The TAK CAD plugin combines the situational awareness capabilities of the Team Awareness Kit (TAK) with the dispatch and response operations of traditional CAD systems. TAK CAD includes plugins for TAK Server, WinTAK, and ATAK, enabling dispatchers and first responders to seamlessly manage operations within the TAK suite.
Figure 1 – TAK CAD Plugin in WinTAK
The Problem
Efficiently managing resources and dispatching personnel is critical for improving response times and coordination during emergencies. While many CAD solutions exist, they often come with high costs and limited integration capabilities. Public safety agencies need a solution that is accessible and fully compatible with the TAK ecosystem.
Our Solution
At its core, TAK CAD’s purpose aligns with any CAD system: to streamline the management and dispatching of resources, improve response times, and aid in coordination during emergency responses for public safety agencies. What sets TAK CAD apart is that it is free, open-source, and designed from the ground up to work seamlessly within TAK while supporting integration with external CAD systems or other data feeds.
TAK CAD enhances response operations by streamlining the flow of information between dispatchers and responders:Â
- Dispatchers (WinTAK): Create or import incident information, view all active incidents, review past incidents for analysis, assign personnel and vehicles, and manage resources efficiently.
Figure 2 – TAK CAD Dispatcher View in WinTAK
- Responders (ATAK): Receive alerts when a new incident is initiated by  dispatch, access all critical incident details, review incident information, assign themselves to available vehicles, add incident notes, and navigate to the incident using an auto-generated route.
Figure 3 – TAK CAD Plugin in ATAK
Integration with Other SystemsÂ
TAK CAD is designed to operate both independently and alongside existing CAD systems and alerting tools. For example, it already integrates with Active 911. Its open-source API enables agencies to connect TAK CAD with other tools, eliminating duplicate data entry, speeding up response times, and reducing the risk of entry errors.Â
 Figure 4 – TAK CAD and Active 911 integration.Â
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Figure 5 – TAK CAD Big Picture
Status and What’s NextÂ
TAK CAD is currently in its alpha release and is being evaluated by several public safety organizations. The next phase will focus on expanding features based on user feedback.
Get Involved
Interested in testing the alpha version or sharing the features you’d like to see next? Reach out to us at tak@rtx.com.Â
This material is based upon work supported by the United States Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the US Army Aviation and Missile Command under Contract No. FA8750-20-C-0544. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of United States Air Force