Flagler County, FL - Flagler County will see the largest overhaul of its 9-1-1 operations in County history thanks to $269,172 in grant money for hardware upgrades from the State of Florida 9-1-1 Board.
The money comes from two state grants. “One grant was awarded for equipment, including console computers and GPS netclock, and software and licensing to connect equipment we purchased last year using 9-1-1 revenues,” Innovation Technology Director Jarrod Shupe says. “The second grant is for a replacement logging recorder, which records telephone calls to and from the 9-1-1 Call Center.”
The 9-1-1 grant funding comes from a 40-cent surcharge for Florida residents for monthly landline and wireless phone service, as well as pre-paid wireless transactions. Flagler County walked away with 8.5% of the total $3.18 million in grants from the State of Florida 9-1-1 Board, according to Flagler County officials.
“This grant money will allow us to upgrade to an NG, or Next Generation, 9-1-1 system. It will improve the 9-1-1 Center’s ability to manage calls, natural disasters, and transfer calls for proper jurisdictional responses based on location tracking,” explains Shupe. He adds that Next Generation 9-1-1 will also allow for voice and text messages to flow seamlessly from the public into the 9-1-1 network. Texting to 9-1-1 is expected to be available in Flagler County by the end of 2018.
Flagler County’s 9-1-1 system was initiated in 1988, and the current 9-1-1 Call Center opened in 2006. Officials expect the system upgrades to improve 9-1-1 operations for residents. “Staff works really hard to bring grant money into Flagler County,” County Administrator Craig Coffey says. “This helps us get these big projects done. It is a benefit to our community when we can bring this extra money in.”
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