Signal pre-emption and priority control aren’t new concepts. You can see the benefits that they can bring to your community: moving emergency vehicles swiftly and safely through intersections, and helping transit vehicles to stay on schedule.
But maybe there are some limitations keeping you from bringing priority control to your community.
The answer could be Opticom Priority Control as a ServiceTM (PCaaS).
It worked for Williamson County ESD #3 in Texas. They’d been trying for years to get the budget allocated for an Emergency Vehicle Preemption system installation, but they couldn’t make the numbers work. That was until PCaaS allowed them to enjoy all the benefits of GTT’s Opticom system without having to worry about buying equipment, installation or ongoing maintenance.
Here are five signs that Opticom PCaaS could be a good fit for your department and community:
1. There are restrictions on expenditure
We all know that municipal budgets are tight. In order to make the numbers work, large-scale technology investments can sometimes be delayed. So, while Opticom PCaaS offers the same benefits as a traditional Opticom system – letting public safety crews respond quickly and safely to emergencies by removing some of the conflict at intersections, resulting in fewer crashes and faster response times – Opticom PCaaS has the added value of removing the hassle of procuring, installing, maintaining and owning the equipment associated with the preemption system. The emergency vehicles get a green light in exchange for a flat fee. GTT handles all the other details.
2. Grant funding is proving hard to come by
It’s not always easy or straightforward to secure grant funding for priority control projects – and even successful applications can sometimes take years. Opticom PCaaS operates a subscription model, so there is no large-scale outlay required at any point in the process.
3. There is concern over technological risk
We’re living in a world where technological advancements outpace municipal budget cycles. The Opticom PCaaS subscription model transfers all the technological risk from a city or department to GTT. If the technology changes, your Opticom PCaaS system changes with it, and the updates are taken care of under the PCaaS contract.
4. There are multiple stakeholders involved
Coordination among multiple agencies and authorities can slow down or impede projects at any stage. But working with GTT’s client services team can smooth this process. In Williamson County, Texas, the client services team worked with Emergency Services District staff and Texas Department of Transportation staff to identify which vehicles and intersections would need Opticom equipment, how to install it and when it would be up and running. During this process, the stakeholders discovered several county-owned intersections, so GTT worked with Williamson County staff as well to get those intersections installed.
5. Your community is expanding
An Opticom PCaaS solution makes sense for a growing community because it’s incredibly easy to scale. When new intersections are added to a traffic network, just add them to the PCaaS contract. You’re not committed to a fixed-size system with Priority Control as a Service.
