The Missouri 911 Service Board recently informed Wri-Comm 911 that a grant award of $770,200 from its assistance program will directly benefit 911 coverage in Wright, Howell, Ozark and Douglas counties. The grant was part of nearly $2 million in grant funding recently awarded by the Missouri 911 Service Board.
The funding will allow for the installation of Text-to-911 services. Meanwhile, prior to the grant funding, nearby Douglas and Ozark counties did not have their own 911 answering equipment. This means calls during emergencies currently go to seven digit phone lines, where those taking the calls do not receive any information on the caller, requiring the citizen to provide their names and locations.
The funding will help Wright and Howell counties to be better able to pinpoint the location of the caller through equipment. They will also be able to accept text messaging in all four of the counties.
“These are the services that save lives,” said Mike Phillips ENP, President of the Missouri 911 Directors Association. “It’s been 20 years since we’ve seen any of these 16 Missouri counties move up in their service levels.”
Overall, this moves local services to what is described as Phase II. Comparably, 99.2% of the nationwide population already benefits from at least Phase II level service. Wri-Comm Director Jeff Holman said he applied for the grants in the fall.
“This is going to allow for Douglas County, which has no 911, and Ozark, who had no 911, to allow them to have text and 911,” he noted.
