HIAWASSEE, Ga. – Towns County Sole Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw, joined by Towns County 911 Director Marty Roberts, held a special-called meeting at the courthouse Tuesday, July 2, to sign a contract approving an upgraded 911 computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system for emergency services. “It’s been time to upgrade it,” Commissioner Bradshaw said, adding, “We’re at the point where we’re ready to move forward with it.”

Towns County Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw (left) with 911 Director Marty Roberts

911 Director Roberts explained that the improved system will be custom-tailored to Towns County, and that the program is expected to be up and running in early 2020. The cost of the enhanced system totals nearly $213,000, a price which Bradshaw defined as a “tremendous amount of money.” The charge is roughly half of the amount that the commissioner expected to spend on the program upon taking office, however, and Bradshaw expressed approval, referencing computer-aided dispatch as “the heartbeat of 911.”

911 dispatchers will receive additional training prior to the introduction of the advanced system, and the hardware and software – with servers, links, and terminals – are included in the modernized package. Roberts said that mobile CADs will be installed in ambulances for the first-time in county history, allowing paramedics to view precise locations of medical emergencies on maps, while exchanging critical information with the call center. The system will subsequently reduce radio traffic, freeing talk-time over the airwaves. The same company which has provided CAD service in Towns County for more than a decade will supply the innovated program.