911 Operations Center radio purchases approved, agreement with Rockmart for backups signed
New radio systems are another piece of the puzzle that are needed for the new 911 Operations Center addition at the Public Safety Department offices, along with backup systems in case anything goes wrong.
These pieces fell into place during the latest Polk County Commission meeting on Oct. 4, which saw spending approved for new 911 radio systems that are an integral part of the overall operations of the department.
Coosa Valley Communications was the only bidder for $165,023 to provide radio equipment for the new operations center, which County Manager Matt Denton said would likely be completed no later than mid-November.
“I was out there with contractors today (Oct. 4) and they were moving right along with the work inside,” he said.
911 Operators will still have to be trained on the new equipment and software before the official switchover from the old operations center to the new takes place, Denton said.
He expected it would take place by the beginning of 2017.
As the new operations center comes online, the county is also planning in redundancy in case of any event that might knock the operations center offline for any reason.
Commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with the City of Rockmart which will allow a back-up system to be installed alongside phone switches already in place.
As new equipment is being installed at the 911 operations center, a backup switch and radio system that will repeat traffic continuously to allow for a seamless backup will be setup.