New, flexible 911 equipment for Mahoning Co. on display Friday

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County commissioners will dedicate Friday to what they are calling a reliable, state-of-the-art, countywide emergency 911 telephone communications system that lays the foundation for possible future consolidation of the county’s eight dispatching centers.

“This equipment is easily moved from one location to the next,” and dispatchers could easily move from one answering point to another in an emergency, using identical equipment, said Maggi McGee, county 911 director.

The county has dispatching centers in the county administration building, Youngstown City Hall, and the Boardman, Austintown, Canfield, Beaver, Struthers and Sebring police departments.

The new system, funded by fees attached to all cellular phones and real-estate taxes, features a single computer server in a secure, undisclosed location outside the county, which is managed by AT&T, and a backup server, also in an undisclosed location outside the county.

The dedication ceremony will be at 10 a.m. in the commissioners’ county courthouse basement meeting room, followed by tours of the 911 dispatching center on the sixth floor of city hall.

For the complete story, read Friday's Vindicator and Vindy.com