MORGANTON, N.C. (August 5, 2014)—Burke County, N.C., announced today that the opening of its new consolidated 9-1-1 center has been postponed due to connectivity issues between the facility and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol’s radio system. The opening had been scheduled for July 23, 2014.

Final testing of the 9-1-1 center’s communications systems began early in July 2014 after the State Highway Patrol completed software upgrades of its systems the previous month. Although initial tests of the 9-1-1 center’s communications systems indicated all were performing as designed, a final test the day before the scheduled opening revealed the connectivity issue.

“This issue resulted in a loss of audio, both receiving and transmitting, which is not a recipe for success for first responders in the field,” said Candy Strezinski, Burke County public safety answering point (PSAP) director. “The issue seemed to exacerbate during severe weather, such as when a thunderstorm passed through the area. That’s a big problem, because it is during such events when first responders are busiest. So we need to ensure that we have solid connectivity between our new 9-1-1 center and the Highway Patrol’s radio system.”

There is a bright side to the delay, as it has caused Burke County to rethink its current connectivity solution—T1 lines provided by a local telephone service provider—according to Sid McConahy, program manager for Mission Critical Partners, a public safety communications consulting firm that is supporting the county as it migrates to its new 9-1-1 center.

“Because of the Highway Patrol’s upgrade, the county now has the ability to go in an entirely new direction, which actually will improve the connectivity overall,” McConahy said.

Though several options are being explored, the most likely scenario involves fiber-optic technology providing the primary connectivity, with microwave technology eventually deployed as a backup system. Both are broadband technologies that offer considerably more bandwidth than T1 lines. In addition, fiber and microwave systems both can be configured in such a manner that single points of failure are eliminated, resulting in improved redundancy and resiliency. Consequently, a combined fiber/microwave solution will provide better support to Burke County’s Next Generation 9-1-1 system, which is capable of handling high-bandwidth applications such as video, and of rerouting traffic to, and sharing data with, neighboring PSAPs.

“We’re talking to vendors right now about various solutions, pricing and timelines,” Strezinski said. “As soon as we have that information we’ll be able to issue a new ‘go live’ date.”

This is the second time that the opening has been delayed. The original “go live” date was in March 2014, but construction of the 9-1-1 center was slowed primarily by the harsh winter weather that the region experienced.

The new center consolidates the emergency dispatch functions of four entities: Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Burke County Emergency Medical Services, and the cities of Morganton and Valdese. The center is receiving new telephone and radio systems, as well as an upgraded computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. In addition to the new Motorola VHF high band radio system, new Motorola consoles that are compatible with those being used by the State Highway Patrol also are being deployed.

“The fact that the consoles will interoperate with those at the Highway Patrol will make it easier to share information, which in turn will speed emergency response,” Strezinski said. “This is vital when every second counts.”