During the Troup County Board of Commissioners work session on Tuesday, Public Safety Chief Zac Steele and E-911 Director Shannan McLaughlin discussed necessary upgrades with the county’s 911 system. The two explained that E911 will soon need to switch its intake lines to fiber, as AT&T has informed them that it will no longer support the current copper wire system later this year. E911 is also recommending upgrading the office to use NextGen911, as many surrounding counties are already using it. Over the last few years, a lot of the world has started to shift toward NextGen911, including the entire state of Alabama, which is a big factor for counties along the Georgia-Alabama border. It’s a big issue for Troup when trying to transfer calls and communicate back and forth, especially with Chambers and Randolph County when there is a need for mutual aid or law enforcement pursuit across state lines, Steele said. Steele said the State of Georgia is currently considering a similar switch, so Troup 911 is looking to be proactive. Of the 156 agencies in Georgia, 19 public safety answering points have already transitioned to or are currently transitioning to NextGen911, including Meriwether County and West Point. Steele said the biggest issue is that AT&T is going to stop the copper service lines on Nov. 15 to force the call center to fiber. He said the fiber switch will be a bit of a relief when it comes, as E911 has been having a lot of problems with the phone lines, with 52…
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