Friday, July 13, 2012

Emergency radios to get upgrade

County emergency communications fully funded

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By KATHERINE WUTZ
Express Staff Writer

Blaine County Emergency Communications may get everything they requested for the next fiscal year, including new servers and software for radios and dispatch systems.

E-911 Communications Director Robin Stellers asked for funding for new servers to replace old, outdated equipment bought in 2007. The servers, known as computer-aided dispatch servers, are responsible for crucial information that dispatchers need to respond to emergency calls.

"It's basically what tells the dispatchers who to send and how many to send," Stellers said in an interview last month. "The servers, obviously, hold all of that information."

The servers have a shelf life of roughly five to seven years, and Stellers said some have been showing signs of impending failure.

The cost of the servers, $11,000, will come out of E-911 fees, which is a levy of $1 placed on all phone lines. The cost of another server, $12,000, will come out of a trust fund that all police and emergency response districts contribute to.

Emergency Communications will also get $68,799 for a radio software upgrade.

Sheriff Gene Ramsey said the county switched to 700 MHz radios in 2009, expanding radio coverage and allowing county officers to communicate with other agents across the state and even the nation.

"It gives us interoperability statewide," he said.

Using Custer County's upcoming Days of the Old West event as an example, Ramsey said, "If they ask for other fire departments or other police agencies, we can send someone. My officers could go with their radios and communicate with [Custer County's] command post. It's like a cell phone—wherever you go, it works—so long as they have a compatible system."

Ramsay said the software upgrade, like any software, is necessary to keep the system running smoothly.

"We've had the system for three years and done no upgrades," he said. "That leaves us vulnerable to viruses."

Though this is a line item in the budget for fiscal 2013, Ramsey and Stellers said they were looking for a long-term solution for ongoing maintenance and funding. Ramsey said the county got the system—estimated at $1.5 million in value—through grants, but maintenance is costly.

"Now it's the issue of keeping it going," he said. "We're trying to find a sustainable funding source."

County budget hearings continue on Monday, July 16, at 9 a.m. at the Blaine County Courthouse in Hailey.

Kate Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com

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