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May 1, 2009

Phase Two completed on E-911

Imagine driving on a county road, and suddenly, the car’s motor stops.

Most people would call someone they know for help. Some, however, would call 911.

The 911 caller would immediately be identified by name, address, and location for the dispatcher.

That’s because in Woodward County the second phase of the 911 emergency system has now been completed, according to Shaun Barnett, E-911 coordinator for the city and county.

“If you’re in Woodward County and dial 911, your phone number, your address and the last tower you hit will (be displayed on a computer screen),” Barnett said. “As a caller, you would be plotted on a (computer) map that would provide GPS latitude and longitude, which coordinates where the caller is calling from.

“Just today there was an accident on State Highway 34 and the location that came up from the (cell phone) caller was pretty accurate,” he said.

Barnett said only two counties in Northwestern Oklahoma now are 911 wireless. Those counties are Woodward and Woods.

The reason behind this is the expense of paying to have a wireless system installed and maintained, he said.

“Our funding comes from 911 tax revenues collected from residential land lines and cell phones,” Barnett said.

Woodward County receives 50 cents per cell phone and 15 percent of the base rate of land lines, which amounts to $1.10 to $1.15 per land line per month.

The tax revenue was approved in 2006 by the voters of Woodward County.

Barnett said the dollars collected have been used to ensure the utmost safety to the residents of the county.

When a call comes in, he said, it is intercepted on a computer screen connected to dispatch at the Woodward Police Station.

“The dispatcher can zoom in on the map to locate you,” he said. “Unlike landlines, however, cell phones have static, so the circle on the screen (showing the location) has an error rate. It’s like anything. Cell phones aren’t 100 percent reliable. If you lose service, accuracy level goes down.

“The stronger the signal, the more accurate the information,” he said.

When the county first set up the 911 wireless system, it started with Phase Zero, where a caller’s name and phone number might be provided, like on caller I.D., Barnett said.

Phase One included the tower.

“We at least knew the tower and the direction where the call came from,” he said. “Phase Two actually started plotting the caller.”

“We’ve been able to go in and do this in three years,” he said. “Before, you had to rely on someone’s directions.”

In addition to the latest technology in plotting calls, there are now more dispatchers used to intercept the calls, Barnett said.

“Currently, we dispatch for the Woodward Police Department, the EMS, and the fire departments in Sharon, Mutual, Mooreland and Fort Supply and Woodward,” he said. “We do take the 911 calls for Woodward County.”

The dispatchers take many calls.

For example in March, “we took 427 911 cell phone calls and 155 land line 911 calls for a total of 592 911 calls,” he said. “With other calls for the police department, we received 4,705 calls for March. These are calls officers responded to.

“In February, we took more cell phone calls, but landline calls were down,” he said.

More dispatchers are often called into help when response is needed for grass fires and other emergencies.

“The other night for the thunderstorm, we had another dispatcher brought in to help handle calls,” Barnett said. “We would call in more dispatchers for special occasions as well, such as the Fourth of July. We have 10 dispatch positions, of which one is a supervisor.”

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