Live from APCO 2026

Emily Miller: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, welcome or welcome back to the WilmacWire. I am coming to you live from the APCO twenty twenty-six floor down in San Antonio, Texas. we are starting to wrap up the conference. So I apologize if you hear some honking from forklifts in the background. but what an incredible two days down here in Texas being able to exhibit. This was the first time that Wilmac was able to exhibit at ApGO2026. We had a full team here. So I was able to chat with quite a few of them during our time here. You'll also hear from a couple external folks. We did something very similar to what we did at Nina 2026 back in Columbus at the end of June. So it was at just absolutely wonderful to be a part of these this busy conference, by far the biggest one we've ever seen, the most 911 professionals that we've seen in the same room in a long time. So we really valued the conversations we had with current customers, soon-to-be customers, former Will Mac Wire Guests, upcoming Will Mac Wire Guests, just this 911 community. Every time I I get to experience it in person, it's a powerful sight to see. so thank you to all the people who stopped by the Wilmac booth and engaged with us to talk about workforce management and the power that that can have in your 911 center when it comes to automatic automated scheduling and forecasting. So I will wrap this up because they are pushing me to start taking down the booth. so I will turn it over to today's episode of the Will MacWire, which was recorded live at APCO2026. Thank you as always for tuning in. Welcome to the Will MacWire. I'm Emily Miller, joined by my co-host, Steve McDonnell. On this show, we talk with the drivers, the leaders, innovators, and decision makers pushing customer interaction technology and AI forward. And because we're proud to call Western New York home, we also spotlight the drivers in our own community, the people and organizations shaping growth and innovation right here. Let's get into it. All right, hey everyone. Thanks for tuning in. I'm here with my co-host, Steve McDonnell. Hey. How you doing, Steve? Coming here from San Antonio. Yeah, coming to you live from the the Apco floor in San Antonio. So Steve, we're coming towards the end of our Monday, our first day at the conference. what would you say are you looking forward to most being here? tonight we have a big dinner with a bunch of our pilot customers, so excited for that. But overall, this has definitely been the largest public safety event that I've ever attended, and I think Wilmax ever attended. so it's been a great showing. excited to be here, wrapping up day one, a lot of conversations. Everyone got here after some playing issues. But we're all here, big team of seven of us. So really exciting stuff. Yeah, I was gonna say we have a full team here. We got Bob Pease, our VP of Engineering, we got Haley Gunther, our marketing coordinator. Obviously, Steve, you and I are here. John McDonald, Jim Giblin, and Chad Family wants so hopefully I nailed Chad's last name. But anyway, full team here for sure. I think I I completely agree. This is by far the biggest one we've been to. We just came from Nina and recorded some clips at Nina about a month ago. I'd say this is at least three to four times bigger than that. Yeah, yeah, but still very well run. It's excited to see some friendly faces and then meet some new ones. Talk to a lot of PSAPs across North America and even internationally. Yeah, we had PSAP from Alaska we spoke. Yeah. I about to say we complain about our travels, but I can't imagine how how long it took them. but yeah, lastly before we kind of turn it over to some more clips with more guest appearances, I have to say it was really refreshing this morning. Haley and I attended the opening reception and we got to present an award to the telecommunicator of the year. So I got to chat with the APCO executive board too and get to meet Captain Jack Varnado, one of our former guests in person. Take some pictures. So if you haven't yet, definitely check out our LinkedIn. You'll see a lot of recaps there, I'm sure, when this when this episode airs. and very very thankful for all the vendor support. so yeah, so this year we're we're excited to like we said to be participating for the first time, to be a silver sponsor, so one of the top sponsors. and just looking forward to making the most out of being in person with the nine one one community. Yeah. Yeah. Anything else to add? No. Let's start talking with Bob. Yeah, more people. Yeah, let's do it. All right. Thanks, Steve. Okay, I'm now here live with Bob Pease, VP of Engineering. He happened to be sitting closest to Steve and I, so he has no choice but to join us next. So Bob, thanks for joining me on Pub. Yeah. this is great that we're able to do like podcasts on the go. my gosh. Yeah, wow. It's a a pretty finagled setup, but hey, it works. okay, Bob, so this is your first national nine one one. This is actually international, but you've attended a a lot of statewide and regional specific ones. How would you say APCO twenty twenty six compares? of course bigger. Mm-hmm. but I'm already noticing a lot of things that are the same. Like these types of conferences are very community oriented. For sure. we're all kind of here to get to know each other and figure out how to solve problems together. Right. so it's much different than like a tech conference where it feels more like competition if that makes sense. Right. so I'm really excited for some of the events they have coming up. Yeah. The block party tomorrow, the dinner we have tonight. It's gonna be awesome. For sure. Yeah, I I completely agree about the community aspect, even Just walking around up to other booths like there's no animosity or tentativeness. It's like, hey, we're all just trying to serve the greater general public. So how can we collaborate together? Like you said, solve solve the challenges that nine one one centers and public safety professionals are facing. so a hundred percent agree. and you also just came off presenting for Will Mac in the presentation theater with John McDonald. How did how did that go? How did that feel? it was great. John and I are both running on like three hours sleep because we had plane troubles. So that wasn't the best setup for it. but we had 30 minutes, so it was kind of a blitz. We split it in half, 15 minute presentation, 15 minute demo. Yep. I could have demoed so much more. we had a pretty active crowd. Yeah. They had some curveball questions, right? Coming at me. yeah, very engaged, cool use cases coming up. but a lot of great feedback from the folks that attended. So I thought it was phenomenal. Yeah, I thought it wrung really well. You guys nailed it and we're