Cornelius upgrades 911 system for improved service, connectivity

CORNELIUS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The Town of Cornelius is upgrading its technology to ensure that when people call 911, their calls go through and they’re connected with responders.

“You expect when you call it for someone to be able to answer, and that is our job to make sure the call comes through to the right agency and that we get you the help you need,” said Communications Director Daniel Little.

When you take a look around the Cornelius Police Department’s 911 center, you won’t notice any physical changes, but there is a behind-the-scenes upgrade.

“It’s all about uninterrupted services, especially when someone might be in the worst-case scenario they might have in life,” said Little.

Now, if the fiber infrastructure used to transmit calls fails, the system will seamlessly switch to a private 5G network. The caller and operator won’t notice a thing.

“Makes a big difference to be able to have as fast of service as possible, and we’re able to do that using digital technology,” said Little.

Beyond those benefits, this new system will make it easier for Cornelius leaders to get ready for new 911 technologies, like text, video and data sharing capabilities between callers and first responders.

“In the future, some agencies have already started this; we’ll be able to actually send a link to your cell phone if you’re in a situation, and you’ll approve the link, and we’ll be able to see the video and relay it to our officers in the field,” said Little. “That is going to require a lot of bandwidth, but North Carolina is ready and Cornelius is ready.”

Little thinks North Carolina is probably about two years out from that technology, but the state is already leaps and bounds above most when it comes to the 911 system. He said we’re the only ones that’s one hundred percent digital.