DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - DeSoto County's 911 equipment is used every day, and it's getting old. The county is planning to replace everything with the best technology available.
"It's kind of like when you buy a computer in 2000 and it's good for three or four yeas and at some point the technology has come so far that computer can't upgrade to keep up." That's what the county's 911 centers are like, according to assistant director James Powell.
Every so often, they need to be replaced. For Desoto County that time is now.
"All the hardware needs to be updated," he says. Each emergency center is getting new phone systems, computers and equipment.
"The Southaven Police Department, the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department, Olive Branch police," he says. "All the surrounding agencies have their own dispatch centers. Each one is going to get new equipment.'
Powell says the upgrades will be able to evolve with capabilities currently being developed, like texting 911 and cell phone location tracking.
"The system is accurate and very reliable at the moment, but it will be better. What it's really doing is ensuring that five years from now - two years from now - whenever new technology arrives, we're not going to be playing catch up."
The upgrades should be completed by the end of the year.
