Monday

Protective Order Entry – Tina Chaffin / McKinney PD    Clear up the mystery of entering Protective Orders by learning some of the ways to

make better entries. Share your own thoughts and ideas.

Harris County Regional Radio System – John Chenney / Harris County Building the Harris County Regional System and how to build a

regional system through collaboration. Including topics on P25 and ISSI.

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From Threat Detection To Prosecution – Allyson Mee / NICEAllyson Mee is the Area Sales Manager for the Southern Central Region

of the NICE Systems’ Public Safety Division will share five steps to a safer city.  As “homeland security” becomes part of the public

safety dialect, there is a growing need for cities to invest in video surveillance networks to detect and deter threats, and investigate

crime to ensuring safer cities and communities. Case studies of public safety operations successfully deploying these technologies to achieve results will be highlighted.

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TCLEOSE Basic Telecommunicator – Dawn Adams The Capital Area Council of Governments has developed a 9 week Basic

Telecommunicator Training Academy.  This course includes everything in the required TCLEOSE Basic Telecommunicator 1013

training as well as most of the Intermediate requirements.  The presentation will discuss what sessions were included with regard to their relevancy to the Emergency Communications PSAP of today. 

MAPS To Greatness – Tomorrow Starts With Today – Angie WhitakerIn looking at you & your organization, ask what’s associated with

your name?  Do people see greatness in you?  Do you see greatness in yourself as an individual and collectively as an organization?  Greatness may be far reaching but tomorrow starts with today.  MAPS to Greatness explores how to transition from the idea of

greatness to the realization of greatness.

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Round table discussion group – Harry Goodan and Sherry DeckerA facilitated open forum discussion group to express ideas & techniques among colleagues. Many of these valuable ideas spread from PSAP to PSAP across the State of Texas and throughout the Nation.

800 MHz Re-banding – Joe Blair- Bearingpoint  Presented by one of APCO’s Life Members, former Texas board member & Executive

Council representative, Joe Blair will be presenting how the 800 MHz rebanding is now in the implementation stage for Texas.  A representative TA Spectrum Management team and FCC will round out discussions on the Wave 4 frequencies, Mexico agreement,

and other Wave 4 rebanding issues as well as an update on the status of the other regions in Texas.  Q&A session will follow.

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Unmanned Aerial Systems for Public Safety Matt Twiggs - UAV Matt Twiggs, VP of Engineering and Technology for UAV Communications, Inc.  Design of vendor-neutral, interoperable solutions that provide unmanned systems, operations centers, video surveillance, & voice communications.  The benefits of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS’s) are well documented from their use in military applications. 

Their ability to provide long-duration aerial surveillance, search-and-rescue, & communications relays has resulted in many saved lives

and effective military operations.  Public safety is the next community poised to benefit from UAS technology, as it may be used to

serve the types of missions for which unmanned systems are well-suited—“3-D” missions which are “dull, dirty, and dangerous.”

Customer Service – Teresa York Panel discussion involving “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly” audio recordings that come into a Comm center.

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Tuesday

TERT – Jennifer ViberTelecommunicator Emergency Response Task Force (TERT) is a joint task force between APCO & NENA to

provide a network of qualified Telecommunicators that can be deployed upon a PSAP declaring an emergency such as natural or

manmade disaster to fill in manpower with skilled Telecommunicators who are already familiar with the equipment & operational

protocols for most PSAPs as well as mental, physical preparation for disaster deployment and the Telecommunicator’s role in a

disaster environment.

Communication Supervisors  – You Can Make a Difference! – Kathleen JamesonAn overview of the critical role Communication Supervisors

play in the communication center environment.  Included are key components of being a positive role model & an effective supervisor. 

Kathleen Jameson has over 25 years in the public safety arena.  She is the founder & director of PSCMS, providing training and consulting services to public safety agencies.

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FCC Coordinator Meeting – James Benton & Ken Yodert sessionFrequency Coordination Committee meeting with the 6 RPC chairs, &

the TSIEC (Texas State Interoperability Executive Committee).

EMERGE – Dan Heiken, Emerge Systems Inc.Integrated computer software program that improves & streamlines the communication

process during a chemical emergency.  When a chemical release occurs in a community, Telecommunicators are put in the

unenviable position of being the link between the industry, first responders & the public.  They must accurately collect as much

information as possible regarding the nature of the release so that the first responders can safely perform their duties as well as the

awesome responsibility of using all the tools (generally unrelated products requiring individual attention) available to notify the public

as quickly as possible, thereby minimizing liability.

