Plans for nationwide 911 dispatch centers

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Municipalities across the country are planning to connect 911 dispatch centers in an effort to improve information sharing. Paul Nave, director of Owensboro-Daviess County’s 911 dispatch center in Kentucky said the plan is to connect dispatchers via the Internet, which will allow centers quickly to transfer calls, 911 text messages, photos, videos of accident scenes, and other information. The technology is part of a “Next Generation 911” initiative already being implemented across the country.

The Messenger-Inquirer reports that planned regional hubs would be connected through hardwire and wireless, and if a regional center experienced an equipment failure, 911 calls could be routed through servers in another hub and relayed to the affected center. “It’s interesting to think we can still do the job and (use) a server 100 miles away, and it will be seamless,” Nave said.

According to Homeland Security New Wire funding for the new networks is expected to come from monthly 911 fees on landlines and cellphones, though fees from landlines have declined in recent years as people replace them with cell phones.