Paul Blasetti, head of city of Medicine hat's 911 call centre.--News photo
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The city’s 911 call centre is preparing for a switch to an all-digital phone system as new national standards are brought in over the next two years, administrators told council last week.
Right now, about 90 per cent of calls into the local centre originate from cellphones, up from 70 per cent two years ago when the federal government announced a schedule to modernize local systems and bring in uniform standards across Canada.
That will require redundancies built into computer systems, new cyber security protocols and aligning global positioning systems to better locate those who need fire, police or ambulances.
“We believe we’re in good place, time-wise and budget-wise,” said Paul Blasetti, manager of call centre operations, which are now under the fire services and emergency management department.
“There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes.”
That work so far includes internal reviews and project development, he said. The city needs to bring in the ability to handle real-time text message calls by March 2022 and be ready to decommission the current system by March 2024.
Afterwards a hardwired landline connection will remain in new consoles at the city’s main and backup 911 operations centres, but regular operations will be all digital, said Blasetti in response to questions by members of the public services committee.
He also said local dispatch services are not affected by changes elsewhere in the province for Alberta Heath Services to now handle ambulance dispatch calls.
In Medicine Hat, 911 operators also book transit rides, handle after hours dispatch for the utility department, bylaw calls, and in downtime, perform background checks that come into the police station.
The city’s centre also handles 911 calls under contract for Redcliff, Bow Island, the County of Forty Mile and Foremost, comprising about 75,000 residents including the Hat.
This year, the province will change 911 fees paid by phone owners. They will essentially double from 44-cents per month to 95-cents, but won’t necessarily double the outlay of grants to centres, said Blasetti.
Since call centres across the province are being reorganized, some secondary centres are being added to the funding scheme, but overall, there should be greater financial support, he said.
