ECCiis System Wins PTI Technology Solutions Award for Significant Achievement
For the second time in three years, an ITS project has produced an award winning result. The Public Technology Institute’s Technology Solutions competition rewards those PTI member local governments that can demonstrate how they apply technology to improve service delivery, reduce operating costs or create new revenue opportunities.

ITS, in partnership with the Emergency Communications Center, created the ECCiis application that provides a variety of information to various emergency responders throughout the county. Information available includes documents, search of incidents, road closings, hospital diversions, available vehicle locations, and other pertinent information.

The application is used by 4 county departments; ECC, Sheriff, Med Act (ambulance service), and the Justice Information Management Systems department. It is also used by 13 external organizations; Overland Park Fire Department, Olathe Fire Department, Leawood Fire Department, Lenexa Fire Department, Merriam Fire Department, Shawnee Fire Department, Lexington Fire Department, Consolidated Fire District #2, District #1 Fire, Gardner Fire Department, Desoto Fire Department, Johnson County Fire District #3, and Lake Quivira Fire Department. Access has also been granted to KCScout, the metropolitan area’s primary source of traffic information.

The system is an excellent example of jurisdictional cooperation for the purpose of providing better service to customers, maximizing the use of existing resources, without increasing costs. It facilitates intergovernmental cooperation and coordination in the response to emergency situations.

Johnson County Wireless Local Area Network: What You Need to Know
In 2003, Johnson County ITS implemented its first wireless local area network (WLAN). WLAN is a network infrastructure which allows mobile users to access the network. To date, WLAN can be found in most Johnson County buildings. While this network primarily serves County employees, it is available for contractors, vendors, public meetings, or other situations needing access to the Internet.

Information on how to connect to the wireless LAN can be found in the Wireless Access Guidelines document or by contacting ITS-SupportCenter@jocogov.org. The ITS Support Center can also provide specific information about which County facilities have the wireless LAN available.

Disaster Recovery
The ITS Disaster Recovery project reached a milestone in March when the recovery site was relocated to the County Communications Center. The CCC will serve as the permanent recovery site for ITS supported applications, systems and technology. Phase 1 of this project provides the ability to recover email, telephone service, Internet connectivity, Oracle functions, and the District Court Trustee application in the event the County’s main data center is unusable. Following the completion of this phase, ITS will begin to add other applications to the recovery site, based on their categorization in the Business Impact Analysis completed in 2004 and updated in 2007.