HUNTINGTON — Over $2 million in upgrades to Cabell County 911 center's systems will go live this month, putting to rest outdated equipment and improving public safety.
Upgrading the center's radio system and the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system is something Director Nazim Abbess said he knew was needed when he started in 2022. However, he never imagined both projects coming to fruition at the same time.
"I had a schedule, a plan of how I wanted to do it. I wanted to prioritize what needed done first, but as it worked out through the county commission and through the congressional spending, it all came to fruition at the same time... and it's a good thing," Abbess said.
The Motorola radio system went 100% live on Thursday, with slight tweaks on Friday. The center's new CAD system will go live Tuesday, Dec. 17, and will be a work in progress through Thursday, Abbess said.
A CAD system is a platform that helps emergency responders handle incoming calls, dispatch resources and track incidents. CAD systems record all available data about an incident, including the status and location of responders.
The previous CAD system was over 20 years old and had limited features, Abbess said
"I have had to buy parts for it off of eBay to keep it running, so that's why it (a new system) was necessary," Abbess said.
Abbess said the new CAD system will connect with Cabell County law enforcement's reporting system to help streamline record keeping.
The CAD system allows information collected by 911 dispatchers to be dispersed when assigned to law enforcement officials, and that information can be used for documenting police reports, he said.
The new CAD system will also automatically pull up information of frequent callers.
Abbess said the system will be huge for public safety in Cabell County and can tell a dispatcher which first responder or officer is closest to a caller. Using Automatic Vehicle Location, devices in ambulances and other first responder vehicles report back to the system for dispatchers to see.
"Like something for EMS, it (the system) will look on the map, pinpoint the call, and then it will show the next or the closest available unit, like the ambulance," Abbess said.
The CAD system will also work in first responders' vehicles in the field and they will be able to access directions when responding to calls, he added.
The CAD system upgrade has been in the works for approximately a year. Abbess said he is both excited and nervous for the new CAD system to go live.
"With all change there is hiccups, so I'm excited because you know we are getting this new equipment," Abbess said. "It's also change, so that makes me nervous. We'll get through it but I'm excited. It's really, really great technology."
The CAD system costs $1.025 million over a five-year period, Abbess said. The center's new Motorola radio system was $1.5 million and was funded by congressionally directed spending from U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
"The dispatch system that was currently in place here was basically original with the building, the building was built around 2009, so it was just time,' Abbess said.
He said a lot of Cabell County 911's back-up radios were all out of date and were not even serviced by Motorola anymore.
Cabell County 911 also sent out its final routes for the county's re-addressing project. The last three routes hwent out this week for Barboursville. Abbess said the center still needs to work on re-addressing for several subdivisions and small pockets, but he is relieved that the bulk of the two-and-a-half year project is near completion.
The project is a state-mandated change to every address statewide to give every location a "city style" address. Abbess said Cabell was the last county in the state to undergo the project.
The plan allows for one address point for every 5.28 feet, with even addresses on the right side and odd addresses on the left side of the road. First responders will know that an address of 1000 will be exactly one mile out of a specific road and on the right side, which will aid in the rapid location of a caller or emergent incident, according to the Cabell County 911 website.