Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
St. Joseph County to upgrade 911 lines, staff say move to fiber will improve redundancy and reduce recurring costs
Summary
The board approved a contract proposal with AT&T to transition 911 trunks from copper to fiber, add redundancy between the main and backup centers, and upgrade phone and Internet systems; staff projected roughly $3,400/month in savings and emphasized redundancy for reliability.
St. Joseph County commissioners approved a contract proposal with AT&T on Jan. 27 to replace aging copper 911 trunks with fiber and upgrade phone and internet infrastructure at the county 911 center and its backup facility.
Sal Parisi of the St. Joseph County 9-1-1 Center summarized the technical rationale: copper feeds are older, costlier to maintain, and present single points of failure; fiber will add bandwidth, improve synchronization between the main and backup centers, and create redundancy that allows simultaneous call-answering at both centers. Parisi told commissioners the upgrade should increase reliability and reduce monthly recurring costs by an estimated $3,400 and roughly $41,000 annually.
Following the presentation, the commissioners moved, seconded and approved the AT&T contract proposal by voice vote. Staff emphasized that the project is intended to improve emergency-call handling reliability and create a redundant link between facilities.
