City Opens New 911 Communications Center

JOHNS CREEK, GA -Johns Creek opened its new, joint 911 Emergency Communications Center with Sandy Springs, Georgia, August 31, bringing state-of-the art emergency dispatching services to over 170,000 citizens and 8,000 businesses in the two north Fulton County cities.

The $5.6 million facility - called ChatComm - is the largest 911 public-private partnership in the U.S. It was created by the Chattahoochee River 911 Authority in cooperation with iXP Corp., a public safety communications consulting firm.

"We [Johns Creek and Sandy Springs] realized we had a mutual need to improve the quality of 911 communications and agreed it would be better to develop a public-private partnership than go off on our own. The partnership that created ChatComm's advanced public safety answering system should serve the citizens of both cities very well," said John Kachmar, Johns Creek City Manager and chairman of the Authority.

iXP, based in Cranbury, N.J., designed, implemented and staffed the 16,000-square-foot center and will manage its operations under a performance-based contract overseen by the authority.

The contract requires 911 calls be answered within 10 seconds, 90 percent of the time, and processed and ready for dispatch within 60 seconds, 90 percent of the time. Approximately 325,000 emergency calls, resulting in 275,000 emergency incidents, are expected during ChatComm's first year of service.

"We are pleased to provide this mission-critical service. iXP's expertise in governance, operations, technology and facilities provided the two cities with a full, life-cycle master plan for public safety emergency communications. ChatComm is the execution of that plan," said iXP President Larry Consalvos.

ChatComm's staff consists of 56 full time 911 communications professionals. Its operations, technology and facility are supported solely by 911 revenues without any additional general budget funding from either city.

All emergency vehicles (Johns Creek Police, Johns Creek Fire, Sandy Springs Police, Sandy Springs Fire) are equipped with Automatic Vehicle Location devices, which allow the communication center to dispatch the closest available public safety resources to incidents.

The launch of ChatComm ends Johns Creek's intergovernmental agreement with Fulton County, which has provided 911 Emergency communications since incorporation in 2006.

For more information, please visit www.JohnsCreekGA.gov.