Subject: [NEXTEL-1] New for Mitchell County--Grant will set up wireless mapping

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 03:47:35 -0500

New for Mitchell County--Grant will set up wireless mapping
by Larry Kershner
Press-News Editor

A $21,860 grant will help Mitchell County set up a wireless mapping
system to assist E-911 dispatchers to locate emergency calls from cell
phones.

Presently, an emergency call from a land line will identify the caller
and address of the call. But with wireless technology the caller's
location is not readily available. This can take precious minutes longer
to find a person.

"There are a lot of cell phones out there," said Ginger Thompson,
Mitchell County's E-911 coordinator. "As people become more dependent on
cell phones and less on land lines we anticipate this may be a bigger
problem."

Currently the county has to triangulate and can identify the tower
nearest the caller. With the new technology that will be funded through
the grant, the county will eventually be able to pinpoint within
approximately two-tenths of a mile from a caller's location, if calling
from a gravel road. For calls in towns, the system will be able to
display the address.

The new wireless mapping system," Thompson said, "Will let us find
people more quickly." In most cases in Mitchell County, Thompson noted,
most local residents know where they are if they become stranded. But
strangers, or newcomers to the county, may not be able to direct
emergency units to their locations quickly.

The grant was awarded to Mitchell County E-911 from the Public Safety
Foundation of America (PSFA) to enhance the county's public safety net.

Most of the grant will be used for purchasing new software and training
programs.
Thompson is applying for another grant to help purchase the needed
hardware and some additional software to complete the system.

The PSFA was established in January 2002 by the Association of Public
Safety Communica-tions Officials International. Its funding is provided
by corporate donations and by the wireless E-911 readiness fund,
established by NEXTEL Communica-tions to support timely implementation
of wireless E-911 systems.

The Mitchell County E-911 is funded totally through a $1 monthly
surcharge per land line in Mitchell County. There is a 50-cent monthly
surcharge on wireless accounts, but none of that money comes to the
county, Thompson said, but goes to a state fund.

There is legislation this year trying to be run through the legislature
to increase the surcharge to $1. Of that surcharge, the county may see
20 to 25 cents per account.

Because there are no funds flowing into the county for wireless E-911
mapping, all of the upgrades must be funded through grants, Thompson
said.

"But we need to do this," she added, "in order to keep up with
technology and in order to serve our citizens better."

http://www.mcpress.com/MCPRESS/sites/MCPRESS/0195edition/myarticles723806.asp?P=723806&S=453&PubID=12020

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