COLUMBUS, Ind. — A new $1.2 million 911 phone system for the Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center should be online either the last week of October or the first week of November.
Emergency Operations Director Todd Noblitt said the “Next Gen” model is capable of not only pinpointing where an interrupted emergency call was made, but also what floor of a building the caller was on. In addition to the radio, the center is also investing $50,000 into a new recording system.
While the state-of-the-art system is still being built, Noblitt said new networking and data-basing equipment has already been installed at the center, located at 131 S. Cherry St. After the phone system itself arrives and is operational, dispatcher training will likely begin the third week of October, he said.
The purchase of the new phone system was needed because technical support and replacement parts for the current equipment, which was installed in 2009, are no longer available, the center director said.
