Enhanced 911 will be available soon

Equipment installation may take up to three months.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County may have enhanced 911 telephone service by the end of the year.
That's the latest estimate, Commissioner Gary Williams said Tuesday.
The county had earlier hoped to have the service for land lines running by this month.
But Williams has said that a similar installation in another county and personnel changes at Verizon delayed the installation here. Verizon was awarded the contract for the equipment in Columbiana County.
Benefits
The enhanced 911 system means that dispatchers at answering points will be able to determine the caller's home address.
Robert K. Emmons, the county's E911 director, said trucks will deliver the equipment to the answering points sometime this week.
The equipment will be installed in this order: at the county's Emergency Management Agency, the Columbiana, Salem, East Palestine, and East Liverpool police departments, and the county jail near Lisbon.
The EMA won't be taking emergency calls, but its new, secure headquarters will house some of the system's equipment.
All the answering points have been remodeled to accommodate the equipment.
E911 officials had hoped to complete the Master Street Address Guide by the end of June. The guide will determine the boundaries for each answering site. Fire departments are helping with the survey.
Officials now hope it can be completed by the end of July.
Williams said after the boundaries are set, the county's different phone companies will still have to determine if their phone numbers are within the 911 district. Officials estimate that may take up to three months.
Williams said it may be the end of 2007 before enhanced 911 for cell phones is completed. A global positioning survey of the county would have to be made to guide authorities to sites of emergency cell phone calls.
The project to date has cost $516,000. Total costs are expected to be about $1.4 million. The county to date has collected $1.3 million through grants and ongoing fees on land-line and cellular phones to fund the system.
wilkinson@vindy.com