The new 9-1-1 center in Glendale Heights

For DU-COMM, 1995 was a very special year. Not only did this organization celebrate its 20th anniversary but it also moved into a new facility. DU-COMM, a combined 9-1-1 and public safety dispatch agency, was created in 1975 to meet the communications needs of nine police departments located west of Chicago, within DuPage County. The 1970 Illinois State Constitution provided the vehicle to form this intergovernmental agency. DU-COMM began this task in a bomb shelter located in the DuPage County Complex with only twenty-four employees.

As the need for a more professional and less expensive form of dispatching became apparent to other public safety departments, the organization grew, adding police and fire departments, until 1991, when 70 employees were handling the dispatch needs of 27 agencies and a population of 500,000 plus residents. At this point the organization had no room to expand within the confines of the bomb shelter, 20 feet below ground. Operators were working in a limited work space of only 40 square feet each. This confined space caused excessive noise and contributed additional stress to an already very stressful job. A moratorium was enacted prohibiting any new members until the issue of additional floor space could be settled.

After a number of years of study and restudy a fund was established to set aside a certain amount of money each year that would be earmarked for a new facility. A percentage of the annual membership costs each year was designated to be placed into the "building fund." Although money was set aside for a couple of years, no decision was made regarding a building until 1993, when a location was identified and an architect hired. Prior to this date many options were investigated including the utilization of commercial and government facilities as well as new construction. The final plan agreed upon was to construct a new facility that would handle the anticipated growth of the member agencies as well as accommodate the potential for new members. Having been limited in the services we could provide, we did not want to create the same type of environment we were so determined to get out of.

During the design phase we made sure that there was potential to grow within the confines of the structure as well as the possibility of adding to the square footage of the building as proposed. Extra care and attention went into this planning stage so we could eliminate any down time normally associated with expansion (i.e. noise, electrical outages, etc). We spent many hours with on-site inspections of relatively new buildings as well as pooling our in-house resources in order to develop the basic concept on which the building was designed. Once we were in the building we wanted to be free of interruptions and complications. After all, DU-COMM had a record of only 20 minutes of down time in 20 years, and we did not want to do anything that would ruin that excellent record. A new building and new equipment offered us the opportunity to build in additional redundant systems that many public safety agencies only dream of doing.

As with any project, we had our limits financially. Our site also limited us as we were building in a Planned Unit Development which dictated the amount of green space required, parking, building set backs, etc. However, the site offered more opportunities than restrictions. The lot was a hill, which allowed us to build into the hill affording added security, energy conservation benefits, and a protection against severe storms. We were also close to phone (toll) cables from two central offices, which allowed us two cable runs into the building from different directions. Even if the phone company lost a "central office" one half of our phone lines would be unaffected. This added a certain level of redundancy which we never had before.

Speaking of redundancy, having in-house technicians provided us with the expertise needed to develop systems that had backups backing up backups. Seems a little like overkill? Not until you experience multiple failures do you appreciate the comfort level that the redundancy provides you. Multiple power sources, battery power backing up commercial powder conditioned by a UPS system enabled us to anticipate the worse conditions. There are two air-conditioners for each critical area, seven altogether. Special emphasis was placed on grounding and lightning protection as well. All equipment is alarmed to indicate low battery or trouble and failure. All these things allow the telecommunicator to continue to do his/her job even if we experience equipment failures.

Being self maintained (having our own technicians allowed the people who will be responsible for maintaining the various systems to oversee their installation. Our technicians were there to see where the conduits were buried, what is in the walls and under the floor, and to check on the contractors installing the system.

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Many photographs and video tapes were taken for reference at a later date.

September 1995 was our move-in month. Anyone who has moved a 24-hour, seven-day-a week operation knows it does not get done in one day, especially when you are utilizing many components from the old location into the new one. One of our goals was to re-use as much of the equipment that was functioning in the old center as possible. Whether it needed just a little paint or a minor upgrade to software, why not re-use it. Not only did we save money, but we did not waste any equipment.

Our 12,700 square foot building was built for approximately two million dollars, excluding some of the equipment which would add another million dollars to the total cost. The project was completed with a one percent cost over run. Very good for any project — exceptional for a government project. We accomplished this only by good planning, a supportive Board of Directors and Executive Committee, being on-site everyday and keeping ahead of the contractors. All the time and effort were well worth it. This project was an example of what good government can do.

Our new center has 10 police dispatch positions, two fire dispatch positions and two supervisor positions. There are two phone answering positions sandwiched in between the fire positions to assist during storm situations. In addition, the Manager's office has three 9-1-1 answering positions, two of which have CAD capabilities. Approximately 30% of the operations center floor space is set aside for expansion. We can add positions without any remodeling. Further expansion would require additions to the structure, but we have planned for that so we can reduce any disruption.

We handle 600,000 recorded calls for service per year, and utilize forty-two 9-1-1 trunks to handle an average of (600) 9-1-1 calls a day. We have three VHF frequencies for fire operations and six UHF frequencies for the police function. In addition we utilize two 800 MHZ radio frequencies for our MDT system. •

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