getting kind of that same engagement from people coming to the booth too. You've been demoing pretty much all day long. Yeah. I expect the same tomorrow. so and I know you love chatting with people. So I guess coming into this, was there anything that you were like looking forward to most or that you're looking forward to most coming into the next second half of it? I don't know. That block party sounds pretty stinking cool. Is it Sea Worlds for a little bit SeaWorlds? no but I'll be out the the more serious answer though my favorite part of this is like when current customers come up and just want to chit chat. And want to know like what's new and that like those conversations are above and beyond my favorite. Yeah. And then to get to meet the people in person that are using the product. It's it's like a full circle moment for sure. All right. Well thanks for joining me on the podcast. We'll see you for the next behind the build, I'm sure, which will be soon. Too soon. Too soon. All right, hi everyone. I am here with Della Mahler from First Line. She's based up in the Pacific Northwest. So definitely opposite side of the country from Wilmack in Rochester, New York. Della, thanks for joining me on the Wilmack wire. My pleasure. wonderful. Okay, so I know you've been in the public safety space for for a long time. When you get to attend conferences like APCO in person, kind of what excites you the most about it? What do you look forward to? Well, you know, it's always been a place where you can get to know. Different technologies, keep up on latest things. There's all that. I'll come back to it. But what I really love about it is the people. Whether it's somebody walking by and you just get to say good morning or good afternoon. Yep. Or whether it's actually visiting with them about the things that are on their mind for their center or whatever, the people are the thing that keep me coming back. One hundred percent. We we see it here so often. It's just so clear how big of a community it is. And it's it's really not that competitive. Everyone's just trying to work towards the greater good of the public. yeah. It's it's lovely to see. So yes, as far as the vendors go. But there's also of course those and users, the dispatchers and all those people that do the work. So okay. And then my last question for you. what are you excited about with the future of nine one one and where you're involved in the space? Well, kind of back to your first question, right? Yeah. So it's always been a fast moving industry for change. Yeah. And yes, I've been in public safety for a while now. Yeah. About forty years. Yeah. So about every five years, right in my job, I'm like, hmm, I might need to be looking around for something a little more interesting. Yeah. And then something will happen. Well, in the more recent years. Yeah. Now we're talking every year you're getting hit with something that's like, I have to learn about that. That's so exciting. Yeah. And then the buzzword AI. Keeping us on our clothes. That's for sure. Yes. Wonderful. Well thank you, Della, for for sharing and for always stopping by the Will Mac booth and being sport. So we really appreciated that. Yeah. Thank you too. All right, hi everyone. I am here with John McDonnell, sales director of public safety solutions at Wilmac. it is John's first time on the podcast. So John, welcome to the Wilmacwire. Thanks for having me. Of course, anytime you are welcome. So John, you've attended a lot of public safety conferences this year. This is a a big boy with with ApgO. How have those experiences been? And then how does ApgO compare? they've been great. We've done, I mean, this has to be like our tenth one this year, And we do lot of little regional ones and they're awesome to see people that we know familiar faces. But this one for ApGo National has been awesome. A lot of new faces haven't met before. yeah, it's been awesome. It's it's very big, yeah, compared to our usual one. So it's it's been awesome experiencing, you know, a a different aspect of the conference world. For sure. But I think a through line through all of them is just that community aspect. Like everyone's very collaborative. Yeah. okay, I'll also ask you, so I just chatted with Bob and you guys just came off a a presentation theater session. You've been speaking a lot more Leading a lot more thought leadership sessions at those those conferences. How are you feeling coming off that? Good, good. you know, I do presentations all day, so it's it doesn't seem anything too crazy, but it's nice to get people face to face. And yeah, you know, we're always encouraging raise your hand, ask questions. Yeah. and there's been a gladiator scale. Yes, I a gladiator scale. There's been a lot of it. So it's it's been awesome so far. definitely a bit new, but yeah, very exciting. People are engaging, so that's all we all we care about. But yeah, all right, sweet. Thanks, John. Thanks. All right. I'm here with Hayley Gunther, marketing coordinator for conferences and events. So Hailey, we just chatted at Nina about a month ago live on the floor. Now we're live at APCO. How are you feeling with this being your second big conference? Yeah, I feel really good. This was one on our radar we were super excited for. and being on board for the whole planning session from start to finish and then being able to see our booth setup. It gets better and better every time. So I'm just excited to keep seeing how good we can make it. Yeah. And it's so obvious how much more comfortable you you keep getting as you engage with more public safety professionals. And like you said, a full planning cycle. It's nice to see the full thing kind of come to fruition. It's it's really rewarding. And then last question for you what are you looking forward to most being at APCO twenty twenty six down here in San Antonio? Well, San Antonio is so beautiful. It's it's a little hot, but it's super duper nice. And I would probably say most excited for our dinner tonight. being able to reunite with some of the people that we were able to meet at Nina. Even just a month later, like recapping, and getting back together. It's gonna be a really fun time, lots of fun people and lots of things to learn. So I was gonna say learning something new every day with this community. it's really fun. All right, wonderful. Thanks, Haley. Thanks for having me. Thank you for listening to the WilmacWire. If you liked today's conversation, make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel. You can also learn more about Wilmac Technologies and our work in customer interaction technology at Wilmactech.com. We'll be back soon with more conversations with the drivers, those shaping our industry, and those building right here in Western New York. See you next time.