With the passage of Bill 5236, Missouri’s Saint Charles County Council has approved an overhaul of its 911 capabilities. As KSDK-TV reports, the current emergency system was set up when the majority of calls still came in via landlines. Modernizing the system will allow better coordination and response times with cell phone users, who account for approximately 85 percent of the emergency calls.
County Director of Emergency Communications Jeff Smith said that the more accurate routing available with the new equipment can even pinpoint a specific cell phone, rather than narrowing it down to the nearest cell tower. Residents and responders located in the municipalities of Wentzville, Lake St. Louis, O’Fallon and St. Charles will be the chief beneficiaries of the upgrade.
Officials estimate the new 911 system will take up to 18 months to install, and will cost about $12 million in total. Costs are expected to be spread out over the next seven years as improvement to hardware, software and call routing are rolled out. The St. Charles County’s capital improvement sales tax is expected to fund roughly 55 percent of the costs, with contributions received from the other participating counties.
“911 is the one service that almost everybody will need at some point in their life,” County Executive Steve Ehlmann told KSDK-TV. “And when you need it — it’s the most important thing in your life.”
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