Chatham County's public safety partners received powerful additions to their toolbox today. On October 10, 2023, at 5:00 a.m., the County launched its long-awaited Computer Aided Dispatch system. After five years of meticulous development, this cutting-edge system will provide 911 Telecommunicators and public safety officials with valuable resources for efficiently dispatching emergency services.

“This project has truly been a collaboration between the County and its public safety partners. A team comprised of 86 people from 28 agencies have been working tirelessly to ensure the seamless integration of these vital life-critical systems,” says Kelvin Lewis, Chatham County’s Project Manager.

The new system came online this morning without any disruption to service for those 28 agencies which include the 911 Center, County Police, Municipal police and fire departments, Chatham Emergency Services, the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System Police, Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport Police, and many others. By streamlining the information flow through automation, it will facilitate the dispatch of the closest first responder regardless of jurisdiction, improve response times, enabling call takers and dispatchers to more efficiently handle calls for service.

“With over 13,000 training hours, collaborators are prepared for the new system. It standardizes call handling, assesses resource priority based on caller responses, facilitates the dispatch of emergency services while the call is ongoing,” states Chatham County E911 Communications Deputy Director Russ Palmer.

This upgrade did not impact the E911 Center's ability to respond to incoming 911 calls, providing uninterrupted emergency services for the community. “We were prepared. There was no disruption of services,” says Diane Pinckney, the Chatham County E911 Communications Director. “Our staff is excited about the new technology. Every one of our staff members is dedicated to making our community safer and this tool will help us to do it more effectively.”

For the first week the training team and vendors will be on site around the clock to provide support to guarantee a seamless shift from one system to another.

County Manager Michael Kaigler says he is proud of this team. “The investment of time and funding was worthwhile, as it ensures faster and more efficient service delivery by our public safety partners and the E911 Center to the community.”