Some Carbondale residents say they will feel safer later this month when 911 service goes on-line for the city after several years of development.

Cliff Manis, Carbondale fire chief and vice chairman of the Jackson County Telephone Emergency System Board, announced at Tuesday’s City Council meeting that the service will begin operation October 16.

Manis said the system, which is going through final testing, willmake Jackson County a safer place to live.

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It will utilize the resources for our emergency services to their maximum potential, he said.

Carbondale residents currently do not have 911 service and must dial a seven-digit number to report an emergency. The SIUC campus has basic 911, which only shows a police dispatcher the number a call is being placed from. The location of the call is then referenced using the phone number.

Bill Crawshaw, the telephone emergency board’s chairperson said the new system will instantly give dispatchers a caller’s phone number, name and location.

Scott Sylvester, the geographic information specialist for the system said Jackson County’s 911 will be one of the best county systems in the state.

He said Jackson County’s new system will dramatically reduce the time it takes to respond to an emergency possibly even cutting it in half.

It’s above and beyond other systems, Sylvester said.

He cited the system’s speed and redundancy as its major strengths. Redundancy means that calls to over-burdened emergency services will be referred to other communities that will be able to serve as back-up when it is needed.

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Several SIUC students said they will feel safer when the system is in place.

Julie Martin, a freshman in early childhood development from Chicago, said she believes the service should already be available and that it will be a good addition.

I think it will make it easier for people to get in touch with the police, she said.

Steve Houck, a senior in biological science, said Carbondale might not be safer with the system, but added that he is glad it is being implemented.

It won’t necessarily make the city safer, but it will make it better protected, he said.

Carolyn Stitzer, coordinator of Jackson County 911, previously said the system will give emergency services a big advantage over their present situation because a caller’s location is known.

If a person has a heart attack and collapses before they say anything, we will know where they’re at, she said.

Manis said the go-ahead for a 911 system was given in late 1990 and that much work has been done to finally make 911 a reality in Jackson County.

It’s been a long difficult journey, and we’re ecstatic we’re at this point, he said.

Installation of the system required all Jackson County addresses to have based on location. Stitzer previously said post office boxes are not acceptable for the system because they do not give the dispatcher information about where help is needed. For example an address that used to read Route 10, Box 45, would now read 123 Giant City Road.

The address changes have been a problem for at least one SIUC strident.

Catina Moosman, a senior in zoology from Belleville, said her mail delivery has been sketchy since her trailer address was changed for the 911 system but that she is still glad the system is arriving.

I think it’s great, she said, especially for kids.

The system is funded by $1.25 surcharge added to telephone bills in Jackson County since 1991, Crawshaw said. Stitzer previously said the total installation cost of 911 will be $357,000.