CAD Integration & Dispatch Data

Modified on Tue, 28 Jul at 9:52 PM

Feature Guide

CAD integration & dispatch data

However your dispatch data leaves your CAD — a standard feed, one of our integration partners, parsed emails, an API call, or a file drop — we can put it on the screens in your stations. This page covers every route in, and what to check before you start.

What the integration does

Multiple input methods

Standard CAD feed formats, partner APIs, or parsed emails and text messages.

Rich alert content

Incident details, location coordinates, mapping, and unit or personnel assignments.

Live mapping

Google Maps and ESRI layers for real-time visualisation.

Resource monitoring

Unit availability, AVL positions, hydrant locations, hospital status, and other CAD metrics.

Internet-based delivery

Works anywhere with an internet connection — station dashboards or mobile.

Configurable filtering

Route specific incident types or units to selected devices or stations.

Before you start: four questions to ask

Getting answers to these up front saves the most time. Your dispatch centre or CAD vendor will usually have them.

What is your CAD, including name and version?

Does your CAD allow you to distribute call data, unit status, hydrants and similar data to a third party? If so, in what format?

Are there additional charges from your CAD vendor to access this information?

Does your dispatch centre permit this information being sent to a platform like First Arriving?

How your data reaches us

Four routes in

Most agencies use one of these. We will tell you which fits your setup.

Direct feed from CAD in a variety of standard formats
Parsed notifications by email — see the email parser section below
One of our integration partners, including Active911, Bryx, iSpyFire, FirstWatch, Emergency Reporting, and Locution
Our API, or XML and CSV files — both covered below

What we can show

What ends up on screen depends on what your feed can provide. Typically it covers both emergency alerting and everyday information.

Real-time alerts and calls of varying types, with details, location, mapping, and unit or personnel information
Department-wide notifications and emergency updates, not just incidents
Units available, AVL feeds, units in and out of service, hydrants, and other key CAD metrics
If you have the data, it is worth asking — we can usually make it work

Alerting screen options

The screens below are a sample. For the full set with a description of each layout, see Response & Call Alerting Screen Options — 3.0 Customers. Any of them works regardless of where your dispatch data comes from.

Alerting screen layout on a First Arriving dashboard

Email parser

No direct feed, no CAD access, and not using one of our partners? We can read your alerting or call data out of an email or other message instead.

How it works

We give you an email address or messaging destination for your dispatch centre, or whoever else sends the alerts, to send to
The body of the message needs to carry the key information of the alert
For incidents that usually means nature of the call, location, and unit identifiers — the unit IDs are what let us filter which devices get which alerts, which matters across multiple stations

API access

If your CAD or another system can make outbound HTTP requests, it can push alarm data to us directly. We have a RESTful API accepting POST or PUT requests with a JSON payload — we create an endpoint for your agency and issue you a bearer token.

Full detail, including a sample JSON payload and the request headers, is in Sending data to First Arriving via API.

XML and CSV files

Some CAD systems and dispatch centres can export XML or CSV automatically — unit status, for instance. Those go to an SFTP location we provide.

The file must be overwritten in the folder, not written alongside previous copies.

The example below is not a required template — we can work with whatever fields you are able to send, and we tailor what appears on screen to what you need.

Example: unit status in XML

<message>
  <messageID>2</messageID>
  <sentWhen>06/01/2020 22:51:28</sentWhen>
  <messageType>UnitList</messageType>
  <Unit>
    <UnitID>CAR 1</UnitID>
    <UnitDesc>CAR 1 - RESCUE 1</UnitDesc>
    <PositionID>01</PositionID>
    <StatusType>CFS</StatusType>
    <StatusID>2</StatusID>
    <StatusName>ENROUTE</StatusName>
    <AliasTo>3.0</AliasTo>
    <Available>False</Available>
    <Visible>True</Visible>
    <Mileage>0.00</Mileage>
    <EventStatusChangeCount>1</EventStatusChangeCount>
    <PriorStatusType>AUX</PriorStatusType>
    <UnitLocation>9555 KINGS CHARTER DRIVE</UnitLocation>
    <MainType>Fire</MainType>
    <UnitTypeID>12</UnitTypeID>
    <UnitType>CAR</UnitType>
    <EventTypeID>123</EventTypeID>
    <EventType>ALS - BREATHING DIFF</EventType>
    <EventID>123456789</EventID>
    <DeptID>123</DeptID>
    <DeptName>RESCUE 1</DeptName>
    <StationID>10</StationID>
    <StationName>EMS STATION #1</StationName>
    <UnitEventSequenceNumber>0</UnitEventSequenceNumber>
    <Jurisdiction>Default</Jurisdiction>
    <LastUpdateWhen>06/01/2020 18:50:05</LastUpdateWhen>
    <DeptStatName>RES 7-EMS STATION #1</DeptStatName>
    <Heading>0</Heading>
    <AVLRank>10</AVLRank>
    <IsOverdue>False</IsOverdue>
  </Unit>
</message>

Secondary notification only: our platform is built for secondary notification of alarms and situational awareness. Always rely on your CAD or dispatch center for primary dispatch information.

Not sure which route fits your CAD? Open a ticket at our support center or reach us at dashboards@firstarriving.com with the answers to the four questions above and we’ll tell you what is possible.