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Perhaps the most pervasive lifestyle changer of the past 25 years is the cellphone. Many people seem to be connected if not by the hip, then at least by the thumbs, to these ubiquitous devices. eDispatches leverages them as tools to offer alerting capabilities in addition to their conventional uses. According to a spokesperson, “In recent years, we have added [the features of] availability and response. Responders can set their availability throughout the day before calls occur, so the department can see who is or is not available. Additionally, once a call is dispatched, personnel can identify if they are going to the station, scene or not going on the call.” Real-time tracking enables the incident commander to know the number of firefighters who are available as well as their identities and proximity to the scene. Because cellphones have evolved to combine functionality that formerly was provided by a number of disparate devices—in other words, the smartphone—eDispatches touts not having to carry separate electronics for personal and fire service purposes as a comparable benefit…
