Aurora's new 911 dispatch center up and running

The difference between the old and new Aurora dispatch centers is like night and day for 911 operators, but residents who call for help won't notice a thing.

And that's how police and fire officials want it.

“What we were hoping was nothing was noticed and it just occurred that way,” Police Lt. Nick Coronado said.

Operators at the new dispatch center began directing 911 calls to the police and fire departments Tuesday and the center was fully up and running Wednesday. It includes a new 911 system and a $14 million digital radio system that replaces radios the city has used since the mid-1990s. It also makes old scanners obsolete.

If Aurora residents who call 911 notice any difference under the new system, it may be even faster response times.

“There's more things to help them determine where someone is at, where help is at and how to get it there faster,” Coronado said.

Newer technology for locating callers, alerting fire stations and making a digital recording of 911 calls allows emergency dispatch operators such as Staci Keyes to do their jobs more efficiently.

“The equipment is up to date now,” Keyes said. “We can respond to incidents a lot faster.”

And if all Aurora emergency dispatch operators are on the phone, calls will be transferred to Naperville's emergency dispatch center because the two cities have identical radio systems on the same network, chief technology officer Ted Beck said.

Aurora's new 911 center has 12 work stations, each with eight or nine computer screens showing maps, locations of police officers and a list of incoming calls. Aurora keeps between five and seven 911 operators on duty 24 hours a day, so the new center has room for staffing to grow if the city grows, emergency dispatch supervisor Daniel Wennmaker said.

Located in a long, spacious room on the third floor of the Aurora Police Department headquarters, 1200 East Indian Trail Road, the dispatch center has windows and natural light, which the old location lacked.

“The windows are a great boost,” Keyes said. “It does impact your demeanor.”

The new radio system will help firefighters, who had trouble communicating within buildings using the old radios, Fire Chief Hal Carlson said.

Parts for new radios also will be easier to replace if they break, Beck said.

Assistant Fire Chief Tom Greiner said firefighters were trained to use the new radio system before it went live. Beck said one challenge of preparing for the 911 center's opening day was training all three shifts of operators on the new 911 and radio systems.

“The success of a radio system depends on the confidence of users,” Greiner said.

Keyes said she is confident all the changes will help her and her counterparts provide the best assistance possible in emergencies.

“Every upgrade on our system helps us do our job faster and better and more efficiently,” Keyes said.