Josh Jarman, The Columbus Dispatch – A technology upgrade planned for the Franklin County 911 dispatch center will lay the groundwork for residents to someday request help by text or video message, Sheriff Zach Scott said yesterday.

Scott unveiled plans for more than $560,000 in updates to the county’s 911 equipment that he said will speed the response of officers and fire and medical personnel in emergencies.

In a few years, he said, the county will be able to build upon the planned upgrades so that 911 dispatchers can receive text messages, photos and videos sent by cellphone.

From a law-enforcement standpoint, Scott said, the additional features of “next-generation” 911 technology could lead to faster responses and quicker arrests in criminal investigations.

“Speed is important when someone’s life is on the line,” he said.

Tom Welch, systems administrator for the sheriff’s office, said that allowing 911 dispatchers to receive and respond with text messages could make it possible to glean important information quickly — and, more important, quietly — when the caller is in a threatening situation such as a break-in.

The upgrade also is expected to help dispatchers locate calls made by voice-over-the-Internet applications that aren’t always tied to street addresses.

The sheriff’s office expects to receive more than 120,000 emergency calls this year, with about 75 percent coming from wireless phones.

County commissioners are expected to approve the sheriff’s budget request at a meeting today.

Commissioner Marilyn Brown said yesterday that she supports the new technology. She wants to make sure that any new system will work with prepaid and no-contract phones, which she said is the main form of communication for many county residents.

The money for the upgrades will be paid from the county’s cut of a statewide wireless 911 fund, which is set to expire at year’s end. The state’s county-commissioners and sheriffs associations plan to petition the legislature to ensure that funding continues, Board of Commissioners President Paula Brooks said.

“People’s lives are at stake,” she said. “People’s safety and the safety of their children are at stake. That’s why this is so important.”