Daytona Beach, Fla. — May 23, 2011 — The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International has awarded both Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC) and City of San Luis Obispo Communications Center with the prestigious Horizon Award for their proactive technologic achievements within the communications center and the public safety industry.

APCO’s Horizon Award recognizes the technological advancements of communications centers across the nation with the enhancement of voice and data communications while acknowledging the efforts of communications centers that have proactively assessed and met the technological and operational needs of their center, employees, and service population. The award is presented to one large and one small telecommunications center annually.

The 2011 Horizon Award for a Large Center is being presented to Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC). VECC created a robust in-house E-Learning Environment, enabling employees at all levels to engage in media rich learning activities while at their desk. The VECC E-Learning Campus, VECC Online, is built upon Claroline’s Open Source eLearning and eWorking platform. This framework launched in March 2008 and has since become the largest method used for continued dispatch training.

The 2011 Horizon Award for a Small Center is being presented to City of San Luis Obispo Communications Center. City of San Luis Obispo built a technologically advanced communications center highlighting dispatchers’ safety, security and personal needs. The Center offers technology including cat6 data cable and fiber wires, Clear Cube blade PC technology, AT&T Viper 911, Pano Virtual PCs, virtual server clusters, Spillman CAD, Text to Voice Fire Station Alerting system, New Tait city-wide emergency simulcast/digital radio system, and Russ Bassett console furniture. The project was led by an Information Technology team.

“VECC and City of San Luis Obispo Communications Center’s are leading the way to the future and the norm of telecommunications centers by showcasing the highest technologic enhancements and demonstrating efficient operational procedure. They serve as a role model to the public safety industry and APCO is happy to emphasize their success,” said Bill Carrow, president of APCO International.

Nominations for the Horizon Award were accepted February 1 through April 1 and a selection committee reviewed the entries blind as it relates to vendor-specific technology to choose a winner. VECC and City of San Luis Obispo will be recognized in APCO’s official magazine, Public Safety Communications, on APCO’s website, and at APCO International’s 2011 Annual Conference from August 7th-10th in Philadelphia, Pa.

About APCO International
APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide — and the welfare of the general public as a whole — by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach. www.apcointl.org.