Traffic cameras aid Tenn. 911 dispatch

June 05, 2008 05:43 AM

By Jim Balloch
Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee)

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Knox County’s E-911 dispatchers have just expanded their view of the world.

Thanks to an improvement withan existing tie-in to the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s 75 roadway cameras, dispatchers can get real-time views of the busiest intersections.

That allows them to know at a glance if they should direct police, fire or ambulance vehicles to take alternate routes to avoid delays in getting to a location.

“It has already proven beneficial,” E-911 Director Bob Coker said of the system, which was put into place a week before Memorial Day. “It’s working well for us.”

With the click and drag of a mouse, dispatchers can now access any one of TDOT’s cameras and hold that view for as long as necessary. Previously, they were limited to a series of views that automatically rotated.

Rural/Metro’s cost for this amounts to about $2,500 for a 46-inch monitor and a workstation. The views are also available on smaller monitors around the E-911 center that were already in place. TDOT provided the software and access to its camera system for no fee.

“We need to be able to reroute traffi c and our emergency vehicles as quickly as possible as conditions change,” said Rural/Metro Communications Manager Gary Morris. “This software allows us to get the best view of every major roadway. It’s a big improvement.”

Dispatchers can now determine exact traffic conditions on interstate highways and relay that information to any emergency vehicle responding to a call.

"(The dispatchers) had ears, and now they’ve got eyes,” said Mickey Campbell, incident management coordinator for TDOT Region I.

The dispatchers cannot directly control the angles of individual cameras or use zoom functions. But TDOT has agreed to do that for them in situations in which it may be necessary.

The new system already includes a “push to talk” cellular link between TDOT and the E-911 center so dispatchers can communicate directly with TDOT road crews if necessary.