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Single 911 call center for Jeffco in works
Thursday, January 11, 2007
HANNAH WOLFSON
News staff writer
Jefferson County, Birmingham and 13 other cities are moving to consolidate their 911 emergency dispatching services into a single call center, possibly by year's end, organizers say.
The county, the cities and the Center Point Fire District support the plan and others are interested. It would relocate dispatchers to the former Federal Reserve Building on Interstate 459 at Liberty Park.
Participation is voluntary and no commitments have been made, but the idea could save cities millions, said Mountain Brook Mayor Terry Oden, who is helping lead the project.
"It's going to happen," Oden said. "We're moving forward."
The aim is to improve service and increase efficiency, according to one Jefferson County official
"We'd all have the same software and hardware, we'd all have the same tracking system, we'd have all the same radio system," said Billy Morace, director of general services for the county. "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be cheaper, but if for the same money you get better service, that's worth it."
Communities in Alabama and across the country are consolidating dispatch.
"What they are talking about is the way it should be done," said John Ellison, director of Shelby County 911, which handles fire and rescue dispatch for the entire county and calls for the sheriff's department and the Vincent and Harpersville police departments. "It's the way people are doing it around the country."
An operational committee working to determine how the dispatch operation would function has met with Ellison and plans to visit examples in Washington state and Louisiana.
Under a full-scale consolidation, municipalities would share everything, from computers to the dispatchers themselves, who would then put out calls to local police and fire departments.
Independence and sharing:
Under a co-location - which some of those involved in the local initiative favor - participants would retain independent dispatchers, but move them to a shared site with common equipment and some shared staff, such as information technology experts or call takers.
A co-location would reduce overhead but allow cities to maintain their own standards of service. That way, a Mountain Brook dispatcher familiar with that city's geography would continue to handle Mountain Brook calls while a Gardendale dispatcher could handle those from Gardendale.
At the same time, even co-location would require some kind of standardization, such as the choice of computer software and radio codes, said Vestavia Hills Fire Chief Butch Zaragoza, chairman of the operations committee. That could move the county's multitude of cities toward more cooperation in the future, from sharing police information to answering each other's fire calls on municipal borders.
The county's Emergency Management Agency command center may also move to join the dispatch center, said Oden, who chairs the EMA.
Oden said the 911 group is negotiating for a long-term lease in the basement of the former Federal Reserve Bank, which he said is a perfect location, with fortress-like walls and a backup power supply.
Organizers say either model would relieve some of the burden of staffing that smaller cities face. For example, Tarrant Mayor Loxcil Tuck said the half-dozen dispatchers who handle her city's police and fire calls are stretched thin, sometimes requiring overtime to cover for vacation and sick days. In a shared center, there would be a larger pool to pull from.
"It's hard to schedule when you don't have enough dispatchers, and dispatch is so important," Tuck said. On the other hand, she said, the city will still need someone at the police station to answer non-emergency calls and take on other non-911 duties the dispatchers handle.
Potential savings:
Some participants figure the plan will save them money. For instance, Oden said Mountain Brook is due for an equipment upgrade that could cost $1 million. Vestavia Hills expects to spend $500,000 to $700,000 on new equipment, Zaragoza said.
Jefferson County is currently figuring out how much it will cost to replace its equipment, some of which is 12 years old, Morace said. He said Bessemer and Hueytown are also holding off on buying new equipment in anticipation of consolidation.
Joining forces would make it easier to apply for federal Homeland Security grants, participants said.
The many volunteer fire departments and fire districts the county dispatches for will also likely be included. So far Hoover, which is working on a new $2 million dispatch center of its own, has opted out. Organizers say they'll leave space even after startup for late joiners.
"We realize this is not going to be for everybody," Zaragoza said. "Hopefully if they don't join in initially, if they see how it operates they'll want to join in."
E-mail: hwolfson@bhamnews.com
Single 911 call center for Jeffco in works
Thursday, January 11, 2007
HANNAH WOLFSON
News staff writer
Jefferson County, Birmingham and 13 other cities are moving to consolidate their 911 emergency dispatching services into a single call center, possibly by year's end, organizers say.
The county, the cities and the Center Point Fire District support the plan and others are interested. It would relocate dispatchers to the former Federal Reserve Building on Interstate 459 at Liberty Park.
Participation is voluntary and no commitments have been made, but the idea could save cities millions, said Mountain Brook Mayor Terry Oden, who is helping lead the project.
"It's going to happen," Oden said. "We're moving forward."
The aim is to improve service and increase efficiency, according to one Jefferson County official
"We'd all have the same software and hardware, we'd all have the same tracking system, we'd have all the same radio system," said Billy Morace, director of general services for the county. "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be cheaper, but if for the same money you get better service, that's worth it."
Communities in Alabama and across the country are consolidating dispatch.
"What they are talking about is the way it should be done," said John Ellison, director of Shelby County 911, which handles fire and rescue dispatch for the entire county and calls for the sheriff's department and the Vincent and Harpersville police departments. "It's the way people are doing it around the country."
An operational committee working to determine how the dispatch operation would function has met with Ellison and plans to visit examples in Washington state and Louisiana.
Under a full-scale consolidation, municipalities would share everything, from computers to the dispatchers themselves, who would then put out calls to local police and fire departments.
Independence and sharing:
Under a co-location - which some of those involved in the local initiative favor - participants would retain independent dispatchers, but move them to a shared site with common equipment and some shared staff, such as information technology experts or call takers.
A co-location would reduce overhead but allow cities to maintain their own standards of service. That way, a Mountain Brook dispatcher familiar with that city's geography would continue to handle Mountain Brook calls while a Gardendale dispatcher could handle those from Gardendale.
At the same time, even co-location would require some kind of standardization, such as the choice of computer software and radio codes, said Vestavia Hills Fire Chief Butch Zaragoza, chairman of the operations committee. That could move the county's multitude of cities toward more cooperation in the future, from sharing police information to answering each other's fire calls on municipal borders.
The county's Emergency Management Agency command center may also move to join the dispatch center, said Oden, who chairs the EMA.
Oden said the 911 group is negotiating for a long-term lease in the basement of the former Federal Reserve Bank, which he said is a perfect location, with fortress-like walls and a backup power supply.
Organizers say either model would relieve some of the burden of staffing that smaller cities face. For example, Tarrant Mayor Loxcil Tuck said the half-dozen dispatchers who handle her city's police and fire calls are stretched thin, sometimes requiring overtime to cover for vacation and sick days. In a shared center, there would be a larger pool to pull from.
"It's hard to schedule when you don't have enough dispatchers, and dispatch is so important," Tuck said. On the other hand, she said, the city will still need someone at the police station to answer non-emergency calls and take on other non-911 duties the dispatchers handle.
Potential savings:
Some participants figure the plan will save them money. For instance, Oden said Mountain Brook is due for an equipment upgrade that could cost $1 million. Vestavia Hills expects to spend $500,000 to $700,000 on new equipment, Zaragoza said.
Jefferson County is currently figuring out how much it will cost to replace its equipment, some of which is 12 years old, Morace said. He said Bessemer and Hueytown are also holding off on buying new equipment in anticipation of consolidation.
Joining forces would make it easier to apply for federal Homeland Security grants, participants said.
The many volunteer fire departments and fire districts the county dispatches for will also likely be included. So far Hoover, which is working on a new $2 million dispatch center of its own, has opted out. Organizers say they'll leave space even after startup for late joiners.
"We realize this is not going to be for everybody," Zaragoza said. "Hopefully if they don't join in initially, if they see how it operates they'll want to join in."
E-mail: hwolfson@bhamnews.com
