LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Allen County has completed a major upgrade to its 9-1-1 system.
The county fully implemented next-generation 9-1-1 on Jan. 29, replacing outdated equipment with new hardware designed to be more reliable and secure. The upgrade includes backup systems so emergency calls can continue if a line or data center goes down.
The county invested $186,000 in the system. Officials say one of the biggest improvements is more accurate location information from cellphones, using GPS data instead of relying on cell towers. They hope the more accurate tracking leads to faster response times.
“The data that we get in from our cell phones is it has been vastly improved since our old system was built. So the GPS on your phone is a lot better than triangulating off towers. So we're using that digital information, and with our GIS and our GPS location to validate and give a much more accurate location to the phone calls,” said Jared Gesler, director of Allen County Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
The system also supports texting 9-1-1 from phones and smartwatches, though dispatchers say calling 9-1-1, if you can, is still the fastest way to get help.
