Next Generation of 9-1-1

Ravenna City Council approve a new system to make 9-1-1 calls from cell phones more effective. The announcement was made at the Ravenna City Council meeting Monday night.

The new equipment will use AT&T cellphone towers to track the location of the caller. Ravenna City Council President Joseph Bica said the information collected from the tower is used to “trangulate your position”.

“What it does is it takes information from your phone and that data can be transferred to police, fire or EMS trucks,” said Bica.

The cost for the equipment is estimated at $1.10 million. According to Ryan Shakelford, Director of Portage County Emergency Management, this is the next generation of 9-1-1.

Ravenna, Kent, Kent State and Streetsboro are collaborating on the equipment. The city of Aurora purchased its own equipment.

“There is a selective router located in Kent. All wireless 9-1-1 calls outside the city of Aurora are going to go to this location,” said Shakelford.

The equipment, according to Shakelford, could take 6 months or more to install.

Upgrades to the equipment includes texting and video sharing.