Letter from E-Comm Re: South Island 9-1-1/Police Dispatch Centre
Announcement from E-Comm regarding the opening of a new post-disaster facility in Saanich for 9-1-1 and police dispatch services.
November 30, 2018
His Worship Mayor David Screech and Council Town of View Royal 45 View Royal Avenue View Royal, BC V9B 1A6
Dear Mayor David Screech and Council:
Congratulations on your October 20, 2018 election. Thank you for offering your dedication, skills, expertise and ideas to serve the citizens in your community.
In the first quarter of 2019, E-Comm will begin operating the South Island 9-1-1/Police Dispatch Centre in Saanich. Built by the Capital Regional District, this centre will be the Public Safety Answer Point — the first point of contact — for people in your community when they call 9-1-1 to get help from police, fire or ambulance. It will also house police call taking and dispatch for the Central Saanich, Oak Bay, Saanich and Victoria police departments, and the West Shore RCMP.
This state-of-the-art, post-disaster facility will handle an estimated 95,000 9-1-1 calls each year from South Island communities. There will be a grand opening event for the centre in March 2019. Further information on that will follow.
E-Comm opened its current 9-1-1 call centre in 1999 in Vancouver. We currently provide 9-1-1 call taking services for 26 regional districts in B.C. along with dispatch services for 36 police and fire agencies in the Lower Mainland. We will be very proud to add your community to our contingent of valued partners.
Further, E-Comm and all 9-1-1 network and service providers across Canada are working diligently to modernize 9-1-1 infrastructure as we prepare for an initiative known as Next Generation 9-1-1. We are setting the stage for future changes in the way people contact 9-1-1, including text messaging when a phone call is simply not possible.
To that end, we have spent much of 2018 working with our Board of Directors, staff and public safety stakeholders to develop a new strategic plan — the roadmap that will help guide E-Comm as we continue to help save lives and protect property in British Columbia.
I look forward to sharing this plan with your council in spring 2019. In the meantime, I invite you to visit our website at www.ecomm911.ca for more information about our services.
Once again, congratulations on being elected to serve the people in your community.
Respectfully,
Oliver Grüter-Andrew President and CEO E-Comm, Emergency Communications for British Columbia Incorporated 604.215.5002 oliver.gruter-andrew@ecomm911.ca
