Douglas County commissioners are spending $125,751 to assure every caller to the county’s Emergency Communications Center can be located even if those who call are unable to give an address.

And commissioners say the investment in an enhanced 911 system for wireless communications will be worth the cost.

“No doubt about it,” Commissioner Bob Johnson said. “We’ll do it one time and have state-of-the-art equipment in place from day one.”

Commissioners unanimously endorsed a plan Monday to start an enhanced 911 system within six months. They agreed to spend:

• $89,362 on new equipment and software, including six new work stations for emergency dispatchers.
• $22,193 for phone connections and related fees, including additional lines to help handle calls during peak times.
• $14,196 to cover recurring operational costs, including software maintenance.

Three weeks ago, officials estimated that it would take about $40,000 to get the system up and running.

But Monday’s decision to spend more money will cover the expense of safeguards meant to extend the system’s service life and reliability, officials said.

Dispatchers will get new work stations later this year not only because they’ll be better equipped to handle data from wireless calls, said Jim Denney, the county’s director of emergency communications. The new stations also will be expected to last for five to seven years, instead of the three to five years remaining on the current models.

The county could wait to replace them, but doing so could jeopardize public safety, said Ron Olin, Lawrence police chief and chairman of the county’s 911 Advisory Board. The center has only six stations to handle the 50,000 calls that come in each year.

“If something breaks, we go to five,” Olin told commissioners, noting that the county could buy the equipment with money dedicated for wireless E-911. “This is really a very intelligent time to make this kind of change.”

Wireless companies that do business in the county will have up to six months to provide proper location data for 911 calls.

Financing for the new wireless E-911 system is coming from the state.

Beginning July 1, the state started collecting 50 cents a month from users of wireless phones in Kansas. Douglas County anticipates getting about $120,000 during the first year; remaining 911 expenses are covered by fees paid by users of traditional, land-line phones, who pay 75 cents a month.