They have waited to make the move since mid-2013, but delays occurred with getting the new generation of 9-1-1 equipment installed.

Telecommunicators 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 were some additional costs but they were handled through reserve accounts.

At 6 a.m. the county’s 9-1-1 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 9-1-1 calls, but then began forwarding them to Franklin County telecommunicators.

At 10:45 a.m., the new 9-1-1 system went live and telecommunicators were back taking calls directly, Wheeler said.

Representatives from a variety of agencies and companies, including Maine 9-1-1 Emergency Services Communications Bureau, Somerset County Technical Services and FairPoint Communications, the vendor that installed the 9-1-1 system, were on hand to make sure everything went smoothly.

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

The next generation 9-1-1 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. “In my entire working career this is the largest project I’ve overseen. The largest project I’ve done,” he said.