In the near future, the replacement of the 911 phone system for Jefferson City and Cole County will be taking place.
The Jefferson City Police Department runs the center.
Police Lt. Eric Wilde told a Thursday night meeting of the 911 Advisory Board that the current system is 12 years old and, by November 2015, no longer will be serviceable if major repairs are needed.
Wilde said this system is the same that is used by Cooper, Gasconade and Osage counties, so they have been working together on replacements and hope to get a group discount.
"We are looking at making this a "next generation' 911 system," he said.
"Next generation" refers to a national initiative to make 911 centers more wireless communications friendly - allowing the public to transmit text, images and video to the center.
Wilde said there is money in the city budget to pay for the improvements.
Wilde also reported that the backup 911 center, currently housed at Capital Mall, should be moved into its new home at the new Fire Station 3, on Missouri 179 north of Industrial Drive, by the end of next month.
The 911 advisory group is made up of appointed citizens from the city and county and meets four times a year. Their next meeting is in December.
They work closely with the Cole County Chiefs Association, which is made up of the county's volunteer fire departments and other emergency services.
The Cole County Commission is scheduled to meet next week to talk with sheriff's department and ambulance service officials about 911 issues.
In recent years, there have been some contentious times when apparent lack of communication between the city and county have occurred - many times over the money the county pays for the service - and commissioners have discussed the possibility of doing their own dispatch system.
Under the current contract, the county pays Jefferson City government around $400,000 each year to have sheriff's calls dispatched by the center.
The 911 center also gets the initial calls for the countywide ambulance service, and those calls then are forwarded to the ambulance service, which has personnel to dispatch the ambulances.
Ambulance Service Director Mike Shirts said this has been done for many years - well before the county took over the service from Capital Region Medical Center.
"It's easier for central dispatch to get the call and send it to us because we can give instructions for our crews and adequately spread our resources to meet the needs of the calls," he said.
Oct. 15 is the county's deadline to renew its 911 contract.