Beyond the Launch: 911 Customer Success and Implementation Podcast

About Beyond the Launch: 911 Customer Success and Implementation Podcast

Hosted by Ivan Whitaker, Beyond the Launch is a podcast for public safety leaders, project managers, customer success managers and technology partners who know that implementation doesn’t end at go-live. Each episode explores Customer Success and implementation strategies that drive real adoption, not just installations; ensuring 9-1-1 technology is used effectively, consistently, and with measurable impact. We dive into the people, processes, and practices that turn new systems into better outcomes: faster response, smarter decisions, and improved service to the communities we serve. Because success isn’t launching technology. It’s what happens after.

Publisher

Ivan Whitaker

Category

business · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Feb 2026

Latest episode

27 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

26 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   27 Oct 2026

   Episode 1: Ready for Change - Why Technology Implementation Fails When We Forget The People

   911 leaders reveal why dispatch technology implementations fail, how to drive real adoption, and what it takes to roll out AI in emergency communications. Episode Description: Beyond the Launch kicks off Season 2 with a candid conversation about why so many 911 technology implementations fail, and why the cause is rarely the technology itself. Host Ivan Whitaker and new co-host Emilee Schulzke, a client success leader with over 15 years of experience, welcome Dominique Mathis and Ashley Valenzuela of First Call Ready for an honest look at what happens when emergency communications centers forget the people behind the headset. The panel shares their worst go-live stories, from dispatchers who didn’t know it was launch day to interfaces that worked in training but failed in production. They explore why dispatchers are so often the last to know about decisions that directly affect them, how command staff can give telecommunicators a real seat at the table, and why emotional readiness belongs in every implementation plan alongside the task lists. The conversation then turns to AI in 911 centers. With non-emergency AI and AI-embedded medical protocols arriving fast, the group discusses public misconceptions, the importance of community education, and why poorly executed rollouts could trigger a legislative backlash that sets the entire industry back. Whether you’re a dispatcher, supervisor, PSAP director, IT lead, or public safety technology vendor, this episode offers practical insight into change management, customer success, and building a culture where technology adoption actually sticks. In this episode: Real stories of 911 technology rollouts that went sideways Why dispatch deserves a seat at the table, and what it costs when they don’t get one Building emotional and professional readiness into implementation plans Inverting the org chart to include frontline staff in RFPs, procurement, and testing What successful adoption really looks like beyond vendor metrics The value of post-launch surveys and unprompted user feedback AI for non-emergency calls and how to educate the public before misinformation spreads Why every AI implementation matters for the future of the industry How technology can support longevity and reduce burnout in dispatch careers Guests: Dominique Mathis, Director of Innovation and Professional Development at First Call Ready, and Ashley Valenzuela, Dispatch Supervisor and co-host of the First Call Ready Podcast. Find First Call Ready on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Keywords/Tags: 911 dispatch, emergency communications, PSAP, technology implementation, change management, 911 technology adoption, AI in 911, non-emergency AI, dispatcher wellness, telecommunicator, public safety technology, customer success, CAD implementation, First Call Ready, Beyond the Launch podcast

2. 

   1 Sept 2026

   Episode 21: Dispatched: Two Founders Reimagining What 911 Can Be

   For our season finale, Max Keenan (Founder, Aurelian) and Scott MacDonald (CEO, GovWorx) join the show to take apart what 911 is, what it's becoming, and what has to stay human. Two founders. Opposite entry points into public safety. One shared North Star: the person in the chair. We cover staffing, burnout, AI in non-emergency, NG911, the myth of the "big bang," and what winning actually looks like ten years from now. They came at 911 from opposite directions. Scott joined the Air Force at 22 because he needed a job, became a firefighter, got assigned to the alarm room on the 1 AM shift, and realized he got more out of taking the call than riding the engine. He built his first CAD system inside Microsoft Access. Max was 22, automating phone calls for hair salons, when a salon owner called a non-emergency line about a blocked parking spot, waited 30 minutes, hung up, and dialed 911. He was lying on a friend's apartment floor because he couldn't afford a hotel room. He didn't know the industry existed he thought police officers answered the phone. Two entry points. Same North Star. A few moments that stayed with me: → "You train your team as Navy SEALs and you use them as mall cops." A 30% staffing shortage sitting on top of 70% non-emergency call volume. Max called it the greatest misallocation of labor he'd ever seen. → On why 911 companies fail. Not competition. "It's going to be suicide" — launching things that don't work, selling what doesn't exist. Max told the story of a vendor tapping him on the shoulder at a conference bar after he'd told a prospect "no, it doesn't do that": You should have just said yes. → On automation math nobody runs. If you automate 30% of your non-emergency calls, you may have just made the other 70% worse. Be a solution, not a hurdle. → On mental health as an existential threat. Maybe 2% of the population can actually do this job. Eleven known telecommunicator suicides this year alone. You can't stop the call from the mother who found her baby in the pool. You can stop the twelve hours of mandatory overtime every three days. → On what QA actually costs. One hour and seventeen minutes for a human to review a seven-minute call — covering 2% of calls. Scott's team has evaluated over 12 million. → On rigidity. One agency has 550 call types in their CAD. A call taker told Max she picks "physical altercation" over "fight" because she knows it gets a faster response. She knows the outcome. The system doesn't. → On the human in the middle. Scott wrote a blog post about being the person seated between two dinner guests who have nothing in common. That's the telecommunicator — translating panic into something real and durable. Machine can talk to machine. Human still needs a human. → On what winning looks like. Scott: "If all that's said in ten years is that there's more AI in 911, that's not a win." The win is a stronger profession — better retention, real reclassification, elevated recognition. And the line I keep coming back to, for every dispatcher listening: "The future is happening. Not around you, not without you — but with you." This one runs long and earns it. #911 #PublicSafety #EmergencyCommunications #NG911 #Dispatch #Telecommunicators #AI #GovTech #BeyondTheLaunch

