Cole County Commission approves funding for 911 upgrades

Jefferson City, county split costs for radio, recorder upgrades

The Jefferson City Police Department plans for upgrades to its 911 operations such as software touch screen abilities and the ability to patch channels together. The 911 call center in Fire Station 3, above, is used as an overflow site when other centers are being upgraded.
The Jefferson City Police Department plans for upgrades to its 911 operations such as software touch screen abilities and the ability to patch channels together. The 911 call center in Fire Station 3, above, is used as an overflow site when other centers are being upgraded.

The Jefferson City Police Department is planning for upgrades to its 911 operations.

At the Cole County Commission meeting Tuesday, commissioners approved funding 25 percent of the planned upgrades to 911 operations, which will specifically upgrade its radio and recorder systems.

Capt. Eric Wilde said the radio upgrades include hardware and software that pushes the radio transmission from the antenna to the console where operators sit. Wilde said the software allows for touch-screen abilities for each frequency, as well as the ability to patch channels together, which would allow different agencies to communicate on the same frequency during an emergency situation.

"If we're monitoring two frequencies, and we want to take two agencies and push them over to a common talk channel, we can just patch those two frequencies together," Wilde said. "Basically it will allow us to talk to other agencies."

Currently, Wilde said, agencies have to switch frequencies or relay information through the communication center when working together.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White said the ability to communicate directly through patching channels is a huge development for 911 communications, and Wilde said it will increase the efficiency of communicating with other agencies.

As for the recorder upgrades, Wilde said those will record all phone and radio transmissions as required by state law.

The county approved funding roughly $70,000, or 25 percent, of the project, which Wilde said would cost roughly $283,000 for both the radio and recorder updates, though he noted that figure could change as the project progresses. Wilde also noted the funds for the city's portion of the project would come from the city's half-cent capital improvement sales tax, which is on the Aug. 2 ballot for a five-year renewal.

"Without that funding, technological upgrades like this wouldn't be possible," Wilde said.

Wilde said the project is pretty much ready to go once the funds are officially collected and the paperwork is processed, which could take a couple of months.

Once the upgrading work begins, Wilde said it likely would take about a month or so to get employees trained on the new programs.

Wilde said the project will begin at the redundant 911 center at Fire Station No. 3. Once that is completed, operators will be trained at that facility while work begins at the 911 center at the Police Department.

It won't be the first time 911 communications is temporarily moved to the backup center at Fire Station No. 3. Wilde said communications had to be moved to the backup center when the Police Department was undergoing HVAC upgrades last year, and communications continued to work without issues.

"In case of an emergency or things like this where we have to move people out of the main center, it is an absolute necessity for continuity of operations," Wilde said of the backup center.