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Sandoval County staff outline timeline to open county-run 911 dispatch center in July 2025
Summary
County and consultants told commissioners the new public safety answering point (PSAP) will complete equipment and training this spring and aim to go live in July 2025; officials described staffing, GIS cleanup and broadband work that support the transition.
Sandoval County officials and outside consultants gave commissioners a high-level update on the county's Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) transition and related technology and staffing work.
Consultants said the PSAP building work should produce a clean room and allow delivery and installation of sensitive 9-1-1 equipment in February, with system configuration, testing and training through the spring and an operational cutover targeted for July 2025.
"The log recorder, that's what records the 911 calls and the radio traffic. That's been ordered and that's actually in production already," said Michael McGrady, principal of MCM Consulting Group, during the presentation. McGrady described a multi-month schedule of equipment installation, data conversion and staff training that he said will let the center "burn in" systems and run training before the final cutover.
Why it matters: a local PSAP consolidates emergency call-taking and dispatch under county control and requires coordinated upgrades to radio consoles, computer-aided dispatch (CAD), records management (RMS), mapping and staffing. Commissioners asked detailed questions about budget, consoles, and the hiring timeline.
What officials told the commission
- Equipment and facility: consultants said a clean room should be ready in February so 9-1-1 hardware and wiring can be installed. Radio consoles, dispatch furniture, call-handling hardware and recording systems were described as either under contract or ordered. "We're going to have our own server and our own data, but we'll be able to take the historical data and convert it over," McGrady said, describing the data migration from the existing system.
- Staffing and training: County staff reported an assistant director and an operations manager are in place; recruitment for supervisors and telecommunicators was posted and slated to close Feb. 5, 2025. McGrady and the county's speakers described layered training: classroom, emergency medical dispatch (EMD) modules, ride-alongs with local responders, and quality-assurance processes.
- GIS/mapping: consultants said an extensive cleanup of addresses and routable points is under way, with field visits to pueblos, towns and villages to assign structure points and correct address mismatches. "If we do not have a routable address, we're not going to be able to send someone to your house," McGrady said, noting a multi-step approach that prioritizes high-call-volume and high-risk areas during the first six months.
- NextGen and video: when asked about next-generation features such as video or FaceTime-style caller media, presenters said those technologies remain under development at the state level and local requirements and implementation paths were still unsettled.
Funding and related programs
Presenters described parallel work on broadband mapping and project design intended to support the PSAP and broader county needs. They also said the county executed a JPA addendum that allows money exchanges with partners and helps move consoles between centers as needed. McGrady said the county did not need to buy new consoles immediately and that major hardware purchases were largely complete.
Commissioner follow-up and concerns
Commissioners pressed presenters on the go-live window, the budget fidelity and hiring prospects. "Are we still on course for the target budget?" Commissioner Jones asked; presenters replied that major ticket items were complete and that smaller software purchases would come forward to the commission. On staffing, county representatives said they were "comfortable" they could recruit and train staff in time for the July transition.
Ending
Presenters said the center would be in active testing and training for roughly a month before cutover to minimize problems on day one. McGrady summarized the cutover expectation by saying, "how long does it take to cut over a 9-1-1 center? I always say 20 minutes because we've worked for two years to get to that 20 minute time."
