County awards contracts to update 911 system

Locating cellular 911 calls is
becoming increasingly important.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Between 80 percent and 90 percent of 911 calls today come from wireless telephones, so it’s increasingly important that such calls provide emergency workers with the best information possible to help people.

Maggi McGee, Mahoning County 911 director, said two contracts totaling $789,769 approved by Mahoning County commissioners Thursday will help do that.

Commissioners awarded a $623,560 contract to Michael Baker Jr. Inc. of Beaver, Pa. The company will assist the county with merging its 911 system and the county’s Geographical Information System, so that 911 call takers in cities, townships and all other jurisdictions can access better information from 911 cell phone calls.

A $166,209 contract was also awarded to Emergitech Inc. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, for software.

When the merger and upgrades are complete in early 2009, call takers will be able to track the location of cell phone calls to within a small area, measured in yards rather than miles.

The county’s present capabilities — referred to as Phase 1 — are able to identify wireless calls as having come from a certain cell phone tower. But when the GIS mapping and information is tied in, calls will be traceable with latitude and longitude coordinates, making the location more specific, McGee said. That is known as wireless Phase 2.

The more specific information will be especially helpful in certain types of condominium developments, for instance, where emergency responders might have difficulty finding the location because of multitudes of similar addresses in a small area, McGee said.

It will also help find someone calling from the woods or a corn field, or someone traveling on the highway or other unfamiliar areas, because they cannot tell call takers where they are. The enhanced 911 services are also helpful in any situation in which the caller cannot talk to a 911 call taker but can still dial 911.

Funding for the improved 911 service comes from the 32 cents per month that cell phone users pay to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Mahoning County officials have secured the money from the PUCO but are allowed to use it only for upgrades to its wireless 911 services.

McGee said one reason so many 911 calls come from wireless phones today is because many people have chosen to eliminate their land-line telephones in favor of using only a cell phone. Another reason is that people needing emergency services are more often outside of their home than inside of it, she said.

runyan@vindy.com