4/12/07 - 911 dispatchers get a new home

Bob Ellis/staff photographer

Cortland County 911 Center Dispatch Coordinator Nick Wagner, right, chats with Senior Dispatcher Dave Tanner in the new center on the third floor of the Public Safety Building as workers in the background continue to fine-tune the system. The county was in the process of making the move to the new center on Wednesday.

(As published by the Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

Set aside the positive impact it is expected to have on emergency response in Cortland County, set aside the federal standards it will help the county meet, and the county’s new 911 Center is still, on sight alone, a far cry from the dingy, antiquated space it will replace.
“It really is something to look at, isn’t it,” Sheriff Lee Price said, as county employees worked to put the finishing touches on the approximately 1,200-square-foot dispatch center on the third floor of the Public Safety Building. “When you compare it to downstairs, it almost looks like science fiction or something.”
The official startup of the new center had to be delayed from Wednesday, as the county awaited the arrival of special modems to bridge any gaps between the old dispatch systems and the new consoles, but Dispatch Coordinator Nick Wagner was hopeful the center would be operating by this afternoon.
The new center features brand-new touch-screen computers with state-of-the-art software that will allow the county to adapt to the rapidly changing nature of communication, Wagner said.
“We have to keep up with the public,” Wagner said. “Ultimately we’re going to need be able to respond to text and video messaging, automatic crash notification … it’s going to be an ongoing challenge — this is just one important step — but I’m looking forward to it.”
The most important immediate modernization will be the ability to place the location of calls from cellular phones using GPS technology, Wagner said.
Not all phones have GPS, and getting wireless service providers online may take time, but ultimately the goal is to allow dispatchers the ability to quickly triangulate the location of any wireless call.
“Our job is to get the right people in the right place, and at very least this will give us an idea of where to start,” Wagner said.
The new consoles also offer a mapping program that essentially pinpoints the location and nature of all active calls, Wagner pointed out, and they’ll allow dispatchers to make all of the contacts necessary for each incoming call in a more efficient and user-friendly manner.
The dispatch center has seen an exponential increase in calls — the total number received in the first quarter of 2007, 13,427, exceeded the 13,264 calls received in all of 1998 — in the 13 years since the current dispatch equipment was installed, Wagner said.
“The key word is efficiency — these machines should help us eliminate errors and help us better serve Cortland County,” he said. “It’s an expensive process, keeping up with technology, but I really hope we’re spending the taxpayers’ money well.”
Moducom, the company with which the county contracted for the equipment and software, has agreed to provide updates to the system free of charge, Wagner said, meaning the new system should last the county 10 to 15 years.
The county’s dispatch workers have done training with the new consoles, Wagner said, and while there may be a slight learning curve, the transition should be relatively seamless.
“Procedurally nothing’s changed, it’s just different technology,” he said. “Our people have worked really hard — it’s been a difficult few years with the increased workload … I couldn’t be happier with how they’ve responded to all the changes.”
Price noted that the ergonomic design of the consoles — each of the six work stations feature individual temperature and light controls — should be good for morale.
“It’s going to help when they’ve got an eight-hour shift where it never calms down,” Price said.
County Administrator Scott Schrader said one of the reasons for moving dispatch to the third floor was to eliminate the responsibility of dealing with walk-in traffic on the first floor of the Public Safety Building.
“We didn’t want them to have to be doing reception on top of dispatching,” Schrader said.
The first-floor space that will be vacated once the move is complete will likely be filled by the Sheriff’s Records Department, a logical fit, Schrader said.
“Most of the people coming into the building are looking for records, so it makes sense to have them there,” he said.
Total, the relocation and the new equipment will have cost approximately $750,000 when all is said and done, Schrader said.
The county received two state wireless 911 funding grants totaling $568,400 that will help pay for the equipment that will help locate cellular phone callers, and buy new telephone and radio equipment, said Senior Dispatcher David Tanner.
The rest was paid for with county funds.
Price said that he was grateful for all the work put into the new center by Schrader, Rob Corpora, director of information technology for the county, the Buildings and Grounds Department and other county employees.
“They really did a terrific job, now I just want to see it up and running,” he said.

I hope the county planned this one out - I would hate to see that they don't have enough uninterruptible power (for computers) or generator capacity for the 911 center in the event of a power outage... keep checking back!

I guess some in the County have plans for spaces - Sheriff's Records moving in to the vacated first floor space. I'm glad we're getting the big picture (that's slight sarcasm folks). Hopefully someone will be the official reception designee in their absence.