During a trip down memory lane, Van Riviere recalls his time as a chief officer for a fire department in the U.S. He says it was common for eyes to roll when new solutions were introduced – who needs these gizmos, everyone thought – and it often led to one of the biggest pitfalls when it comes to implementing new tech in a fire department. Today, Riviere is the CEO of Tablet Command, an Incident Management Software firm based in California, and when it comes to digital transformation within emergency services, he rolls his eyes no more.
The needs of a firefighter responding to a call are much different than someone working in administration behind a computer, he says. They don’t want to type on a keyboard, they want as close to real-time data on their equipment as possible, and they want that information – fast!
The needs of a firefighter responding to a call are much different than someone working in administration behind a computer, he says. They don’t want to type on a keyboard, they want as close to real-time data on their equipment as possible, and they want that information – fast! About three years ago, this point was hammered home during a user group meeting with Richmond Hill’s fire department, another client of Tablet Command. Deputy chief with Whitby Fire and Emergency Services Mariano Perini attended that user group meeting and liked what he heard. Shortly after, Whitby became Tablet Command’s second customer in all of Canada next to Richmond Hill. Watch the video for the full story.