The dispatch center, located on the second floor of police headquarters received a complete overhaul, literally from the floor to the ceiling, at a cost of $200,000.
Melissa Nazzaro, director of the city's Emergency 911 Dispatch Center, stands by the newly refurbished center in police headquarters. The center recently had a floor-to-ceiling upgrade.SPRINGFIELD – The city unveiled its newly renovated emergency 911 dispatch center that officials say provides the latest equipment for improved communications with people in distress and with the police and firefighters responding to emergencies.
The center, located on the second floor of police headquarters, 130 Pearl St., received a complete overhaul, literally from the floor to the ceiling, at a cost of $200,000, said Springfield Dispatch Director Melissa Nazzaro.
The cost of the project was fully paid for with a state 911 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety.
The upgrade includes a raised floor to conceal a myriad of wires, an electrostatic discharge resistant carpet, acoustical walls, ergonomic chairs and desks, and new computers, she said.
The city's 911 dispatchers take emergency calls from the public, and then relay that information to the police to direct a response. They also monitor the city's Shot Spotter software and direct police to the scene where gunshots are detected.
Much of the removed equipment that is still serviceable will be used in an upgrade of the city’s back-up emergency 911 center, which is located within the Fire Department’s Communication Division.
For the two months that the dispatch center was being overhauled, police dispatchers were working from two temporary trailers that had been set up outside police headquarters.
It was from those temporary trailers that the dispatchers during the June 1 tornado
received 911 calls and directed the police and emergency response, even though depending on the storm they were minutes away from evacuation.
Nazzaro said it is a credit to the civilian dispatchers and their training that they worked effectively amid the chaos of the storm.
“A 911 center is only as good at the people who operate it,” she said.
The city receives roughly 105,000 calls over 911 each year, she said.
Mayor Domenic Sarno and Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet were on hand for
the unveiling.
Sarno said he want to come by to personally thank all the dispatchers for the work they have done, particularly in the aftermath of the tornado.