Client Overview Calloway County, Kentucky serves a rural population where distance, geography, and limited internal resources can complicate emergency response. In this environment, reliable Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and addressing data are not abstract technical assets, they are foundational to public safety and community trust. Recognizing the critical role of spatial data in 9‑1‑1 operations, Calloway County made an early and deliberate choice to invest in the accuracy, continuity, and long‑term stewardship of its GIS. Rather than settling for short‑term fixes, the county committed to building a system it could rely on year after year. That commitment shaped a multi‑year partnership with DATAMARK Technologies, beginning with GIS Data Remediation and eventually evolving into a long‑term GIS Managed Services model. Challenge Like many rural communities, Calloway County was working with GIS data that had been assembled over time from a variety of legacy sources, many of which were not originally designed to support emergency response. Address points were often associated with utility meters instead of physical structures, resulting in duplicates, gaps, and occasional placement inaccuracies. In some cases, mapped locations did not align precisely with the actual residence. Over time, these inconsistencies introduced uncertainty into workflows where precision is essential. At the same time, the county operated without dedicated GIS staff. Short‑term approaches like utilizing interns helped keep data current, but turnover limited long‑term continuity. This placed Calloway County in a position familiar to many rural jurisdictions: balancing the need to maintain highly specialized, mission‑critical GIS data while managing limited internal bandwidth and minimizing risk to public safety operations. The Plan Calloway County took a phased, intentional approach. Beginning in 2019, the county partnered with DATAMARK Technologies to perform GIS data remediation, cleansing legacy data and aligning it with NG9‑1‑1 standards. This effort rebuilt the foundation by modernizing address points, eliminating duplicates, and ensuring data reflected physical reality. In 2021, Calloway County expanded that investment through a competitive RFP that included: City and county GIS data cleanup Address Comparison and Evaluation (ACE) Address point placement to identify and incorporate missing locations across the county into the Master Address Database Indoor mapping Deployment of DATAMARK VEP to support ongoing validation, updates and maintenance Calloway County also inspired and became the first client to purchase DATAMARK’s Access Point Creation service, helping establish a repeatable process to identify access locations for key addresses within the county to improve emergency response times. While this work significantly improved data quality, sustaining those gains proved difficult without dedicated GIS staffing. Rather than repeatedly restarting the process, Calloway County made a strategic decision to transition to GIS Managed Services. Since 2023, the county has partnered with DATAMARK Technologies to deliver Managed Services supported by VEP, ensuring expert data maintenance oversight to align with NG9-1-1 readiness and NENA standards, without the risks associated with staff turnover and retraining. “With managed services, it makes life easier knowing that I have somebody who has the knowledge and expertise to handle the 9 1 1 addressing in the GIS for my center.” – Nathan Baird, Director, Calloway County 9-1-1, KY Results In August 2023, the county completed its first upload to the state’s NG9‑1‑1 data hub. The initial submission revealed 1,841 critical errors, underscoring the need for sustained data stewardship. Through GIS Managed Services, DATAMARK Technologies assumed responsibility for ongoing maintenance, validation, and data hub submissions. Since that first upload, the county’s datasets have been maintained as critical‑error‑free, with quarterly uploads performed on the county’s behalf to ensure continued NG9‑1‑1 and NENA compliance. Because DATAMARK VEP serves as the county’s sole system of record, all updates reflect live, operational data supporting daily 9‑1‑1 workflows. The county also uses VEP Observations in a unique way, flagging data issues and update requests directly within the platform. DATAMARK’s Managed Services team then manages and tracks those updates, creating a clear, auditable communication loop and documented history of data decisions. Monthly coordination calls provide continuity, proactive planning, and accountability. Through Managed Services, Calloway County benefits from: Sustained maintenance of NG9‑1‑1‑ready data with zero critical errors. Expert GIS stewardship without dependency on individual staff availability. Consistent, auditable updates that reduce operational risk. A single, authoritative system of record supporting 9‑1‑1 operations. By choosing Managed Services, Calloway County established a sustainable model for maintaining trusted, mission‑critical GIS data, strengthening emergency response today while safeguarding readiness for the future. “The people I’ve worked with are absolutely stellar. When there’s a problem, they dive into it, figure out what caused it, and give options to fix it.” – Nathan Baird, Director, Calloway County 9-1-1, KY In this interview, Nathan Baird from Calloway County, KY, discusses his experience with DATAMARK Technologies. Watch the full video on YouTube here.
