A next-generation 911 system is now operational for a group of 13 counties in southern Illinois in what many emergency-calling experts believe may be a blueprint for next-gen services in rural location.

Ken Smith, chairman of the 13-county Counties of Southern Illinois (CSI), said the last of the 17 public-safety answering points (PSAPs) went live on the next-gen 911 system on June 25, marking the end of an eight-year journey to make CSI’s next-gen 911 vision a reality. CSI’s member counties range in population from 8,000 to 63,000, with most having populations between 15,000 and 25,000, he said.

“We recognized about eight years ago that next-gen 911 was coming, and we knew—being a bunch of poor, rural counties—that we could never afford to do it ourselves [on an individual basis],” Smith said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “The only way would be to get out in front of it, get some federal grant money, and cooperate on a regional basis, so we could share one set of equipment, because there was no way each of us could do it on our own.”

“What we did was really unique in that, for eight years, all of the different emergency telephone system boards [ETSBs] and coordinators have worked together and kept our nose to the grindstone throughout this process. We joke that, if three county commissioners from different counties got together, they couldn’t decide on where to eat lunch, let alone work together on a multimillion-dollar project. So, we’re pretty proud of that.”

CSI leveraged about $5.8 million in federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants to help Clearwave pay for the deployment of fiber for the Emergency Service IP Network (ESInet), as well as PSAPs’ purchase of new hardware and software, Smith said. But officials largely relied on their own efforts and ingenuity, he said.

“There were plenty of companies willing to charge us to be our consultant, but we didn’t have any money, so we did it ourselves,” Smith said.

One of the biggest hurdles that CSI officials had to clear was a state law that effectively prohibited the deployment of next-gen 911, which required the CSI counties to file for special legal waivers to get permission to pursue the project, Smith said.

“Of all the companies with products out there, the only company that said, ‘We’ll help you through the regulatory morass,’ was NG-911 Inc., and that’s who we picked,” Smith said. “They’ve been our partners and, eventually, our systems service provider (SSP).”

Bart Lovett of OnPoint, who served as program manager for NG-911 Inc., said CSI officials willingness to tackle knowledge gaps on their own was critical the project’s success.

“I have to give them credit; they were well-educated consumers.,” Lovett said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “I think that’s important for other clients, to educate themselves and know what they are getting into and buying.”