Trachtenberg Office Tours Department of Technology Services Facilities

On August 11th, the Trachtenberg Office toured several facilities of Montgomery County's Department of Technology Services (DTS). Michael Knuppel, Chief Technology Officer of DTS, was our tour guide and coordinated all aspects of the tour. The first stop on the tour was the Council Office Building (COB) data center. Dieter Klinger, Division Chief of the Enterprise Systems & Operations Division (ESOD) and Max Stucky, Division Chief of the Enterprise Telecommunication Services Division (ETSD) provided information to us regarding maintenance issues. We discussed the need for cooling systems and temperature controls to keep the data center working at its maximum efficiency.

The DTS tour second stop was the Shady Grove tower site, a small and narrow gated facility. The following people guided us through the tower site: Bobby Johnson, Manager of Radio Communication Services; Joe Sabolic, Radio Technician Supervision; Alex Tsai, Senior IT Specialist and Robert Gould, Motorola on-site contractor. We learned about the public safety radio system and how it works throughout our County. The magnitude of radio systems in one small area was impressive. All radio communications in the County flow through the tower site.

Finally, we toured the Public Safety Communication Center (PSCC). Bill Ferretti – MCPD/Deputy Director of 911 Operations provided the tour. We had an opportunity to view the room in which emergency 911 calls are fielded. Mr. Ferretti explained the in-depth and lengthy training for a 911 call-taker. In addition, we visited the “situation room” in which heads of departments gather during an emergency situation such as this winter’s Snowmaggedon.

Alan Bowser, Chief of Staff to Councilmember Trachtenberg, and Laurie Mintzer Edberg, Director of Management and Fiscal Policy for Councilmember Trachtenberg, represented the Trachtenberg office. For more information, please contact Laurie Mintzer Edberg at 240-777-7948 or Laurie.Edberg@montgomerycountymd.gov.

For more information on the County's Department of Technology Services, click here