Nine counties agree on new 911 phone system

July 17, 2012

Photo by Joseph Bell Elk County Commissioner Daniel R. Freeburg, center, reviews paperwork Tuesday alongside fellow commissioners Janis E. Kemmer, right, and June H. Sorg.

RIDGWAY – Elk County will soon be one of nine Pennsylvania counties with a new state-of-the-art 911 phone system.
Mike McAllister, the county's emergency management director, reiterated Tuesday during an Elk County Board of Commissioners meeting that the current system is outdated, having received an "end-of-life" letter approximately one year ago; parts and maintenance are now no longer available for the outdated system.
While individual counties are free to look at options for a 911 phone system, the costs can be exorbitant.
"Counties can go out alone and purchase a 911 phone system, that can be as much as $400,000 or $500,000 apiece," McAllister said. "We're doing a 9-county regional phone system which will give us two main switches, then all nine counties will have access to support the 911 system from each county.