Jackson County 911 service made its debut Monday and although the system is running problem-free, administrators say the service will get even better with time.

The system presently gives dispatchers a caller’s name, location, phone number and emergency services for the location, an improvement over the old system where that information was provided by the caller or looked-up in county reference materials, administrators say.

Because the service will incorporate Computer Aided Dispatch software, administrators have a myriad of options to improve 911, said Glenn Seeber, secretary of the Jackson County 911 Board.

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One improvement Seeber said officials are working on a system that will eventually give emergency workers a map showing where a emergency is located. He said this could be instantly carried out by 911 computers.

Seeber said this could work great with services such as the fire department.

They could just rip that (the map) off the printer as they get in the truck, he said.

The system could handle giving even more detailed information, Seeber said. It could notify dispatchers if a caller is disabled or if workers should expect a vicious dog when they show up at a site.

Seeber said the locations of farm ponds and fire hydrants could also be put in the mapping system to facilitate service to rural areas.

There’s so many fine details that could be added in, Seeber said.

He said some of these options may burden the service more than they help, however.

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On the surface it sounds like a good idea, Seeber said of installing specific information into the system. The problem is keeping it up.

Keeping tabs on disabled households, for example, would be a never-ending process because people move to different residences, he said.

Seeber said the 911 board formed a committee to look at the options available to improve the system.

Besides streamlining the dispatching process, 911 may have other benefits.

Seeber said the system will keep a caller history log that will let emergency workers know how many times a caller has used the system.

He said this could alert officials to places where problems such as domestic abuse occur repeatedly.

Seeber said it is too early to accurately say when the options will be in place, but said he hopes it is within a year.

It depends on whether we find a vendor that has a package we want, he said.

Seeber said even though the service is running, Jackson County residents should still expect to see the $1.25 fee that has funded 911 since 1991.

More than $1.8 million has been collected through the fees, Seeber said. $1.2 million of this money has already been spent to get the system where it presently is, he said. Another $225,000 will have to be paid to GTE for an installation fee, a seven year maintenance contract and a lease deposit on the system’s equipment.

Seeber said the board chose to lease equipment so it would not be stuck with obsolete hardware down the road.

It gives us more flexibility, he said.

Administrators and dispatchers both say the service’s first day went well.

There weren’t any problems, Carbondale Firechief Cliff Manis said. Manis is also vice chairman of the 911 board.

One dispatcher said although 911 is an emergency system, those were not the kinds of calls she has received so far.

Most of the calls I got were people calling to see if it works, Dispatcher Nancy Harsy said.