9-1-1 Panel is Hopeful Reboot is Answer
To keep an aging console system serving dispatch centers humming along until its long-awaited, long-planned replacement, DeSoto’s Emergency 9-1-1 District Commission will look into reboots — but will take care not to kick the system off-kilter.
The matter came up last week with the May–June report of Jim Marineau, president of tower operations and maintenance contractor Integrated Communications of Memphis.
“There were several console issues,” said Marineau. “They seem to be occurring with more frequency, and it’s largely because the consoles are just old and tired.”
On May 5, he said, the console interface module at the Star Landing communications tower had to be reset for consoles at the DeSoto Sheriff’s dispatch center. On May 30, two console positions were down at the Southaven Police dispatch site, so power was reset for all units and there was another reset of the module at the Star Landing tower.
On May 15, according to his report, console No. 3 at the sheriff’s center showed an “unexpected file format” error, and console files were reloaded from the archive.
“Basically, it lost its marbles,” said Marineau.
“You can’t put it in better words than that,” said 9-1-1 commissioner Bobby Storey, DeSoto’s Emergency Management director.
Marineau, noting a similar problem dealt with in Dyersburg, Tenn., suggested regular rebooting of the computers in the dispatch centers to clear out bugs. Bill Dahl of Southaven, commission chairman, agreed with Marineau that low-volume time periods were preferred, and Commissioner Jerry McCarson of Walls said staggered reboots under dispatch managers’ supervision also would be a good idea.
“Just make sure you don’t do all the reboots at one time,” said McCarson.
“The system wouldn’t crash,” said Marineau, “but it could make a difficult situation.”
The district’s deputy director, Scott Powell, said he’ll contact dispatch managers on the reboot process.
In the near future, at a cost estimated from $8 million–$12 million, the district plans to replace and upgrade the 9-1-1 and radio infrastructure computer-driver system, nearing the end of its optimal life span, said DeSoto 9-1-1 director Debby Dunnaway. The project includes the consoles that receive emergency calls and the radio units used by dispatchers, said Dunnaway.
“There’s a subcommittee studying a new system, and hopefully by the end of the year the district will have a decision made,” said Marineau. “It’s definitely in the works.”
In other matters, Marineau reported that on June 2 at the Star Landing site, a bad battery module was replaced in the backup power system. On June 8 there was good news, as the backup power system for the Hernando tower passed an outage test.
“We responded to the Hernando site after a storm went through,” said Marineau. “It knocked down a tree that took out a power line to the tower. The utility company took care of the line and our backup system worked fine.”
The commission also approved $43,072 in monthly district expenditures, which is lower than average.
“That’s pretty good; we’ll take that,” said Dahl.
The district commission oversees four 9-1-1 towers and five dispatch centers across the county.