911 Board Hears About Plan for Statewide 911 Network

Effingham County 911 Board members Tuesday heard about a plan to develop a statewide 911 network by 2020.

Deb Prather of Neoga is a member of the Illinois 911 Advisory Board. Prather has worked with 911 systems in 1993. She said there are three goals of the statewide initiative; transition to a statewide network, consolidation of some systems in areas that have too many dispatching points, and ensuring adequate revenue to operate.

Prather said the State has requested RFPs from prospective consultants to conduct a feasibility study regarding a statewide network. The RFPs are due by July 1, 2016.

Prather noted that has already been some regionalization of 911 in some parts of the state, but also noted that there are still 13 counties in Illinois without E-911 service. As to the regionalization effort, Prather said, "No one wants to undo what's already been done." She said, though, there needs to be some mandate to get all 102 counties equipped with 911 service. 

Regarding adequate funding, the proposal is to send all 911 surcharge money to the State for distribution, rather than to the individual counties. Prather said there is a proposal that the surcharge would be 87 cents per landline per month. That compares to Effingham County's current surcharge of $2.75/month. The measure would also guarantee county 911s would be reimbursed at the rate of revenue generated in 2013. She said that's good news for 911 systems that are watching their revenue decline as fewer people maintain landlines as years go by.

While Effingham County's rate is $2.75/month, Prather said some suburban counties charge as little as 50 cents/month. That means their rate would rise, and with a much larger population, the difference would more than offset the reduction in rates charged by smaller areas such as Effingham County.

We'll keep you up to date on the move toward a statewide 911 network.

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The 911 Board also discussed a proposal from the County Board's Ambulance Oversight Committee requiring any ambulance service coming into Effingham County at the request of local ambulance systems would have to notify local emergency services that they're here. Effingham Fire Chief Joe Holomy wasn't sure the County initiative would be binding, but liked the idea and suggested they be governed by the MABAS agreement they all operate under to insure compliance. 

Meanwhile, no progress has been made on installing new consoles at the 911 dispatching points as the microwave hop to enact proper communication is not yet in place, then the new consoles can be installed.

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Speaking of 911, it is National Telecommunicator Week, so congratulations and thanks to the T/Cs who serve our area.