Critical information is scattered across different systems

The interior crew may have the thermal image. The UAS operator has the aerial view. The preplan is on an MDC. CAD information originated at dispatch. Accountability is on another board. Building data may be somewhere else entirely. Much of the incident commander's situational awareness still has to be assembled mentally from radio traffic and reports from operating crews.

Technology approaches

Command dashboards

A single board bringing assignments, timers, benchmarks and feeds together, so the IC is reading one picture rather than assembling five.

Before you buy

  • Ask who is expected to operate it during a working incident — if it needs a dedicated person, say so in the staffing plan.
  • Find out what it shows when a feed it depends on goes down.
  • The challenge is not simply connecting systems. A common operating picture becomes valuable when information from different systems can be combined without forcing the incident commander to switch constantly between applications, screens, devices and data formats.
  • Better would show the command team the picture appropriate to its role — companies and assignments, significant conditions, responder status, relevant building information, important imagery and meaningful exceptions — without manually reconstructing the incident from several unrelated systems.

Streamed thermal imaging

Helmet or handheld thermal imagers that transmit to the command board rather than staying with the crew.

Before you buy

  • Bandwidth inside a structure is the constraint, not the camera.
  • Consider whether an IC watching a thermal feed is better informed or more distracted.

UAS video and mapping

Aerial video and orthomosaic maps delivered to the command post rather than staying on the pilot's controller.

Before you buy

  • Getting the feed off the controller and onto the board is usually the hard part.
  • Ask what the latency is — a thirty-second-old aerial view can mislead more than no view.

CAD and preplan integration

Pulling dispatch information and the building's preplan onto the same display as everything else.

Before you buy

  • Ask whether a production integration exists with your CAD at your version, not whether an API exists.
  • A preplan nobody maintains is worse on a screen than in a binder, because it looks current.

Building and environmental data

Structural information, alarm and sensor data, and conditions around the incident, surfaced alongside the operational picture.

Before you buy

  • The capture and upkeep cost is the whole question. Ask where the data comes from and who keeps it current.
  • Check what happens on a building you hold no data for — that is most of them.

Companies working in this area

Listed alphabetically, not ranked. Everything below is reported by the company itself. Being listed is free and is not a recommendation — use the questions above when you talk to any of them.

All companies

  • 3AM Innovations Inc.

    Buffalo, NY

    FLORIAN

    Real-time personnel and resource accountability on a dynamic 3D incident map.

    Vendor reported

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  • Active911

    Philomath, OR

    ActiveAlert

    ActiveAlert sends emergency alerts to responders and supports mapping, response status, and coordination.

    Vendor reported

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  • Adashi Systems

    Adashi FirstResponse MDT

    Adashi FirstResponse MDT gives responders mobile access to incident information for response and scene management.

    Vendor reported

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  • Axon

    Axon Air

    Axon Air provides drone-as-first-responder hardware, software, live video, and regulatory support for public safety agencies.

    Vendor reported

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  • Bryx

    Rochester, NY

    Bryx 911

    Bryx 911 sends CAD-linked job alerts, routing, hydrant data, responder locations, and team messages to mobile responders.

    Vendor reported

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  • Buffalo Computer Graphics

    Blasdell, NY

    DisasterLAN (DLAN)

    Web-based all-hazards incident-management platform providing a common operating picture, GIS, resource tracking, workflows, and ICS documentation.

    Vendor reported

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  • Caliber Public Safety

    Caliber CAD NG

    Caliber CAD NG helps 911 centers manage dispatch, mapping, AVL, CAD-to-CAD sharing, notifications, and public safety integrations.

    Vendor reported

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  • CrisisGo

    Mountain View, CA

    CrisisGo Unified Safety Platform

    Connected safety platform combining emergency plans, alerts, maps, accountability, response workflows, and interagency information sharing.

    Vendor reported

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  • D4H

    Dublin

    D4H Incident Management

    Configurable incident-management platform combining maps, status boards, forms, tasks, logs, plans, and responder coordination.

    Vendor reported

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  • Darkhorse Emergency

    Edmonton, Ontario

    Darkhorse Response and Darkhorse Risk

    Darkhorse Response Turns incident and response data into insights chiefs use to make faster, more confident decisions. Darkhorse Risk Maps community fire risk using local and national data, revealing hotspots to act on with evidence.

    Vendor reported

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  • Deccan International

    Deccan Software Suite

    Deccan helps fire and EMS leaders analyze deployment, coverage, move-ups, run cards, and emergency response planning.

    Vendor reported

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  • DroneControl

    Geneva

    DroneControl Software Ecosystem

    A secure drone operations platform for fire and emergency services, combining flight operations, live video, incident collaboration, automated flight logs, media management, pilot management and fleet compliance.

    Vendor reported

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  • DroneSense

    DroneSense Platform

    DroneSense helps public safety agencies fly, manage, map, stream, and collaborate around drone operations.

    Vendor reported

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  • eDispatches

    eDispatches detects dispatches and sends alerts to responders through mobile app, text message, or phone call.

    Vendor reported

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  • EmberSat

    Flagstaff, Arizona

    EmberSat continuously analyzes public satellite imagery to identify likely wildfire ignitions, prioritize them, and deliver operational alerts and mapped intelligence to dispatchers across large, remote areas.

    Vendor reported

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  • Fire Ground Sim

    Virginia Beach, Virginia

    Incident command simulations and training using users own pictures and 3D maps of their locality.

    Vendor reported

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  • Flock Safety

    Atlanta, GA

    Flock DFR

    Flock DFR is a drone-as-first-responder system that launches drones to provide live incident video and scene awareness.

    Vendor reported

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  • FlowMSP

    FlowMSP helps fire departments create and access digital pre-incident plans.

