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Belmont County 9‑1‑1 director says NextGen 911 transition improves location accuracy and enables text‑to‑911
Summary
Belmont County 9‑1‑1 Director Bryan Minder told commissioners the county moved to the state’s NextGen 911 system on March 3, becoming the 15th county in Ohio to transition; the IP‑based system supports text‑to‑911 and is funded partly by a $0.60 fee on smart devices.
Bryan Minder, Belmont County 9‑1‑1 Director, reported to the Board of Commissioners on March 25 that the county transitioned to the statewide NextGen 911 system on March 3.
“On March 3 we went ahead and we went over to the new system that’s run by a company called Comtech that’s contracted with the State of Ohio to do the Next Generation 911, we were the 15th county in Ohio to do it,” Minder said. He described the system as digital and IP‑based with state‑wide backups, saying it improves location accuracy for cell phone calls and that text‑to‑911 is now available.
Minder told the commissioners the system is funded in part by a $0.60 fee charged on smart devices and noted that language including NextGen is included in the Radio Improvement upgrade levy. The director characterized the upgrade as a statewide initiative with a five‑year window for counties to transition.
The update to NextGen 911 could affect emergency response capabilities by improving caller location data and by allowing texts to 9‑1‑1, but the presentation contained no operational timeline for further local rollouts or additional costs beyond the device fee cited. The county did not announce changes to local staffing or dispatch procedures at the March 25 meeting.
