At 9:11 a.m. Tuesday morning Hamilton County residents have an Enhanced 9-
1-1 system. An Enhanced 9-1-1 system, now allows the telecommunicators at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office the ability to receive both the caller’s phone number, as well as the caller,s address, before today, all the telecommunciator’s received was a call back number.
The “Official” first call was placed in the Rotunda of the Hamilton County Courthouse, with representatives from the E-911 Board, County Board, City of McLeansboro Mayor and Village Clerk, McLeansboro Fire Department, County Office Holders, as well as, representatives from U.S. Senator Richard Durbin’s Office and U.S. Representative John Shimkus’s Office.
Illinois Representative John Bradley placed one of the “Official” first calls this morning.
Representative Bradley was able to pass legislation to allow Hamilton County to use funds from an unused ambulance fund to be directed towards the implementation of 9-1-1 in Hamilton County.
Today’s announcement and official call allows land-line 9-1-1 calls to be answered by Hamilton County, and work is continuing and in a few weeks cellular 9-1-1 calls will be re-directed from surrounding counties, back to Hamilton County as well.
Telecommunciators are now armed with several new pieces of technology, which includes the Enhanced 9-1-1 equipment, but a digital map, that includes mapping of surrounding counties and now instant playback and voice recording equipment. The Sheriff’s Office also has had several security upgrades as well as a back-up power source.
Hamilton County received an order to operate in December 2015, from the Illinois Commerce Commission, who was the 9-1-1 Authority prior to January 1. Within six months the system was up and running and now serving the citizens of Hamilton County.
The 9-1-1 equipment and network is provided by both Frontier and InDigital, Call Logging equipment by Nelson Systems, Mapping by Spatial Data Research. The E-911 Board has been forward thinking and have purchased equipment that is Next Generation 9-1-1 capable, it is just waiting to be enabled, while that will be required by law in 2020, Hamilton County hopefully will be there by the end of 2016.
