PARIS — Oxford County commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday morning to allow the Oxford County Regional Communications Center to spend $10,000 for computer software to streamline and expedite medical and fire calls.
James Miclon, director of the communications center, said the center is one of three selected by the state’s Emergency Services Communication Bureau to convert to a Fire Priority Dispatch System.
The others are Portland Fire Dispatch and Cumberland County Regional Communications Center in Windham.
Miclon said he was hoping to purchase the software soon, but was waiting to hear whether the state would pay for it.
“We learned that the state would not fund the component, so we’re asking you to allow the RCC to use available funding monies that we have to purchase the product through Spillman Technologies,” he said.
Miclon said $6,300 would come from the center’s capital equipment account and the remaining $3,700 from its equipment repair account.
Communications center Deputy Director Geff Inman said the software offered by Spillman Technologies will work with the center’s emergency medical dispatch protocols and the new fire priority dispatch protocols.
The software, Miclon said, “is an important component for expediting dispatch services to first responders, and streamlining dispatchers’ ability to give correct, viable information.”
Melissa Adams, shift supervisor for the communications center, said the new software would reduce dispatching time and reduce errors.
“The way things work now is that the call-taker gathers and verifies the information from a caller, such as their address and their name,” Adams said. “There’s some margin of error between the verification of the information and the input and dispatching of the information to first responders. With this new interface, the person verifying the information is going to input the information, too. It eliminates the margin of error.”
Commissioners Dave Duguay of Byron, Steve Merrill of Norway and Tim Turner of Buckfield voted to approve the expenditure.
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