New 911 operations center going online today
Polk County residents are being asked by County Manager Matt Denton to be patient this morning calls are made to 911 and something is wrong.
He doesn’t expect any problems as the county switches over their operations from the current center next to the Department of Driver Services buiding in Cedartown to new headquarters added onto the Emergency Management Agency building across the street.
But just in case, Denton said that operations will be kept going at the current facility as a backup i n place t o ensure a smooth move from one office to the next.
“This is a huge step up for Polk County,” Denton said. “We’ve been working hard for months to get ready for this switchover to new, next generation techology and we’re just about ready to make the move.”
Denton said originally plans were to have an open house to give local residents a chance to see the work completed on the new 911 operations center, but t hat was pushed back as contractors were busy taking care of final touches on the facility itself.
Polk County was expected to spend less than $600,000 on construction of the addition to the Emergency Operations facility, plus more than $1 million on new equipment for the facility to bring operations up to date.
Denton said once the state finishes up its work to put next generation technologies for 911 into operation. Those include options like texting 911 locally for help, operators being able to send video and photo directly to officers in car computers or phones, or tracking police cars and being able to tell callers exactly where first responders are in relation to their location are just some of those capabilities available to Polk County once the state is ready to take full advantage of the systems being installed on the local level.
Polk County started working on 911 upgrades with the installation of new radio systems in 2014, and moved forward on plas to upgrade facilities and equipment in 2015 and finally got to finish up work on finishing the construction and purchases in 2016.
The new 911 operations center, which has space to expand should more dispatchers be needed in the future, also includes new consoles and computer equipment, all new kitchen and rest areas, and a variety of features t o make repairs and maintenance easier.
A new generator was also i nstalled at t he Emergency Management Agency to allow for the center to continue run- ning despite an interruption of any power.
Denton said that the current facility which will soon become a backup equipment site and area for IT operations to use will remain running for a few days following this morning’s switchover to allow for any problems with the system to get worked out quickly.
He added that representatives from manufacturers will also be on hand to help with any undue consequences from the transfer from one facility to the other in the coming days.
Initially, the plan was to put the new 911 center into full operation on Jan. 1 following a time for dispatchers to get to train in December after work was to be completed in November, but some minor issues pushed that back some weeks.