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Macomb County staff recommend replacing ATOSS after repeated 911 call failures; move to full board
Summary
After months of service-impacting outages and more than 700 support tickets with the county's ATOSS 911 call-handling system, staff presented a five-year, $2.28 million proposal to adopt Axon's Apex 911 system and recommended terminating ATOSS; the board voted 10-0 to move the purchase to the full board for final approval.
County staff on Tuesday told the Macomb County Board of Commissioners that recurring audio failures, dropped calls and frequent system outages tied to the county's ATOSS 911 call-handling system require a replacement and asked the board to move a proposed five-year contract with Axon for its Apex 911 platform to the full board.
The county's emergency communications manager (presented as Miss Elsie) told commissioners that the ATOSS system was selected after a 2023 evaluation to meet next-generation 911 (NG911) requirements, but that the vendor's platform has produced repeated issues since the sheriff's dispatch center went live in August 2025. The presenter said supervisors have opened more than 724 service tickets for audio degradation, one-way audio incidents, data-center outages, unresponsive workstations and other interruptions that, in some cases, required manual interventions or caused callers to hang up. Staff said they always reconnected callers and ultimately made contact, but the interruptions create unacceptable operational risk for an essential public-safety function.
The proposed replacement would be a five-year agreement with Axon for the Apex 911 call-handling system. The total five-year cost, including implementation and recurring fees, is $2,282,070, with first-year subscription, third-party expenses and implementation invoiced at $644,599. Staff said that compared with the county's share of the current ATOSS arrangement, the Axon proposal represents a reduction of approximately $1.66 million over its term, though final financial impact related to terminating the ATOSS contract remains subject to equitable-adjustment discussions.
Commissioners probed technical details and risks: whether existing hardware could be reused, the contract's termination penalties and refund prospects, whether the vendor's data centers meet redundancy and power requirements, and whether the system supports live-language translation for non-English callers. Staff said Axon uses geographically diverse data centers and the Amazon GovCloud and that the platform tested in site visits handled live-translation and multiple media types; staff also said IT and radio-shop personnel repeatedly worked with the vendor on on-site troubleshooting and that most unresolved incidents were attributable to the ATOSS vendor environment.
Legal counsel and the sheriff's office participated in the discussion. County legal counsel advised that the contract has a termination-for-convenience provision that the county can use; a representative said they had reviewed the termination language and considered it a viable path. Sheriff Wickersham told the board deputies had not experienced dropped calls in the field because county dispatchers worked to reestablish contact and forward the necessary information, but he supported the staff recommendation to ensure reliable call handling.
After the presentation and questions, the board voted 10-0 to recommend the Axon contract to the full board. Staff said they will pursue equitable-adjustment discussions with ATOSS for outstanding milestones and invoicing before the full-board vote.
The full board is expected to consider final approval at the next board meeting; staff emphasized that terminating ATOSS without a secured replacement would create an unacceptable service gap.
