Editors Note: This is the second in a series of thre articles that examine issues surrounding Athens County's 911 system.

The new millennium will bring new technology for the Athens County 911 Emergency Communications Center.

The completion of the Enhanced 911 Geographic Information System, or E911 GIS, in January 2000 will enable 911 dispatchers to track emergency vehicles and locate callers on a digital map, said Doug Bentley, 911 chief of operations.

A PC-based system, the E911 GIS, will tie into phone lines and create a series of blinking locator dots on a map of the county. Because of the graphic representation, the system will allow 911 dispatchers to relay directions to the drivers of emergency vehicles, he said.

The Columbus-based electronic company, Emergi Tech, is building the $80,000 system, which was initially proposed and demonstrated in 1993, Bentley said.

In 1995, Athens County Engineer R.J. Stanley said his department began the three-step process of creating the orthographic photographs that are the basis for the E911 GIS digital maps.

After placing a series of control monuments throughout the county for points of reference, the department took and compiled several aerial photographs of the county in 1996, he said.

The department then created the orthographic or "super accurate," photos, which were taken from the aerial photographs of the county in 1997, Stanley said.

The final stage of the mapping process for the E911 GIS is being finished by a team of Ohio University students for the Institute for Local Government Administration Rural Development, he said.

Using property line and partial map information from the Athens County Auditor's Office, the students are transferring the orthographic photos into an all-digital map, Stanley said.

In addition to the mapping capabilities, the E911 GIS will provide 911 with the hardware for a basic form of Automatic Location Identification technology for wireless phone calls. The system also will serve as the groundwork for more advanced location identification services.

Although the agency's current technology only identifies the location of a caller who is using a wireline phone, the basic ANI will enable dispatchers to locate a person calling from a wireless, or cellular phone, within a five-mile radius of their location.

"If we receive a call from a cell phone, we won't see where they are," said Curt Jago, 911 dispatcher. "The cell phone (locator) technology will help out a lot, because cell phones don't even come up as a return number."

Unlike other forms of cellular location, which require modifications to cell phones, the basic ANI locates wireless callers by identifying which cell tower the caller's signal is using.

This basic level of wireless ANI will satisfy Phase I of a Federal Communications Commission mandate, entitled Wireless E911.

The mandate requires wireless carriers to make enhanced 911 features, including location and number identification, available to emergency communication centers, according to a Feb. 3 statement from Thomas J. Sugrue, chief of the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

By April 1, 1998, wireless carriers were required to implement the first phase of the mandate, including automatic number identification and cell site information on 911 calls, according to Sugrue's statement.

Phase I also is required for emergency communication centers to enact Phase II because the second section only applies if the carrier receives a service request from an agency that has the GIS hardware. The agency also has to have the ability to pay for the second phase services, according to Sugrue's statement.

The second phase, which will require carriers to provide the technology to determine a wireless caller's location within 400 feet, has to be offered by October 1, 2001, according to Sugrue's statement.

In Athens County, the second phase will enable dispatchers to pinpoint cell phone callers to within 43 feet of their location by triangulating a signal among the three nearest emergency radio towers in the caller's area, Bentley said.

"Although Phase I isn't the best method (for location), it is the first step in cellular location technology," Bentley said.