Georgetown, Del., April 2, 2008: The number for 911 in Sussex County is still the same. Only the address has changed.

Sussex County on Wednesday, April 2, 2008, activated its new 911 Emergency Operations Center, a $13 million state-of-the-art facility that will give dispatchers more room and modern equipment to handle the tens of thousands of fire, medical and police calls received annually.

The 18,000-square-foot facility located on Rudder Lane at the Sussex County Airport replaces the cramped, bunker-style building dispatchers have used since the late 1970s. The new facility can accommodate up to 16 dispatchers at one time, with room to expand to 22 in the future as the county and the number of calls grow.

County dispatchers work within the center to alert firefighters and medical services to emergency calls. Delaware State Police dispatchers also work from the same location, dispatching troopers and other police. All dispatchers moved early this morning from the old EOC, about 350 yards away, to the new building.

The new complex features a number of improvements and amenities, such as state-of-the-art telephone technology to ensure 911 calls go through, dedicated space for large-scale emergency incidents, and construction to withstand extreme winds up to 120 mph. County officials broke ground on the new facility in early 2006.

“The opening today of our new Emergency Operations Center is a proud moment for Sussex County,” said County Administrator David B. Baker. “With this new modern facility, our dispatchers have a suitable and safe environment to provide the critical, up-front link that is part of the public safety chain.”

Among the new EOC’s features:

• Three times the amount of space compared to the old EOC;
• An expanded call center for 911 dispatchers;
• A separate storm center, complete with work stations and jumbo video monitors to display up-to-date weather radar, incident information and television news reports during hazardous incidents;
• Conference and training rooms that can be converted to sleeping quarters for staff during large-scale emergency operations;
• State-of-the-art telephone technology that ensures the reliability of 911 calls, including:
• The new Verizon-installed and managed ‘VIPER’ system, manufactured by Positron. The system is the first “next generation” 911 system to be introduced in any Verizon territory in the United States. This feature, which will be phased in at a later date as public networks are upgraded, will provide Internet-based telephones in Sussex County with a more direct connection to the 911 center. Currently to make and receive calls, Internet-based telephones, also known as IP phones, depend on a mix of cable, fiber-optic and conventional telephone lines that make up the nation’s telephone network. The ‘VIPER’ system will allow IP phone calls to connect to the Sussex 911 center using only the Internet, without having to travel over traditional phone lines;
• Enhanced call routing through two Verizon telephone switching stations, located in Georgetown and Milton. This redundancy guarantees that if one hub fails, the second telephone switching station can serve as a backup, continuing to route calls to dispatchers;
• A 600kW generator to provide auxiliary power to the center, no matter the status of electrical service;
• A geo-thermal heating and air-conditioning system that promises to be more environmentally friendly and cost-effective than conventional HVAC.

“We are truly leap years beyond where we were with the old EOC. We are better prepared to serve the needs of 911 users – the citizens of Sussex County, and our visitors, too,” said EOC Director Joseph L. Thomas. “In the end, that’s what this is about: improving the service we provide to the public.”

The cost of the total project was more than $13 million, with the County contributing approximately $9 million for construction. The State of Delaware, meantime, contributed $4 million in new computers, as well as telephone and radio equipment.

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