New computer system to help Chatham Co. dispatchers with more 911 calls

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Chatham County Commissioner Aaron Whitely says a new computer aided dispatch system will be coming to the county soon and it will help free up dispatchers to take more of those 911 calls that are going unanswered.

The Chatham County Commission got an update on the system from program manager Kelvin Lewis. The county has been trying to make their dispatch system run more smooth since they took over 911 calls for all of Chatham County more than four years ago.

“When the county took over and merged the city’s and county’s 911 call operations, there were inefficiencies that were shown that were actually exacerbated in a lot of ways,” said Commissioner Whitely.

Right now, first response agencies have to call dispatchers to get information about an emergency situation occurring. In the works since 2019, the new program would send first responders that information as soon as it’s available.

This way dispatchers aren’t tied up with police and fire officials and can get to your emergency calls.

“It will definitely affect the problem in a positive way but to be honest I think it would be tough to say that we’ll ever be able to fix that problem. The reason being is we don’t have have an infinite amount of dispatchers.”

The system would include all agencies in Chatham County except Tybee Island agencies.

He says that system is expected to hit the ground running sometime in between July and September.

Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.