New Zetron CAD integrates the Cortex telephony and radio solution—already popular in the United Kingdom (UK)—that the company purchased two years ago
By Donny Jackson, Editor, Urgent Communications
Zetron has announced the release of Zetron CAD, a new computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) offering that integrates the Cortex telephony and radio solution—already popular in the United Kingdom (UK)—that the company purchased two years ago.
Zetron’s global portfolio & strategy vice president, Simon Read said the new Zetron CAD being showcased this week at a UK trade show is built upon the company’s expertise developed with its MAX and GeoConex CAD products, but it is designed specifically for UK public-safety use.
“It’s a new CAD, in the sense that it’s not the same GeoConex CAD that’s live in the US,” Read said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “It’s got that in its core, but the new Zetron CAD is developed to be a cloud-capable solution, so it can be hosted or it can be on-site, on-prem, off-prem, fully cloud-enabled—it’s a web client.
“It’s a new product, but it’s built on that foundation of something that we already know works well. So, the workflows really are already proven.”
Introducing Zetron CAD allows the company to compete in UK procurements seeking a path toward a unified solutions in control rooms—a large percentage of which already use the Cortex product that Zetron purchased in 2023, according to Read.
“We’re in this unique position where we’ve got Cortex tried and tested. We’ve got a CAD that’s tried and tested, but not in the UK,” Read said. “And we’re in this position where no one can have an integration with our Cortex application better than we can. We’ve been able to develop an in-depth integration into our Cortex CAD to allow the communications—the radio, telephony and digital content—to be served within the CAD, so it feels … like a unified solution.
“We can offer a solution where we can come in with a CAD alongside our existing Cortex ICCS with radio dispatch. With the depth of integration that we’ve got, for all intents and purposes, it feels like a unified solution from Day 1 at a much more competitive, lower-risk and less-disruptive approach.”
In addition, one key feature of the solution is the ability to leverage “a holistic view of prior contact” to help emergency-call handlers make assessments that meet the UK’s THRIVE (Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigation, Vulnerability, and Engagement) methodology standard, Read said.
Zetron spokesman Jim Shulkin said the lessons learned during the development of Zetron CAD for the UK market will be leveraged in future Zetron offerings that will be available in North America and elsewhere around the world.
“Zetron CAD is a much more advanced product [than existing Zetron CAD offerings],” Shulkin said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “And a lot of the things that we’ve put into the Zetron CAD in the UK are absolutely applicable in the North American CAD market.
“Eventually, the Zetron CAD product will become our marquee CAD solution worldwide. It’s actually ahead of our MAX CAD solution now. The Zetron CAD is ahead of it for the UK market, and now we’re going to take the Zeton CAD technology, continue to develop it, … and North Americanize it, if you will, so it will become our primary CAD product down the road worldwide.”
The new Zetron CAD officially is being launched at The Emergency Tech Show (ETS), which is being conducted Sept. 17-18 at the NEC in Birmingham, England. Show attendees can learn more about the Zetron CAD by visiting company officials at stand C60.
