Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Communications topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chaffee County approves three-year translation, transcription contract for 911 dispatch
Summary
The Chaffee County Board of County Commissioners approved a three-year contract with Prepared 911 to add real-time text translation and call transcription services to the county dispatch center to improve clarity and multilingual response.
Chaffee County commissioners on Tuesday approved a three‑year contract with Prepared 911 to provide automated text translation and transcription services for the county communications center.
The service will let dispatchers send a link or text to callers, view live media feeds, and automatically translate inbound texts and the county’s replies into multiple languages. "Prepared is already a company that we work with. They're allowing us to do text out," said Nick Huffman, Chaffee County dispatch center manager. "This vendor we work with ... allows us to text out to these people, also allows for media, also allows for us as dispatchers to go live with a caller."
County staff said the system also adds a transcription capability the dispatch center currently lacks; that feature will assist supervisors with quality assurance and help preserve accurate records of high‑volume calls. "We need to know what's being said and exactly what's being said," Huffman said. "That's what the transcription will give us."
Commissioners asked about contract ownership of generated transcripts and renewal terms. Glenda (county staff) said the agreement provided by the vendor did not include the county's standard terms because the county wanted to implement the capability quickly; she advised the commissioners the ownership and long‑term disposition of data would depend on the final contract language and should be clarified before renewal. On renewal, Huffman said the county intends to reassess the service at the end of the three‑year term given ongoing NextGen 911 developments in Colorado. "Three years down the road, I think we need to reassess," Huffman said.
The board moved and seconded approval of the contract and voted unanimously to approve it. The motion directed staff to execute a three‑year agreement for the translation and transcription services identified in the packet.
Funding and contract details in the meeting packet described the term as three years. The stated dollar figure in the discussion varied in the transcript between "a hundred and 8,002" and "a hundred and $8,000"; the packet indicates the contract is included in the adopted budget. Commissioners said the county will review ownership and retention terms and confirm them in the executed agreement.
The contract is intended to bridge current limitations in the county’s legacy 911 system while Colorado works toward a statewide next‑generation 911 implementation.
