Protecting your software investment

     Public safety software has become a critical component of police work. It is a vital tool to rapidly communicate, store and transfer law enforcement information. Public safety applications like computer aided dispatch (CAD), records management (RMS), and mobile computing allow law enforcement agencies to increase safety, improve response times, and conduct more successful investigations. As law enforcement needs change with advances in wireless technology data sharing requirements and online capabilities, public safety solutions have become more important than ever.

     Most of us do not think about the thousands of lines of code that make up the framework of the software we rely on every day. And why should we? We never see the foundation of our public safety software, yet it plays a vital role in the functionality and future of our solutions. All of the coding behind our software is important to protect the long-term investment we make in these solutions.

     The foundation of your public safety software determines whether or not your solutions will be easy-to-use and maintain, which will keep training and administration costs low. The right framework can also enable a seamless flow of information through applications and interoperability with third-party solutions to guarantee times savings and information accuracy. Furthermore, as law enforcement needs evolve, the technology behind your software will determine whether or not it can grow and provide additional future functionality.

     One example is a recent emphasis on community policing that has lead to a stronger need for wireless access to information for officers on patrol. This need has caused some advanced software providers to drastically enhance mobile software capabilities. Now, officers on patrol can send and receive information, search NCIC and Records, and complete and submit reports from their vehicles through advanced wireless mobile computing.

     The ever-growing demands of law enforcement can pose a problem for some software vendors and ultimately your law enforcement agency, if your solutions are not built on a framework that is flexible and designed to easily grow and adapt. Because of this, some leading public safety software vendors, are relying on the trusted Microsoft.NET platform from the world's industry leader.

     Developed by Microsoft, the Microsoft.NET framework provides a flexible foundation and a set of standards that allows software developers to focus on building functionality instead of writing code for basic software groundwork like buttons, windows, workflows, etc. The .NET framework also provides pre-coded solutions including user interfaces, data access, database connectivity, security, network communications, and more for software developers.

     Features of the Microsoft.NET framework include Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation and Windows CardSpace. These robust components offer developers more options than solutions without the .NET framework to create a significantly enhanced user experience, added communication between applications, powerful automation and secure Web capabilities.

     Public safety software providers that partner with Microsoft can use the .NET framework with all of its built-in features and combine it with their own coding to create stronger CAD, RMS and mobile computing applications.

     Developing software in this manner creates much more flexibility for developers and removes necessary but time-consuming coding for the software groundwork. The enhanced interoperability available in the .NET framework also allows public safety software providers to more easily integrate additional tools, such as geographic information systems (GIS) into their solutions.