System could speed response time for 911 calls from cell
phones
County officials are installing a new computer system that may
speed up the response time for 911 calls from cell phones, said
Beth Kafer, the 911 communications manager for the administrative
division of the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department.
System could speed response time for 911 calls from cell phones
County officials are installing a new computer system that may speed up the response time for 911 calls from cell phones, said Beth Kafer, the 911 communications manager for the administrative division of the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department.
The new system will enable 911 operators in San Benito County to identify the location of calls made from cell phones.
The current system identifies the longitude and latitude of calls made from cell phones.
“Your land line has an address attached,” said Bridgette Lyons, 911 systems analyst.
When 911 operators receive a call from a cell phone, they work with the caller to identify an address, Kafer said.
If a caller cannot identify an address, operators type the longitude and latitude into Google Map to identify the location.
“It’s time consuming and it’s not perfect,” Kafer said.
The new system will plot the latitude and longitude directly into a map, Lyons said. The new system will be operational by March 31, Kafer said.
Firefighters, police officers and EMS workers would be able to use the system to view the call log on completed calls.
The mobile data terminals would allow officers for the sheriff’s department to log into the same system that 911 operators use, Kafer said.
“It’s a super rugged laptop,” Kafer said.
County officials would purchase MDTs by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, said Brian Tempero, emergency services manager for the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department.
Using MDTs, law enforcement officers for the sheriff’s department would be able to write incident reports from the field and upload them directly into the system.
MDTs would also allow law enforcement officers to run warrants from the field, Kafer said.
“They’d be able to run warrants for persons,” Kafer said. “Instead of calling us, they could do it themselves.”
The new computer system cost nearly $135,500, Tempero said. It was purchased using money from state and federal officials.
Officials for the Department of Homeland Security provided county officials with a grant of nearly $77,000, Tempero said, while the California Department of General Services provided nearly $58,500.
“The state has been very good to us, for a small county,” Kafer said. “We have a lot of equipment we wouldn’t otherwise have.”
A year and a half ago, state officials paid $163,000 for a new 911 telephone system for San Benito County. State officials also paid for five new chairs and headsets for 911 operators, Kafer said.
The new computer system would not address problems with phone calls made using the Internet, Kafer said.
The most difficult calls to locate are those made using voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), Lyons said.
VoIP calls are made using a computer, and do not have a longitude or latitude attached. That technology is not yet available, Lyons said.
If a VoIP customer leaves town, the address 911 operators would see is their home address.
“They’re still trying to work out those issues,” Lyons said.
