Enhanced 911 service moves on slow track
The system may not be completed until the end of 2007.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Projections for the completion of Columbiana County's enhanced 911 emergency telephone service have been pushed back.
Land line service was projected to be completed by July, and cell phone service was to be completed by December.
Commissioner Gary Williams told the project's technical advisory committee Tuesday that the land line portion would be completed sometime between August and December; the cellular portion may not be completed until the end of 2007.
The deadlines have been pushed back because of the amount of work that needs to be done, Williams said.
The county will have five answering points: Columbiana, East Liverpool, East Palestine, Salem and the county sheriff's office. The "enhanced" system will show dispatchers the location of the call.
Remodeling is done at the five sites, and the telephone equipment has been delivered to the county but not installed.
Address checking
The committee is just beginning to double-check a master street address guide to make sure calls from land lines will go to the right answering point.
Some subdivisions, such as cities, will be easily defined. But officials noted that some fire departments serve only a portion of a township.
The committee will ask local fire departments to guide the committee on departmental boundaries on lists of addresses provided by the county engineer's office, which makes maps of the county.
Robert Emmons, the county's 911 director, suggested that the committee consider standard operating practices for the answering points, such as what to do with hang-up calls and transferring calls. No action was taken.
Williams also said a committee has decided not to have a centralized point for full recordings of emergency calls.
The county had planned to have each site record its own calls. Calls might be transferred, and under the system, each answering point would record only its portion of the conversation. A complete recording of each call would be recorded at the county's new Emergency Management Agency building.
The committee will not obtain the equipment to make such a recording, Williams.
Such recordings are considered public records. Williams said police agencies wanted control over the tapes and to know who was requesting them. Such tapes are often requested by lawyers, family members and the press.
wilkinson@vindy.com