Why Your Emergency Technology Feels Stuck (And It's Not Your Fault)

Last month, a 911 center director told us something that stuck with me: "We wanted to upgrade our language translation system, but our vendor said we'd need to replace our entire phone system to get the latest features. So we're still using technology from 2019."

Sound familiar?

If you've ever felt trapped by your emergency technology—wanting to improve one thing but being told you need to change everything—you're not alone. And more importantly, it's not your fault.

This is the "all-in-one" system trap, and it's holding back emergency services across the country.

The "Complete Solution" That Wasn't So Complete

When you originally purchased your comprehensive emergency communication system, it probably sounded perfect. One vendor, one platform, everything integrated. Simple.

The sales pitch made sense: "Why deal with multiple vendors when we can handle it all?"

But somewhere between the purchase order and year three of operation, reality set in:

• The language translation feature that was "included" can't handle your community's actual dialects
• Your recording system won't share data with the new analytics tool your state requires
• That "comprehensive" mobile app your field responders need? It's on the vendor's roadmap for "sometime next year"
• And when you ask about improvements, you're told to wait for the next major system upgrade—18 months away

Suddenly, "comprehensive" starts to feel like "stuck."

Three Warning Signs Your System Is Holding You Back

1. You Can't Upgrade Individual Features

A PSAP in the Midwest discovered their built-in language services were missing several languages their community needed. The solution should have been simple: add those languages.

Instead, they were told it would require a complete system upgrade—new hardware, extensive retraining, and a six-month implementation timeline. The cost? Nearly $200,000 for what should have been a software update.

They're still using the inadequate language services two years later.

2. The Vendor's Roadmap Determines Your Capabilities

Your vendor decides what features get developed, when they launch, and which ones get discontinued. Your agency's specific needs? Those go into a feature request queue alongside hundreds of others.

Meanwhile, breakthrough technology exists right now that could help your team today—but you can't use it because it doesn't integrate with your "complete" system.

3. Hidden Costs Keep Surprising Your Budget

That "free" call recording feature seemed great until you needed to export recordings for a legal case and discovered it requires a special module. That's $15,000.

Want to add analytics to your language services data? Another module. Need API access so your new CAD system can pull information? Yet another add-on.

The "comprehensive" solution starts feeling more like death by a thousand cuts.

This Is Why We Built Prizym Differently

When Convey911 partnered with Exacom and Smart Response Technologies to create Prizym, we started with a fundamental question: What if emergency services didn't have to choose between comprehensive capabilities and the freedom to innovate?

Prizym takes a different approach—one that gives you powerful, unified emergency communication tools while preserving your ability to choose the best technology for each job.

Instead of locking you into one vendor's roadmap, Prizym connects with over 85 critical systems—including phone, radio, CAD, LMR, LTE, and more. Need better language services with real-time translation in 185+ languages? Plug them in. Want specialized analytics with keyword alerting? Add them. Found a breakthrough technology next year? You can integrate it without replacing everything.

This is what we call breaking the monolith—moving from rigid "all-in-one" systems to flexible platforms that grow with your needs.

The Series That Shows You How

This challenge is bigger than any single product or company. That's why we've partnered with Smart Response Technologies and Exacom to create a six-part webinar series that shows emergency services how to break free from technology limitations.

Webinar 1: "Why Your Emergency Technology Feels Stuck (And What to Do About It)"
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Duration: 45 minutes (30 min presentation + 15 min Q&A)
Led by: Smart Response Technologies

In this first session, our partners at Smart Response Technologies will walk you through:

• Real examples of agencies trapped by their technology choices (including actual cost comparisons)
• The hidden expenses of vendor lock-in that don't show up until year 3-5
• Warning signs that your system is holding you back (you'll probably recognize several)
• What leading emergency services are doing differently to maintain flexibility and innovation

This isn't a sales pitch—it's an honest conversation about technology challenges that affect nearly every emergency service in the country. Smart Response Technologies brings decades of experience helping agencies navigate these exact problems, which is why they're leading this foundational session.

What Makes This Different

We know you've probably been invited to plenty of "educational" webinars that turned out to be 45-minute commercials. This isn't that.

This series is about changing how emergency services think about technology procurement and management. Yes, we'll mention our solutions when relevant—but the principles and strategies you'll learn apply regardless of which vendors you choose.

You'll walk away with:

• Practical frameworks you can use immediately
• Real cost comparisons from similar agencies
• Questions to ask before your next technology purchase
• A roadmap for presenting technology changes to leadership

The Problem Is Solvable

Here's the good news: emergency services across the country are already breaking free from the "all-in-one" trap. They're building technology environments that give them the best tools for each job while maintaining unified workflows and data.

It's not about replacing everything you have. It's about creating flexibility so you can improve one thing without disrupting everything else.

The PSAP director I mentioned at the beginning? They eventually found a way forward. They didn't replace their phone system—they added specialized language services that worked alongside it. Implementation took three weeks instead of six months, cost 80% less than the full system upgrade, and gave them capabilities their "comprehensive" system never could have provided.

That's what's possible when you break free from vendor lock-in.

Join Us for Webinar 1

If you've ever felt frustrated by your technology limitations—if you've been told "no" when asking for system improvements—this series is for you.

Register for Webinar 1: October 22 at 1:00 PM ET →

The first session lays the foundation for everything that follows. You'll understand not just what's wrong, but why these problems exist and what successful agencies are doing about them.

Can't make it live? Register anyway and we'll send you the recording.

Over the next six months, we'll show you how emergency services are building technology environments that enable innovation instead of blocking it. It starts with understanding the problem—and that's exactly where we'll begin.

About the Series

This is the first post in our six-part blog series accompanying our "Breaking the Monolith" webinar series. Each month, we'll explore different aspects of building flexible emergency technology—from language services to data management to implementation planning.

Next in the series: "How to Future-Proof Your Language Services Without Replacing Everything"

Ready to break free from technology limitations? Register for the full webinar series to reserve your spot for all six sessions.