our staff first-responders that have a knack and high IQ for technology," Jordan said. "What we've been able to do is program things that are usable in the field, and that's unique. We don't have computer programmers that have only academic knowledge of programming and those types of tools.

"These are people who actually respond to fires, go into burning buildings, respond to medic calls

"We don't want a system where a police officer is distracted entering data on a computer in his car."

At the Englewood police headquarters, Sgt. Michael Lang checks records at a three-screen computer station. He notes the ease at which records can be pulled, and the time saving of not having to fill out duplicate records.

"The biggest part is we can quickly get data out of the system," Lang said. "We estimate with this system, we can save a quarter to a third of an officer's day (when he used to be looking up records."

CMI was founded in 1979 by Chuck Powder, who was a math professor at the University of Dayton. His office was in downtown Dayton, but a friendship with city manager Eric Smith convinced Powder to move his company to Englewood.

CMI is the U.S. headquarters for Civica Plc Co., an international software-based IT service company based in London.

CMI primarily works with governmental agencies in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky.

It has software also for finance and accounting, tax collection, courts and public safety.

"We have about 45 agencies in Ohio using our software," said CMI marketing representative Lin Malott.

"About 13 of them have already put in this new system."