SCDF Commissioner Peter Lim (right) awards the ACES contract to ST Electronics President Mr Lee Fook Sun.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is building a new-generation command and control system which will employ the latest technologies to enhance its effectiveness and responsiveness in rescue operations.

The Advanced C3 (Command, Control and Communications) Emergency System (ACES) will enable members of the public to make 3G video calls to the Ops Centre around the clock for 995 emergency services. In addition, the system will be capable of receiving SMS and MMS, giving people with speech and hearing disabilities a means of contacting SCDF directly for help. These additional modes of communications will help enhance public access to the SCDF in times of emergency.

ACES also allows real-time video transmission from on-site responders so as to give a better situational picture to officers at the SCDF Operations Centre. These officers will then be able to make faster and more accurate decisions based on the “live” information they receive from the ground.

“SCDF is always exploring new ways to improve our services to the public. By harnessing new technologies, it allows us to increase our efficiency and effectiveness in responding to emergency 995 calls,” said SCDF Commissioner Peter Lim.

SCDF’s current system, which has been in use since 1999, has been the main command and control system used to handle 995 emergency calls and manage incidents. Noting that infocomm technology has changed by leaps and bounds in the intervening years, Commissioner Lim said it was timely that a new command and control system be introduced to further enhance SCDF’s delivery of emergency services to the public.

The design of the SCDF Operations Centre is based on an industry-standard, open architecture framework that is upgrade-friendly. Any change that needs to be made to the command and control system can now be done with minimal disruption to the performance of the system.

The new system will also allow for the integration of information from various information management systems. For example, information for all high-risk installations can be seamlessly included as part of the system’s functionality. In addition to computing information such as the nearest resources to the incident, the system would also recommend the fastest route to the incident site with respect to the live traffic conditions.

To manage a surge in 995 calls during an emergency, the new system will be equipped with an advanced Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) function to ensure the enhanced management of 995 calls. The ACD function will manage and distribute the influx of calls to standby personnel at SCDF’s four Civil Defence Division Headquarters. The additional operators from the SCDF Divisions manning the phones during surge periods will help in answering 995 calls in the shortest possible time.

The S$33.2 million contract for ACES has been awarded to ST Electronics’ wholly-owned subsidiary, ST Electronics (Info-Software Systems), and the project is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2012.