The Metro Nashville Department of Emergency Communications (DEC) serves an integral role in ensuring public safety throughout Davidson County and the greater Nashville area and is responsible for responding to emergency and non-emergency calls, directing emergency response efforts and dispatching appropriate personnel. These activities are coordinated out of Nashville’s Emergency Communications Center.
Due to aging facilities and outdated technology, DEC embarked on a full renovation of the Emergency Communications Center building. The improvements included updates to the facility’s infrastructure and AV solutions and featured the addition of Planar fine pitch LED video walls to the operations room as well as an executive conference room.
Greater Situational Awareness
The operations room is located in a long, rectangular room on the ground floor of the building. DEC’s original design plans called for 85-inch displays to be installed at each end of the space. However, DEC’s IT Manager Tim Watkins suggested an alternate solution that led to Planar.
Watkins advocated for LED video walls to ensure content visibility from anywhere in the room, eventually leading to the addition of two nearly 12-foot-wide, 6-foot high (6x5) Planar® TVF Series LED video walls with 1.5mm pixel pitches. “The LED video walls serve our goal of providing situational awareness,” Watkins said. “We can split the video wall into different configurations and present content in multiple ways.”
Anthony Sallee, senior manager of AV Systems and Integration at ACCESS Data Network Solutions, the project AV integrator, said the client’s redundancy needs were met by the mission-critical design of the Planar TVF Series. “The Emergency Call Center is a 24x7 operation, so that was definitely a factor,” he said.
According to Sallee, the Planar TVF Series LED video walls also met the viewing demands of the Emergency Call Center, providing sharp and clear imagery. “When you walk into the space, those video walls are the focal points they are definitely impressive,” he said.
Data inputs to the Planar TVF Series LED video walls include live Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) SmartWay road cameras; real-time fire engine/truck coverage monitoring and alerting for optimized response times; and an emergency and non-emergency queue board displaying current agent availability status, number of calls waiting and longest wait time.
“We also regularly display the positive feedback we receive from the satisfaction surveys that we send to the public electronically,” Watkins said. “The responses allow employees to see what citizens are saying, which provides a great morale booster.”
Enhanced Uses and Flexibility
In the executive conference room, ACCESS Data Network Solutions installed a nearly 10-foot-long, 6-foot high (5x5) Planar TVF Series LED video wall with a 1.2mm pixel pitch that incorporates the same level of functionality as the other Planar TVF Series LED video walls. The intent of the Planar TVF Series LED video wall is to support flexible uses, Watkins said. “It provides lots of options for that space, whether it’s situational awareness, board meetings, video conferencing, interviews or press conferences,” he said. “The color and clarity are really amazing-it has exceeded our expectations.”
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