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RCA - Integrated Wide Area Communications - Bridging Today's Systems to Tomorrow's TechnologyLt. Roman Kaluta is the Director of Interoperability Solutions & the Public Safety Liaison for Raytheon JPS Communications.  He will be presenting information on using

VoIP Technology, Intelligent Interconnects & Voice Modulated Recognition Systems to bridge existing communications systems, to

tomorrow's communications systems.  Lt. Kaluta was instrumental in the formulation of the policies, procedures & memoranda of understanding for the implementation of the Metropolitan Interoperability Radio System (MIRS), which consists of several fixed site

 ACU-1000 installations in & around the Washington Metropolitan region.

9-1-1 Public Education Program – Susan Rodriguez / Plano PDPublic Education and the PSAP -  If your agency doesn't have a Public

Education program or if your program needs a boost, this is the session for you.  Learn how to make of the most of "small" or non-existent budgets. Learn why every PSAP should have a public education program. 

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Wednesday

Next Generation 9-1-1 – RCC Part 1 of 2 part session

Stress Management – Shawn BarnesIn today's fast-paced, high stress PSAP, learning to recognize stress and deal with it appropriately

is crucial to dispatcher health, both mental & physical. This course will provide information on how to recognize stress, as well as basic coping techniques. Shawn Barnes, ENP is a Quality Assurance Coordinator for the Capital Area of Governments in Austin Texas, and

works with over 30 PSAPs. He has worked in emergency services and 9-1-1 for over 15 years.

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TLETS update & Review - Joanne Jenkins Updates & overview of the new web-based TLETS system called Omnixx

RCA - Two Way Radio 101 -  Richard Biby This is a basic course on understanding today's Two Way Radio

Maps, the Internet and the PSAP: Considering Implementation and Security Issues – Richard KellyMap & other emergency response data

 are growing in availability beyond the confines of the PSAP. This session will discuss how maps in the PSAP are changing to include

presenting data to call takers from multiple sources, such as the Internet. Associated support and security concerns will also be

addressed.Richard Kelly is the Program Coordinator for CAPCO’s GIS Planning Council and 9-1-1 GIS & Map Users Group. 

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What APCO Can Do For You -Cyndi Sauter / Ann Russo“What’s in it for me?” Come find out what the benefits of being an APCO member

is all about.  A tag team presentation with Ann Russo of APCO Intl. & Texas chapter officer, Cyndi Sauter.

Effective Listening - Wade FordWade Ford, a 25 year veteran of the Texas DPS & TCLEOSE instructor wants to know “How effective are

we at one of life’s easiest skills?”  This simple skill is used in both personal & professional life.  Included in this fun interactive session

are: *Listening facts (by the way, we are not very effective listeners) *Listening models *Why we choose to either listen or not (to a

conversation) *How to become a better listener *A classroom listening exercise *How to overcome one of life’s biggest forgetful issues

(due to poor listening habits) *Video listening examples, one is horribly true....

Cyren Call - Public Safety Spectrum 700mz – John MelcherAn update on what is happening with the Public Safety Spectrum Trust

& the Nationwide Shared Public Safety Broadband Network.  John Melcher is the former Director for the Greater Harris County 9-1-1

Network & current Executive VP of External Affairs for Cyren Call as well as the President & CEO of the Melcher Group.

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RCA P25 Waveform Analysis - Bill NicholsThis class will offer a short discussion of P25 transmission techniques coupled with a

demonstration of how radio alignment can impact radio performance.  Various impairments will be induced into a radio to illustrate the

impact of improper alignment.  New methods of signal verification & validation will be illustrated using a Radio Test Set.  Discussions

about how to properly configure and verify service monitor performance for making these types of adjustments.  This class is

recommended for anyone who performs radio alignments or verifies radio performance.

ICOM America 6.25 Khz training- Damon HinesThis technology was developed in response to an FCC revision of the rules concerning transmitters in the 150MHz to 174MHz and 421MHz to 512MHz range. To receive FCC certification after January 1st, 2005, transmitters must have proved compliant as a multi-mode device. This requirement could be achieved by using 6.25 kHz channel bandwidth. In addition to the FCC requirement, Europe & Japan are also moving toward 6.25 kHz technologies.

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