Commissioners hear 9-1-1 and IT plan for phone-system replacement, vehicle connectivity and body-camera retention

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…