John Coffelt, Editor

A newly installed Coffee County 911 Communications Center computer aided dispatch (CAD) system will not offer all the bells and whistles promised until each municipality pays an annual user license fee of $1,000 per laptop.

The new Central Square CAD system went live on Dec. 10 across all three shifts, and while there have been, as expected, some minor usage problems, the overall conversion was successful, according to 911 Director Sam Harper.

Yet the fee that could be as much as $30,000 annually for some departments has caught officials off guard.  

According to a briefing to the Ambulance Authority by Commissioner and Chief Deputy Frank Watkins there was some confusion by the county about how easy the in-car access to the CAD system would be. That on-scene access was the selling point of the new system.

Sheriff Chad Partin, Watkins, Tullahoma Police Chief Chase Sons and Harper will meet sometime in February with Central Square representatives to hammer out a licensing agreement.

“In the meantime, any department that wants on it, we need a count of users,” Watkins said. “If (the officer) is going to access the CAD system that’s one (fee).”

Watkins said a dumbed-down version with limited features would be available for cell phones at about $100 each. But Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies have cell phone access to Enhance 911 that has more cell features without additional costs.

Tullahoma Police Department will meet with Central Square to develop a software interface to allow certain data into their records software.

Partin told the Times he is confident that the problems will all be worked out. He takes shared responsibility, while not being a member of the 911 Board at the time of the CAD purchase, for not asking the right questions. 

“It’ll do what needs to be done,” Partin said. “It’s just the initial specs are not what really detailed.”

Partin said he had asked about the new CAD system offering mobile data terminals in the patrol units. He said that the misunderstanding could be on both sides between the former 911 Director, the tech company and the board.

He said having in-car terminals is his goal. Those terminals will eventually offer first responders the ability to see addresses, look up history of dispatches and even run driver licenses – essentially giving the officer a virtual terminal at the comm. center.

“We can really see the CADs live and it really helps with communications,” Partin said.

At the August 2022 meeting, the Consolidated 9-1-1 Emergency Communications District board heard an update on a new Computer Aided Dispatch system that will include a mobile CAD platform, allowing first responders in the field direct access to CADs.

Then director Scott Leduc estimated the project to take two years, and with estimates coming in of a population boom coming to the area in two to five years, now would be the time to address upgrades.

Leduc said that the technology is the same as Davidson and Williamson counties have but are available to small, rural counties at an affordable cost.

“We are trying to meet the future demands of our growing population, so we are exploring new CAD systems to make operations more efficient,” he said.

Benefits with the system could include in-vehicle access to maps and reduced on-air traffic while on the scene.

The mobile system will allow first responders to operate better, safer and more efficiently, LeDuc explained.

“If I’m looking at a five-year plan on this county, I’m not sure I can find enough people to work in 911 and train them well enough to keep a good staff rolling the way things are going with the local economy,” he said.

Leduc resigned in July of this year, citing a hostile work environment allegedly created by the Comm. Center Board.

A response for comments from Central Square was not available due to holiday press times.  

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.