Document text
45 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, November 13, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 5, 2004 Cell phone 9-1-1 calls improve By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Cell phone users will now get quicker responses from police, firefighters and paramedics in an emergency. A computerized mapping system that pinpoints 9-1-1 calls is up and running in Jackson County’s two dispatch centers. The program will be invaluable this winter when hikers, skiers and snowmobile enthusiasts invariably call for help from remote locations, said Millie Tirapelle, director of Southern Oregon Regional Communications. "It just makes it so much easier to find callers who are lost or unfamiliar with the area," Tirapelle said. Previously, cell phone calls could not be traced unless callers could describe their location. Under the new system, dispatchers see a dot on a computer-generated map within less than a second of the initial call. The nearest cell tower relays latitude and longitude coordinates to a database that sends it to the telephone company and then on to a dispatch center. Cell phones must have a global positioning feature that works with the technology. Local dispatchers report that about one-third of their emergency calls come from cell phones. Advertisement Wire-line callers also may get faster 9-1-1 responses because locations of those phone lines show up on the map system. Dispatchers used to receive an address for wire-line callers but had to consult a separate map to direct emergency crews, Tirapelle said. SORC has had the new technology since last month, but the mapping program crashed and was only repaired Thursday, Tirapelle said. The county’s other 9-1-1 call center, Rogue Valley Communications, installed its system Thursday. SORC dispatches for 25 agencies, including the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, county fire districts and eight small city police departments. RV-COM provides services for Medford and Ashland police and fire departments and the airport fire and rescue squad. Jackson joins Josephine, Douglas and nine other counties along the Interstate 5 corridor in using the new system, said Ken Keim, spokesman for Oregon Emergency Management. Jackson was set to be the second county in Oregon to install the software, but the state’s budget crisis of 2003 derailed the project. Mapping technology to locate wireless callers is scheduled to be in place nationwide by January, OEM officials said. Wireless and standard phone users now pay 75 cents per month for the system. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities