Governor Cuts Ribbon on Middle Flint Regional 9-1-1 Center
Temecula, CA - Seven counties in rural Georgia have implemented Enhanced 9-1-1 Services for the first time thanks to a regional planning effort and a streamlined 9-1-1 dispatch solution from Plant Equipment, Inc. The Middle Flint Regional 9-1-1 Center represents the largest consolidation of public dispatch services in the Southeastern United States.
While most of the nation’s citizens take Enhanced 9-1-1 for granted, residents of Dooly, Macon, Marion, Schley, Sumter, Taylor and Webster counties have been dialing a seven-digit number for emergencies since the advent of the telephone. Only one city, Americus, had the three-digit national emergency 9-1-1 number in place, and that was basic 9-1-1 with no automatic number identification (ANI) nor automatic location identification (ALI).
“These are sparsely populated counties with minimal financial resources,” says Ellice Fancher, Assistant Director for Middle Flint Regional 9-1-1 Authority. “With the assistance of the Middle Flint Regional Development Center (RDC), and a grant from ONE GEORGIA, the counties were able to create a modern, fully-equipped 9-1-1 dispatch center.”
Fancher, who helped implement the solution and train personnel, says the citizens of the Middle Flint region of Georgia went from no 9-1-1 services to a fully-equipped 9-1-1 center that should be Phase II compliant by the end of the year. Middle Flint Regional 9-1-1 Center has nine call-taking dispatch positions that utilize VESTA Pallas for 9-1-1 which is tightly integrated with ORION CADStar. The Center dispatches some 77 agencies including 44 fire departments, 26 law enforcement agencies and seven EMS providers. Middle Flint Center provides service to about 80,000 plus residents in a 2,403 square mile area.
The Center cutover into service in April, however, it was officially sanctioned by Sonny Perdue, the Governor of Georgia in July. According to Governor, Middle Flint Regional 9-1-1 Center represents the largest consolidated PSAP partnership in the Southeast.
Established in 1968, Plant Equipment, Inc. (www.peinc.com) is a major solutions supplier for public and private communications providers including: Motorola, Qwest, SBC, Sprint, and Verizon. The industry leader in public and private safety telecommunications, Plant products include advanced call processing solutions, conventional key telephone systems, mapping/GIS/CAD/RMS, management information systems, digital logging recording systems, and comprehensive professional services. Plant is a Nortel Developer Partner, an ESRI Business Partner, an HP Development Solutions Partner and a Microsoft Certified Partner.