MARIETTA - A planned upgrade of Washington County's 911 system is expected to increase efficiency for dispatchers and officers responding to emergency calls.
The $164,442 upgrade is expected to be completed in the next month. Mike Cullums, Washington County 911 coordinator, said the Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Belpre and Marietta police departments, who handle 911 calls, will benefit from the upgrade.
"We've had the CAD (computer-aided dispatch) service through Creative Microsystems Inc. (CMI) out of Englewood, and we've been satisfied with their existing CAD system," Cullums said.
"They recently completed a new system that will allow us to be more efficient and handle more information and get information out to officers more quickly," he said.
Cullums said the current 911 system stores data such as phone numbers, names and addresses, as well as coordinates when a 911 call is made from a cellular phone and the 911 call history.
"Right now that's its main function and this new technology will allow for storage of more detailed information in digital format, such as building blueprints and disaster response plans," he said.
Cullums said the new system will also feature a secure Web-based status monitor, meaning authorized law enforcement officials can monitor an incident from their home computer or other Internet-capable device, as if they were sitting in the dispatch office.
Cullums said currently, if multiple 911 calls about one incident are pouring in, only one dispatcher can access the information about that incident, even if there are multiple dispatchers working at the same time.
That, too, will change.
"Now, finally, if they're getting numerous calls about the same incident, all of the dispatchers can access the same information about that incident," he said.
The new system will also significantly decrease the amount of paperwork first responders must complete, Cullums said.
"With the new system, as the dispatcher is looking up information such as the license plate, it's all automatically stored on the accident report, so the information will be waiting for the officer," he said. "He or she doesn't have to fill everything out."
Currently, if there's a traffic accident, the officer must radio pertinent information back and forth to a dispatcher.
The new system will also allow for silent dispatching, meaning calls can be dispatched via text message if it's something responders don't want to put out over the radio.
Mobile data terminals will also be included as part of the upgrade, but Cullums said only the Marietta Police Department will get these at first. This will include the installation of computers in police cruisers.
"Right now, they're the only agency of the three that has 3G wireless capability in their whole jurisdiction," Cullums said. "This will allow the officers to directly access license info and warrants and be able to receive and transmit information from their cruisers."
He added that the cost of the terminals is $22,000, and the police department will have to come up with that funding on its own.
Cullums said the sheriff's office and Belpre police will get the computers eventually.
The other aspects of the upgrade, which costs $164,442, is being paid for with the 50-cent per line per month telephone surcharge which all Washington County residents pay for land line phones.
"We've had a surplus built up in the 911 fund to allow us to pay cash for this," Cullums said. "This will serve as our computer-aided dispatch platform for the next 10 years and it will be able to handle all the new technology that is approaching, so it's major."
The Washington County Commission recently approved the upgrade.
Cullums said the new system should be up and running by summer.
Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks said the upgrade will be advantageous for his department.
"Our radio communications are pretty adequate, but we appreciate all they do to keep it upgraded and keep us up with the latest technology," he said.
