Subject: [NEXTEL-1] City gets hi-tech 911 system

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2004 05:05:54 -0500

The Express Times, PA - Feb 11, 2004
Pennsylvania News

City gets hi-tech 911 system
Easier for operators to pinpoint cell calls.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004

By PRECIOUS PETTY
The Express-Times

BETHLEHEM -- A new computer-based system in the city's 911 center is
making it easier for dispatchers to identify and locate cellular
callers, as well as coordinate the efforts of emergency workers, city
officials announced at a news conference Tuesday.

When a city resident calls 911, their identification and location now
immediately pops up on a dispatcher's computer screen, officials said.

Cell phone callers'
location is tracked to
the nearest cell
tower, but by the end
of 2004 that area will
shrink to about 100
feet, said Bethlehem
Police Capt. Fred
Mill.

The computer-based
system replaces the
a manual system,
which was about 11
years old, Mill said. It
also brings the city
up to date with
federal regulations on
emergency communications, he said.

If workers from more than one city department respond to a call,
dispatchers can transfer all of their radio communication to one
frequency so police officers, firefighters and other city workers can
talk with each other at the scene, said Jackie Loosbrock, a
communication center supervisor.

Before, police would have to relay information to dispatchers who would
then bounce it back to firefighters at the same scene, she explained.

TuWay Wireless, a Bethlehem-based company that specializes in
integrating communication technology, began working on the project about
a year ago, said TuWay President Bill Landis.

The system was installed in early November 2003 and all of the kinks
were worked out by December, Mill said. Since then, it has been running
perfectly, he said.
"It's amazing," said Mill.

The city already recorded 911 calls before the new system was installed,
but retrieving a specific dispatch was difficult and time-consuming,
said Bethlehem Police Commissioner Francis Donchez.

Now, if a citizen were to complain about 911 service, officials can
easily access a record of the citizen's call in seconds, he said.

"It's all point and click," said Donchez.
The communication center is open 24 hours, so dispatchers continued
relaying calls on the old system while workers installed half the new
system, said Loosbrock.

Once the installation was complete, 14 full-time dispatchers who man the
center in three shifts spent a week mastering the software, she said.

TuWay designed and installed similar systems for 911 centers in Lehigh,
Carbon and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania and Hunterdon and Warren
counties in New Jersey, Landis said.

However, Bethlehem's system is superior to others in the region because
of its ability to seamlessly switch between telephone and radio
communication, Landis said.

Upgrading the system in the future will be cheaper and easier because
the only requirement will be a software switch, he said. TuWay also
helped the city upgrade its backup communication system, Landis said.

The project cost about $660,000, but the city didn't foot the whole
bill, according to Mayor John Callahan. A 911 fee that is automatically
added to consumers' monthly telephone bills covered part of the cost, he
said.

Callahan wasn't sure how much Bethlehem paid for the system, but said
money for the project was allocated in a previous year's budget.

Although the new system is "state-of-the-art," Mill said TuWay worked
closely with dispatchers to make sure its design was both practical and
effective without being too expensive.

We didn t get the Cadilac, Mill said. We got just what we needed.
Reporter Precious Petty can be reached at 610-867-5000 or by e-mail at
[email-masked].

http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-9/107649587792530.xml

--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/