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One of the recommendations of the County Legislature's strategic planning task force, and one of my personal goals for 2005, is to utilize new technology and improve the county's communications systems. I am happy to report that Oswego County's E-911 communications center is in the midst of a major upgrade this summer. New equipment and software is being installed over the next few months that will greatly improve response to emergency calls from cell phones.

When 911 receives a call for assistance from a cell phone, unless the caller can provide an accurate location, help will be delayed until the dispatcher figures out exactly where the call is coming from.

Unlike landline phones, which relay the source of the call even if the caller is unable to speak, cell phone users need to give an accurate description of their location when they call E-911 for help. Dispatchers are lucky if they can get a phone number off the cell phone, let alone pinpoint where the call is coming from. This will all change when the county upgrades its CAD equipment and software.

With an investment of about $100,000, Oswego County has purchased over $1 million worth of equipment and software through a state grant program. The new equipment is scheduled for installation in early October. In the meantime, new wiring is being installed at the E-911 Center on Churchill Road. The county is in the process of purchasing the necessary software that can recognize data from a wireless phone and apply it to a map that displays the caller's location.

This equipment is long overdue. Cell phone customers in New York State have paid a $1.20 surcharge every month for the last three years. The vast majority of this money has been diverted to other areas of the state budget. Most of the money was not used for emergency cell phone communications.

This project will unquestionably benefit not only our own families and neighbors, but also the thousands of travelers that cross through our county every day on Interstate 81.

In addition to overseeing the new wiring and equipment at the E-911 Center on Churchill Road, Oswego County's 911 office has been closely involved with the replacement of the 160-foot radio tower that collapsed in high winds in October 2003. A new tower was built this spring and summer on East Eleventh Street, Oswego, near the county Buildings and Grounds Department.

As a result, many cell phone customers in the Oswego area will see a dramatic improvement in their phone reception. The new tower will be leased by three cell phone carriers: Sprint PCS, Verizon, and Nextel. In addition to providing better cell phone coverage, the tower will provide a new revenue stream for Oswego County, offsetting the cost of the tower replacement.

County departments will also use the tower for transferring data. The projects will make the county's emergency communications system safer and more efficient, to the benefit of county residents and visitors alike.