Launched in late 2024, the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) was created to modernize how incident data is collected and to deliver critical intelligence to fire departments across the United States.

Born from a collaborative effort between the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI)—a part of UL Research Institutes—the U.S. Fire Administration, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, and the broader American fire and EMS community, NERIS marks a step forward in public safety.

At the helm of NERIS support is Craig Weinschenk, director of research at FSRI. In the project’s early days, Craig and his team handled support requests directly. However, with an ambitious goal of onboarding and supporting more than 27,000 fire departments nationwide, it quickly became clear that their existing support model wasn’t sustainable.

After an extensive selection process, Navisite emerged as the clear choice, officially joining to provide support for the NERIS project in late 2024.

Navisite hit the ground running, implementing its fully managed, cutting-edge Service Desk Services, leveraging JIRA for day-to-day support operations and integrating with ServiceNow for advanced reporting and metrics tracking. The company quickly became an integrated extension of the NERIS team, taking on the responsibility for IT ticket resolution and frontline user support.

According to Craig, Navisite brings a powerful combination of technical expertise and a personal, mission-aware approach to every interaction, delivering an experience that resonates deeply with U.S. firefighters and emergency responders, driving high user satisfaction and trust.