Winterville, NC - Many communities across the country rely on volunteers to staff their fire departments. Since most volunteers have full time jobs, scheduling them can be a very time consuming and frustrating process because often, and understandably so, their availability changes after they’ve committed to a shift.
“We are an 85 percent volunteer fire department so the savings FIRE Manager offers us in terms of time and effort is very large. We average 50 volunteers, with nine paid staff and the ability for them to sign up for shifts online from their home, office or their smartphone is working great,” says David Moore, Fire Chief, Winterville Fire-Rescue-EMS, Winterville, NC.
Since FIRE Manager is available as an annual subscription, versus a large upfront capital investment, it is much more affordable for volunteer based services. The system is also available through any smartphone, or other mobile device with Internet, which Chief Moore says is one of the favorite features of his staff and volunteers.
“In our department, we all access FIRE Manager through the mobile web app at least as much, or more, than through our desktop computers. Our members like having the ability to schedule their shifts on the go - the mobile app works very well for us,” adds Chief Moore.
Chief Moore also indicates they value the events calendar and various reports the system can generate. “As we become more familiar with all the capabilities FIRE Manager offers, we are using more and more features. We’ve started to host a forum through our FIRE Manager system and that’s proven to be very popular with our members. FIRE Manager also allows us to coordinate our paid and volunteer resources much better. It provides an accurate schedule in real time and allows everyone to be responsible for their own schedule.”
Just south of Greenville NC in the central coastal plain region, the Winterville Fire-Rescue-EMS has been dedicated to serving and protecting the citizens and property of the Town of Winterville and the surrounding communities since 1951. The fire department has a staff of four paid personnel, 10 volunteer officers, and approximately 50 volunteer firefighters. This agency protects and serves approximately 10,000 residents, and averages over 500 alarms per year.
About Aladtec, Inc.
Aladtec, Inc. is a proud provider of web-based software solutions for online employee scheduling and workforce management applications. The company’s flagship products, EMS Manager and FIRE Manager, are leaders in the public safety sector. Together with their newest product, Zanager, they serve nearly 1,000 EMS agencies, fire departments, police departments and other businesses. Over 60,000 employees use Aladtec’s online employee scheduling and workforce management products. Aladtec is headquartered just outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area in Hudson, Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.aladtec.com.