3. 

   25 Aug 2026

   Episode 20: Proposals Are an Operations Problem: How a RevOps Operator Built the System

   Episode 20: Proposals Are an Operations Problem: How a RevOps Operator Built the System GovTech Has Been Missing | Sophie Kather What if your proposal problem is not really a writing problem? In Episode 20 of Beyond the Launch, host Ivan Whitaker sits down with Sophie Kather, Managing Partner of Civic North Consulting, to explore why winning government contracts requires much more than writing a strong RFP response. Sophie brings nearly two decades of experience across Revenue Operations, government contracting, proposals, sales enablement, cooperative purchasing, and public sector strategy. Her message is simple: proposals are an operations problem. Ivan and Sophie discuss how GovTech companies can build repeatable systems around RFPs, improve go/no-go decisions, strengthen capture strategy, use data more effectively, and turn cooperative contracts into actual revenue. They also explore the role of AI in proposal management, why organizations should stop chasing every opportunity, how sales enablement supports government contracting, and why data integrity is foundational to a strong RevOps strategy. If you work in GovTech, public safety technology, government contracting, RevOps, sales, customer success, business development, or procurement, this episode is for you. TIMESTAMPS 00:45 Welcome and introduction to Sophie Kather 02:53 Recognizing the broken pattern in government proposals 04:49 Navigating public sector procurement 06:58 How RevOps shaped Sophie's approach 08:45 What Revenue Operations actually does 09:27 The chaos before an RFP deadline 10:57 How to differentiate your proposal 12:42 Building a strong go/no-go process 14:22 When companies should walk away from an RFP 15:07 The top proposal improvement GovTech founders should make 16:36 Building a customized go/no-go scorecard 17:54 Grant strategy for nonprofits 19:33 How AI should be used in proposal management 21:17 AI writing versus authentic human connection 22:14 Why Sophie built Civic North Consulting 23:29 Turning NASPO, GSA, and cooperative contracts into revenue 25:59 Sales enablement in GovTech and public safety 27:36 What a strong RevOps team looks like 29:09 Why data integrity matters 31:16 Managing long public sector sales cycles 32:36 What GovTech founders need to know before writing 33:23 How to connect with Sophie 33:59 Closing thoughts ABOUT SOPHIE KATHER Sophie Kather is the Managing Partner of Civic North Consulting, helping GovTech companies, nonprofits, and public sector suppliers simplify grants, RFPs, contracts, and cooperative purchasing. Learn more at CivicNorthConsulting.com (http://CivicNorthConsulting.com). KEYWORDS Beyond the Launch, Ivan Whitaker, Sophie Kather, Civic North Consulting, RevOps, Revenue Operations, GovTech, government contracting, government procurement, RFP strategy, RFP response, proposal management, proposal strategy, capture strategy, go no go process, public sector sales, cooperative purchasing, NASPO, GSA Schedule, sales enablement, GovCon, public safety technology, customer success, AI proposals, artificial intelligence, business development, CRM data, procurement strategy HASHTAGS #BeyondTheLaunch #GovTech #RevOps #RevenueOperations #GovernmentContracting #GovCon #RFP #Procurement #SalesEnablement #PublicSector #PublicSafety #CustomerSuccess #AI #NASPO

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Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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