The recent donation of Webster County 911 hardware to the city of Providence will be a benefit for not just the city of Providence but for all of Webster County, according to Providence Fire Chief Brad Curry.

Previously, the city had been running compatible software along a T1 line provided by the county, but after county magistrates approved the purchase of a new program for the 911 department that didn’t interface with the city’s 911 software, Providence officials were faced with a choice of transferring 911 services to the county or developing their own program independent of the county’s 911 service.

Ultimately, the city opted to develop its own program, and took the first step in that effort earlier this year when city officials asked Webster County Fiscal Court to allocate the city’s share of 911 tax money collected through telephone bills, an amount Curry estimated would bring in approximately $24,000 from landlines within the city of Providence, and an additional amount from cell phones that has yet to be determined. In addition, the city as a recognized 911 center (commonly known as PSAPs) will earn a $75,000 grant that each PSAP gets. This is money that the city didn’t have access to previously, Curry said, and it doesn’t take away from the $75,000 amount the county gets for operating its 911 center.

The expense to the city for accepting the hardware, Curry said, includes the purchase of a new phone system and some additional installation costs. However, he added, most if not all of that cost is offset by the additional monies coming into the city to pay for maintaining a 911 center.

“It’s really a win-win situation,” Curry said. “The county is saving $18,000 by not paying for the T1 line.”

Curry also said that by having two separate 911 call centers, the residents of the entire county would be better served in the event either of the two centers had a power outage or were unable to answer calls for some reason. Prior to the changes in how the 911 systems were operated, if the county’s system went down, then Providence’s did as well, he explained. Now the two will be able to provide back-up for each other more consistently.

In the long term, the city must gain official certification, though Curry said that a date for such certification testing hadn’t been set, and eventually the city will have to purchase new equipment to be in compliance with an anticipated change in 911 standards. Such a purchase is at least two years away, though, and Curry said the money the city will generate for its 911 service in the meantime should cover most if not all of the costs for that equipment.

“It’s prudent to wait until those standards are released,” he said of the plans to purchase new equipment. “That will give us two years to bank the money that will come through the taxes (referring to the existing 911 telephone tax the city will collect).”

Curry said he hoped people realize that the city is not charging a new tax, it is just collecting a share of existing taxes and other revenue sources that have not been available to Providence until now.

A completion date on getting the hardware installed and running hasn’t been set, but it was delivered to the city’s 911 dispatcher office on Friday. Installation was expected to take place sometime this week.