Published: July 21, 2009 08:37 am      

Dispatch going digital

Change to come some time after move to new airport building

By Adam Sulfridge / Staff Writer

By this Thursday, members of Whitley County E911 dispatch hope to be in their new home. Currently located in the Whitley County Courthouse in downtown Williamsburg, E911 is moving to a larger location near the Williamsburg-Whitley County Airport located just off Hwy 25 near Exit 15.

A major reason for the move is the small size of dispatch’s current facility.

“There’s always two dispatchers on duty…and they’re currently in a 10-foot by 12-foot room….with six to seven monitors in front of them,” said E911 Supervisor Angie Matney. With that much equipment, there’s little room for more than the people working, not to mention filing cabinets and other storage necessary for dispatch’s records.

Eventually there will be a minimum of three dispatchers at all times, Matney added.

The move is being financed by Matney’s E911 fund.

Another major change taking place in the realm of emergency services communications is the switch from analog to digital. As part of a government mandated transition, local emergency services will replace their analog radio systems with more technologically advanced digital systems.

Essentially, when an officer or firefighter speaks into a radio, his voice will be converted into a digital file, which will then be transmitted to other radios. Despite the slight delay caused by the conversion process, digital systems are praised for their clarity and longer distance service areas.

Matney couldn’t pinpoint a specific date for when the transition will be complete, but noted that she’s only waiting on federal approval of E911’s new radio tower. “We’re doing it a step at a time. It’s very expensive,” she explained.

Most pertinent to readers, though, will be the effect of this switch on police scanners — old, analog scanners will not be able to pick up the chatter of emergency personnel using newer, digital radios. And with an average cost of $500 per handheld unit, there’s a good chance that scanner land will be silent for quite some time.