SALISBURY — Rowan County will be one of 117 primary 911 call centers to receive an improved digital 911 system that promises to have the capability to connect all call centers.

The state intends to link call centers through the AT&T ESINet system by 2020.

The N.C. 911 Board has contracted with AT&T for the seven-year, $99 million project. The contract went into place Sept. 15. The new system will replace one that was built in the 1960s.

“To a caller from within Rowan County, there will be not be any notable difference to begin with,” said 911 Communications Director Allen Cress.

Rowan County contracts with a single company to provide 911 phone services. There are several companies that provide 911 service throughout the state. The upgrade will have AT&T as the only company supplying 911 service for the state, he said.

The change should be an overall cost savings for the state.

“This upgrade should make it easier on the 911 center managers by having only one number to call in the event of an outage at their centers. This will help all of the 911 centers across the state to have numerous avenues of back-ups in case there is an interruption of 911 calls in our county,” Cress said.

Currently, Cabarrus County 911 receives Rowan County calls if the Rowan 911 system loses service for some reason. There is a private phone number, a radio channel and/or inter-operable systems to notify Rowan of the calls that come to the Cabarrus County centers.

The new high-speed connections will enable every center to serve as a back-up for others in the state in the event of a natural disaster or an overload of emergency calls, according to a statement from the N.C. Department of Information Technology.

North Carolina’s existing 911 centers rely on an outdated analog system to communicate with one another. Some centers cannot connect at all.

“These technology improvements are essential to ensure that our 911 operators and our first responders are better equipped to best serve the needs of our citizens,” said Eric Boyette, secretary of the Department of Information Technology.

Boyette also serves as chairman of the N.C. 911 Board, which is part of the Department of Information Technology.

“North Carolina has developed a strong system to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies. This next-generation technology will only make that system better,” Boyette said.

“This partnership to move North Carolina’s 911 system from a legacy analog system to this next generation digital system has been many years in the design stage and will result in a more effective and efficient 911 system for the residents and visitors to North Carolina,” said Richard Taylor, executive director of the N.C. 911 board.

It should improve the quality of service for anyone in the state using 911 services, Cress said.

“This will give us the ability to take calls from anywhere in the state. For an example, after this system in operational, if the 911 system in New Hanover County would need to evacuate for some reason, their calls could be sent to a neighboring county or to any county and that county could take their 911 calls for them. Through predetermined resources and planning, it could be possible for Rowan County to take and dispatch calls in another county that has much of the same dispatching and call taking equipment as we do,” Cress said.

North Carolina will have a more sophisticated ability to route calls based on the caller’s geographic location. The call centers will also be able to manage and route advanced communications such as text messaging to 911.

In the future, the state will be able to receive pictures and videos sent by text message. Already, more than 75 percent of the calls made to 911 in North Carolina come from a mobile device, Taylor said.

“Emergency response is often triggered by a 911 call, so the more information a 911 operator is able to receive and relay, the more prepared first responders will be when they arrive on scene,” said state Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry of the Department of Public Safety. “The ability to communicate easily between all 911 centers will greatly improve the ability of counties to help each other during emergencies.”

Rowan County currently is able to receive text messages to 911 from all cellphone carriers.

“We encourage everyone to ‘call if you can, text if you can’t.’ If at all possible, we would rather be talking to you rather than texting. This could save critical time in life threatening situations,” Cress said.

Cress said what he understands from state officials is that the video technology will be in place closer to 2020.

“Sharing videos and other live-streaming media will require other equipment to be placed in the 911 centers that may or may not be included in the initial upgrade,” he said.

Other benefits of the new technology include:

• A defense-in-depth, private network with multiple layers of security such as firewalls and intrusion detection/prevention. This will help protect North Carolina’s 911 infrastructure from cyberthreats.
• Compatibility with legacy 911 systems and services.

Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.