    Vendor reported

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  • Fotokite

    Boulder, CO

    Fotokite Sigma

    Fotokite Sigma is a tethered UAS that provides fire and public safety teams with live aerial situational awareness.

    Vendor reported

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  • Genasys Inc.

    San Diego, CA

    Genasys Protect

    Zone-based public-warning and emergency-coordination platform for targeted alerts, evacuation information, and interagency situational awareness.

    Vendor reported

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  • GeoComm

    St. Cloud, MN

    GeoComm Indoor Safety

    GeoComm Indoor Safety gives fire departments interactive, public-safety-grade indoor maps with searchable rooms, entrances, fire protection systems, and hazards—helping crews preplan, navigate complex buildings, coordinate response, and make faster, safer decisions.

    Vendor reported

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  • Hexagon

    Hexagon Public Safety Solutions

    Hexagon helps EMS and public safety agencies manage dispatch, incident response, pre-planning, collaboration, and operational reporting.

    Vendor reported

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  • Hotwash

    Cambridge, MA

    After-action review platform to capture lessons for the next generation.

    Vendor reported

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  • IamResponding

    Dewitt, NY

    IamResponding helps agencies notify responders, track who is responding, view incident information, and coordinate field activity.

    Vendor reported

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  • Intterra

    AwareUS

    AwareUS is America’s authoritative emergency information network, powering native mobile apps such as AwareCA with free, agency-led updates for your community.

    Vendor reported

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  • Juvare

    Dunwoody, GA

    WebEOC Nexus

    Cloud-based EOC and incident-management platform for maintaining a common operating picture across agencies and partners.

    Vendor reported

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  • Motorola Solutions

    Command Center CAD Solutions

    Motorola Solutions provides CAD systems that help dispatchers process calls, identify units, and send incident data to fire and EMS responders.

    Vendor reported

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  • Neutron Edge

    Los Altos, CA

    AI Co-Pilot Routing Software

    Intelligent in-vehicle routing for crews to avoid delays and safety risks while on-route to incidents.

    Vendor reported

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  • OroraTech

    OroraTech Wildfire Solution

    OroraTech uses satellite data, thermal sensors, AI, alerts, maps, and analytics to detect and monitor wildfires.

    Vendor reported

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  • Pano AI

    San Francisco, CA

    Pano Rapid Detect

    Pano Rapid Detect monitors for wildfire smoke and sends verified incident intelligence to response partners.

    Vendor reported

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  • Perimeter

    Berkeley, CA

    Perimeter Platform

    Real-time evacuation and incident-mapping platform connecting emergency managers, responders, partner agencies, and the public.

    Vendor reported

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  • Skydio

    San Mateo, CA

    Skydio Solution for Fire Service

    Skydio provides drones and software for fire service drone-as-first-responder, incident intelligence, thermal imaging, and mapping.

    Vendor reported

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  • Southern Software

    Southern Pines, NC

    Southern Software Public Safety Suite

    Southern Software provides CAD, mapping, mobile data, RMS, analytics, and public safety operations tools.

    Vendor reported

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  • StreetWise

    StreetWise CADlink Tablet MDT/MDC

    StreetWise CADlink gives fire and EMS apparatus a tablet or laptop MDT with dispatch, mapping, AVL, and pre-plan information.

    Vendor reported

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  • Tablet Command

    Walnut Creek, CA

    Tablet Command helps incident commanders manage units, assignments, maps, accountability, and incident activity from mobile devices.

    Vendor reported

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  • Veoci

    New Haven, CT

    Veoci Emergency Management

    No-code emergency-management platform for EOC coordination, plans, notifications, workflows, resource tracking, mapping, and after-action reporting.

    Vendor reported

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  • Versaterm

    Versaterm CAD

    Versaterm CAD helps public safety agencies manage call intake, dispatch, AVL, mobile field updates, and records-connected workflows.

    Vendor reported

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  • Vocality

    Ashburn, VI

    Vocality RoIP GAteway

    The Vocality RoIP is a Radio over IP gateway provides interoperability between disparate radio devices, dispatch solutions, Push-To-Talk over Cellular and other IP technologies.

    Vendor reported

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Something here wrong or out of date? Report inaccurate information · Add a company

Evidence and research

Government, standards and peer-reviewed sources on this problem. Every address here was checked before it was published.

ResearchNIST

Research Roadmap for Smart Fire Fighting

The foundational roadmap for how sensors, communications, building systems, data and analytics could work together on the fireground.

Why it matters

The clearest statement of what a connected fireground could be, written before anyone was selling one.

ResearchNIST

Smart Fire Fighting for Tactical Decisions

Research on collecting, processing and delivering information that can support safer tactical decisions.

Why it matters

Focused on the decision rather than the data, which is the distinction this whole page turns on.

Official resourceCISA SAFECOM

SAFECOM Resources

Federal guidance on interoperability, resiliency and communications planning for emergency response.

Why it matters

Connecting systems is a communications problem before it is a software problem, and this is the reference for that half.

How these sources are labeled

Research
Academic or laboratory work.
Official resource
A government or standards body. Neutral, no commercial interest.

Nothing here is paid placement. Links are chosen because they are the clearest explanation we could find, and labeled so you know who wrote them.

Learn before you buy

Learning Lab

What departments are asking

Mutual Aid

Has anyone integrated Hexagon CAD with AVL?

We are being quoted a six-figure professional services engagement for what sounds like it should be a supported interface. Looking for anyone who has done this and what it actually took.

Example — the forum is not open yet

What RFID system are departments using for apparatus inventory?

Losing equipment between stations and apparatus. Looking at RFID versus barcode. Interested in what has survived contact with actual crews rather than what demonstrated well.

Example — the forum is not open yet