FARMINGTON — Franklin County dispatchers moved across County Way on Friday morning and into the new Franklin County Regional Communications Center.

They have waited to make the move since mid 2013, but delays occurred with getting the new generation of 911 equipment installed.

Dispatchers went from about a 230-square-foot work area in the Sheriff’s Department building to 2,200 square feet in the new building. Voters in the county approved a bond for nearly $600,000 in June 2012 to build the center. There was some additional costs but they were handled through reserve accounts.

At 6 a.m. the county’s 911 calls were being answered by the Central Maine Regional Communications Center in Augusta, Franklin County center Director Stan Wheeler said.

A series of equipment moves, system checks and testing followed. The Augusta center continued to take the 911 calls, but then began forwarding them to Franklin County dispatchers.

At 10:45 a.m., the new 911 system went live and dispatchers were back taking calls directly, Wheeler said.

Representatives from a variety of agencies and companies, including Maine 911 Emergency Services Communications Bureau, Somerset County Technical Services and FairPoint Communications, the vendor that installed the 911 system, were on hand to make sure everything went smoothly.

Dispatchers got accustomed to the new stations and equipment. The work stations can be electronically moved by pushing a button to allow dispatchers to either sit down and work or stand.

The next generation 911 system has better tracking ability to identify where a caller on a cellphone is located, Wheeler said.

In the future, the system will have the ability to receive texts and track them. Way down the road, it will be able to receive videos, he said.

The mapping system is significantly better and has more clarity, he said.

With the move comes a new telephone number for non emergencies. The number for the communications center is 778-6140. People calling in complaints or who need services should call that number, he said.

The 778-2680 number, which formerly rang into the communications center, will ring in the Sheriff’s Department. If somebody wants an accident report or to talk to the sheriff or deputies, they need to call that number, Wheeler said.

“In my entire working career this is the largest project I’ve overseen. The largest project I’ve done,” he said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

Franklin County Regional Communications Center

New telephone number: 778-6140

New address: 124 County Way, Farmington

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