About 85 emergency call dispatchers in St. Louis, Carlton, Pine and Lake counties began using a new computer-aided dispatch system this week, one that St. Louis County Sheriff's Office Lt. Kevin Kivisto said is "light years" ahead of the old one.
It's also the first time in Minnesota that four counties have agreed to share a dispatching system, Kivisto said. St. Louis County was forced to seek a new computer-aided system because its old system was no longer supported by the software vendor. Lake County relied on paperwork to track and dispatch emergency responders.
A $937,000 federal appropriation paid for most of the new system. Kivisto was the project manager for implementing the system, though he credited all the county governments for working together.
The new Tiburon CAD system shows emergency dispatchers a broader picture of what resources are available, Kivisto said, even if those resources are across county lines.
When a call comes in, the new system brings up a map of the area on dispatchers' computer screens, and it shows where emergency response teams are located.
ADVERTISEMENT
The system also provides back-up in case one county's system goes down.
St. Louis County dispatchers began using the new system Monday, and Carlton, Pine and Lake counties went live Wednesday. There have been few initial problems, Kivisto said.
Annual 911 call loads in the counties range from about 3,000 in Lake County to about 268,500 in St. Louis County, Kivisto said.
Cook County officials were interested, but had to bow out because of computer limitations, Kivisto said.
