Informant's CAD Interface integration allows one or more agencies using the Informant records management system within a county or regional 911 system to import CAD calls from the county or regional 911 system's CAD software. This article is intended to aid county and regional CAD officials and IT staff with an overview of how CAD Interface is implemented in a county/regional CAD environment.


Summary


Prerequisites


To implement the CAD Interface for multiple Informant agencies in the county or regional CAD system:


  • Your county/regional CAD software must be able to export CAD calls in a text-based file format, such as XML, JSON, or plain text.
  • The CAD software must export calls in the same format for all agencies.
  • The CAD software must be able to differentiate CAD calls by agency, such as by including the agency ORI in the filename or in the text of the CAD file itself.


Step 1: We collect sample CAD files and assess if a custom integration is needed


Informant's CAD Interface already integrates with a few well-known CAD vendors and CAD file formats; however, CAD vendors sometimes customize their CAD file format or have different versions of their products that can result in the CAD file format being different from the existing formats we work with.


If the format used by your county or regional CAD system is not a format our CAD Interface natively supports, custom development work will be needed to make the interface compatible with your CAD system's file format.


To make this determination, we'll ask for sample CAD files from your county or regional CAD system so that we can assess compatibility with our CAD Interface.


Step 2: You configure a file transfer mechanism for each agency


Informant's CAD Interface imports files from a local or shared network folder on each agency's network using standard file system operations. The CAD Interface, at each agency, will be configured to pull files from a designated local or network folder on the agency's Informant server.


Your county or regional group, or your CAD vendor, will be responsible for transferring relevant CAD files from your county/regional CAD system to the designated folder at each agency.


This is typically done via a scheduled FTP or SFTP file transfer configured at each agency that will pull files from the central CAD server down to the designated CAD folder on the agency's Informant server machine.


Alternatively, a push model is also possible, where each agency runs an FTP or SFTP on the Informant server and the central CAD system pushes files to the relevant agency's FTP/SFTP server periodically, or immediately after a file is exported from the central CAD system.


Step 3: We test the CAD Interface with one agency


Next, you'll designate one agency in the group to perform CAD Interface testing to verify that CAD files are importing correctly.


We will work with this agency to implement the CAD Interface on their Informant server and have them confirm that calls are importing correctly. If any issues are discovered with the import process, we will address them during this stage. This process may involve updating the agency to a new version of Informant or installing patches for the CAD Interface as needed.


Once the import process is determined to be working as expected, we will proceed to the next step.


Step 4: We implement the CAD Interface at the remaining agencies


After testing is complete, the CAD Interface will be set up at the remaining agencies. For individual agencies, see Implementing CAD Interface at the agency level for the steps that will be completed at each agency.


Step 5: We monitor and ensure the interface is working as expected


After all agencies are live with the CAD Interface, we'll remain responsive to any feedback from agencies regarding the interface and address any issues with software updates as needed.