PAUL FALLON, Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia)

The Kanawha County Metro 911 Board will be getting a new million-dollar, computer-aided dispatch system.

The Metro 911 board voted unanimously Wednesday to purchase the system from New World Systems for $1,039,000, said Rick Atkinson, vice chairman of the board.

Atkinson said the Metro 911 board members negotiated with the company to get updated software and additional services included in the base price. This resulted in a savings of about $295,000, he said.

“Those services would have been add-ons, but we got them to include it in the price,” he said.

A computer-aided dispatch system organizes geographical information about an area. It also tells the 911 dispatcher what resources are available for a call, Atkinson said.

The system also can give the 911 dispatcher the call history from a specific location.

“Say for instance there is a call of domestic violence from a location,” Atkinson said. “The system tells the dispatcher if there is a history of domestic violence calls coming from that location and when the calls were made.”

The system also records all information about a call, such as response time and what units responded, he said.

The money will come from the board’s general fund budget, Atkinson said. The software for the system will cost $410,000 and the hardware, $189,000. The installation of the software and testing of the equipment will cost about $350,000.

The remainder of the cost comes from other products associated with the system as well as a performance bond and travel expenses for technical support, Atkinson said.

The cost of the product will be spread over a 10-year period. The board is currently discussing financing options with third-party lenders, he said. The first payment is not due until April 2013.

The cost also includes 24-hour technical support and all software updates in the coming years.

This is the first computer-aided dispatch system upgrade at the 911 center in 12 years. The center was in dire need of a new system, he said. When asked to compare the two systems, Atkinson said it was like comparing an iPad to an old Atari gaming system.

“And the company that we purchased our last CAD (computer aided dispatch) off of was purchased by another company,” he said. “So we haven’t had any software updates or technical support for a number of years.”

There will be no interruption of services when the new system begins operating. It will be installed over time and become fully operational in October.

Dispatchers will continue to use the old system until the new one is up and running. The new system must be operational and glitch-free for 45 consecutive days before the county Metro 911 Center officially owns it, Atkinson said.

Technicians will begin installing the new system in March or April. They will test the system to make sure it is totally operational before it is activated.

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