Saudi Ministry of Interior Supports Hajj and Umrah Safety with Hexagon Solution

Huntsville, Alabama, October 24, 2017 – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Interior supported the safety of pilgrims and residents during the Hajj and Umrah seasons of 2016 and 2017 by deploying Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure’s Intergraph® Computer-Aided Dispatch (I/CAD) solution. The incident management system helps the ministry’s public safety and security agencies manage emergency calls for service using a single emergency number (911).

To improve security and safety for the citizens of Saudi Arabia, the ministry began working in 2015 to implement the Unified Security Operations Center (911) in Makkah, the first province-wide emergency call taking and dispatching system. To support this project, the ministry needed a scalable and reliable incident management system -- one that was already proven in the field by many agencies and users.

The ministry selected Hexagon’s I/CAD suite, and the system was put into operation in the summer of 2016. The solution centralized the operation of more than 40 operation centers across the Makkah province into the Unified Security Operations Center (911), thus providing a comprehensive and centralized response system for the entire province, including the cities of Holy Makkah, Jeddah and Taif.

The solution helps improve police and civil defense response for citizens and pilgrims during typical incidents and major events like Hajj and Umrah. Through unified call handling for its Police Patrol, Traffic and Civil Defense sectors and the Road Security Special Forces, the ministry’s personnel manage about 43,000 calls per day during Umrah season operations and about 61,000 during the Hajj.

The ministry is very happy with the Unified Security Operations Center (911) in Makkah, and the experience in Makkah provides the ministry with a model for expansion of such 911 centers to other provinces.

“We are honored to support the Ministry of Interior’s efforts to implement 911 services in Makkah and across other provinces,” said Steven Cost, president, Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure. “The ability of our system to handle both day-to-day incidents and major events like Hajj and Umrah is a key factor in helping to ensure smooth public safety operations and support the ministry’s mission.”

The global leader in public safety and security, Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure helps protect 1 in 12 people worldwide. Hexagon’s public safety and security solutions improve the quality, accuracy and availability of critical information, increasing performance and productivity, while reducing the total cost of ownership for mission-critical IT investments.