The county commissioners on Tuesday heard a quarterly update from EMA/9-1-1 and the Information Technology department about an upcoming multi-year replacement of the county call-handling system, efforts to improve in-vehicle cellular connectivity for law enforcement and EMS, and a new records-retention interface for body-camera video. Heather, EMA/9-1-1 staff, and Jeremy, IT department staff, told the commission they are collecting vendor quotes and running field tests ahead of an expected multi-year implementation.

The EMA/9-1-1 office said the current CallWorks phone product is being discontinued, creating a multi-county purchasing decision and a project that could start in 2026 and extend through 2027. Heather (EMA/9-1-1) said, "CallWorks ... the product is being discontinued. Our current contract with that ends in October. So we, do need to seriously look at how we're going to move forward with that." Jeremy (IT department) added that the county is seeking quotes from Motorola, ComTech and Indigital and wants to align any phone-system upgrade with a regional NextGen 9-1-1 transition.

Why it matters: the county's 9-1-1 phone system and interagency call transfers are essential for emergency dispatch and mutual aid. Staff said many neighboring jurisdictions will face the same replacement timeline, which could delay installations if the county waits. Commissioners were told the project would likely span multiple budget cycles and that the department hopes to fund part of the work from a dedicated account that receives a per-call fee.

Staff presentation and vendor testing

Heather described ongoing procurement work and interagency coordination. She said the county has received a quote from Motorola and is awaiting quotes from ComTech (Guardian product) and Indigital (Vesta or equivalent) and has opened talks with neighboring jurisdictions to explore combined purchasing. "We actually met with Indigital with the city of Bridal, in an attempt to, get a combined quote to hopefully save everybody a few dollars," Heather said.

Jeremy said Motorola
nd other vendors explained that Indigital provides some of the infrastructure those products use, so the county would likely rely on that vendor even if purchasing through a different reseller. He cautioned that many systems will be updated across the region and that the county should be careful not to fall to the back of install schedules.

Phones, call transfers and NextGen interoperability

Staff reported that long-standing trouble transferring calls with a neighboring agency (Brian PD) has been materially improved, though the fix relies on older technology. Heather said the next-generation system should make call transfers more seamless and help the county and neighboring dispatch centers function more like a single unit across two buildings.

Records-retention for body-camera video

Jeremy told commissioners the county has developed an OnBase module to tie case files from Spillman to milestone video records so retention schedules are set automatically when a case is created. He said the work used internal development hours and some contracted help; licensing costs were expected to be small. "When a case file is created in Spillman, OnBase pulls that case information ... and sets a retention schedule on that video," Jeremy said.

In-vehicle cellular devices and field testing

IT staff briefed the board on testing new cellular gateway devices aimed at replacing hotspot-by-phone solutions that IT staff said are unreliable. Jeremy said the county tested a new AT&T device that costs about $1,000 per unit with no recurring device license fee; comparable cradlepoint units had been priced at about $2,500 plus periodic license renewals. The county deployed test units to deputies and sergeants and reported strong results: one field test officer reported no disconnects except deep inside a camp area that previously had no signal.

Staff noted the county currently has 11 EMS units and many patrol vehicles; they recommended a phased rollout (for example, three sheriff vehicles and three EMS units as an initial test) to validate the approach and capture performance data before a full procurement. Jeremy said the devices also enable GPS reporting into the 9-1-1 CAD so dispatch can automatically identify the closest in-service unit.

Security and compliance work

Jeremy said House Bill 96 (referenced by staff) imposes new county IT mandates with short implementation windows and that the county is on pace to meet several requirements. He also noted the county must upgrade Windows 10 systems before a stated end-of-support date of Oct. 21, and that the board of elections has additional directives from the state that require IT assistance.

Next steps and budgeting

Staff recommended further vendor reference checks, continued field testing of in-vehicle devices and staged budgeting. Commissioners asked for cost breakdowns for the per-call fee account that could be used to smooth the budget impact. Jeremy said infrastructure replacement that was postponed with CARES Act funding will come due in 2026 and that some costs could be spread with multi-year licensing and phased purchases.

No formal action was taken; staff will return with additional quotes, test results and budget numbers for commissioners to consider in upcoming budget sessions.