News
National Telecommunicators Week
April 13-19, 2008
Each year the second week of April is designated as National Telecommunicators Week. In 1991 Congress proclaimed the week as a national week of recognition. Two presidential proclamations honoring the individuals in the profession have also been issued in both 1992 and again in 1994. For the past several years public safety agencies nation wide have honored the men and women known as dispatchers, telecommunicators, and communications operators whose job by whatever title it is to answer the telephones, radios, and computers with the essential skills to provide support to the Law Enforcement, Fire Services and Emergency Medical Services. The week places national attention on the nameless and faceless individuals who help save lives by responding to emergency calls, dispatching emergency professionals and providing support for citizens in distress. Every year Tri-Com honors their staff during a celebration that week. A small reception is held where the staff, managers, policemen, firemen, chiefs, board members and mayors attend and recognize the work each of these individuals perform daily with skill and expertise. Tri-Com would like to acknowledge and thank each and every staff member for their professionalism and commitment to the citizens we serve each and every day!
02/21/08
Tri-Com's Enhanced 9-1-1 Service
Tri-Com was the 17th 9-1-1 system installed in Illinois, but was the 1st multi-jurisdictional 9-1-1 center in Illinois and we believe throughout the entire U.S. Over the years Tri-Com has continued to enhance its 9-1-1 system which is now on its 3rd generation of hardware and advancing through stages that went from adding enhanced 9-1-1 service from basic, adding wireless (cellular) 9-1-1 services, and now adding VOIP. Here is the timeline:
1976 Basic 9-1-1 Service Implemented
1991 Enhanced 9-1-1 Service Implemented
1994 Wireless 9-1-1 Phase 1 Service Implemented
2006 Wireless 9-1-1 Phase 2 Service Implemented
2007 VOIP 9-1-1 Service Implemented
02/07/07
NENA Honors Elburn Fire Department
The NENA (National Emergency Number Association) organization was formed in the tri-cities back in 1982 as the job to implement 9-1-1 as the new emergency number for the public was in full swing (Tri-Com was ahead of its time by installing it in 1976). NENA is now a national organization of over 7,000 members and is now celebrating its 25th year this year. The first NENA meeting ever held was in 1981 at the Elburn Fire Station #1 on North Street, and the first national conference was held at Pheasant Run in St. Charles in 1982. Recently the NENA organization presented the Elburn Fire Department with a plaque to attach to their building thereby making it known that this was the site of the very first meeting. Asst. Elburn Fire Chief Wayne Stevens accepted the plaque at the annual 9-1-1 conference in Springfield before an audience of 800 people last October. The plaque is now permanently mounted and proudly displayed at the down-town Elburn Fire Station for all to see. You can visit Illinois Nena web site for details.
02/07/07
Director Jerry Bleck was honored this week, January 16, 2007 for 35 years of service by the City of Geneva.
Director Bleck began his career in 1972 as a dispatcher for the city. Click here for details.
We're in our new building! The day we went "LIVE" in the new building was an adventure but everything went smoothly. After a few tweaks to the new system employees in the new building took over operations and operations ceased in the old building. What an odd day that was to be in the old center and not be answering 911 calls and dispatching. We're working out the bugs at the new building but things are running smoothly. We're looking forward to many happy years in the new place.
09/18/05
Tri Com's New Building
06/04/04
Tri Com Dispatchers Certified with IDPH
Tri-Com 9-1-1 Dispatchers Certified with IDPH In accordance with the Emergency Medical Services Act, each Tri-Com dispatcher received an Illinois Department of Public Health registration card. This certifies that each operator is a registered 9-1-1 dispatcher in the State of Illinois per the new EMS law which goes into effect on August 1, 2000.
07/2000
Tri Com to add Elburn to dispatch service
If the city councils in the Tri-Cities approve, the Tri-Com emergency dispatch system will be expanding it's service area.
Tri-Com, which for 24 years has provided emergency communications in the cities and fire districts of Batavia, Geneva and St.Charles, will begin providing communications services to the Elburn Fire Protection District on May 1.
"Providing service to Elburn seemed like a natural extension of our services, as the Elburn Fire District is contiguous to all three Tri-City fire protection districts," said Jerry Bleck, Tri-Com's director of communications.
"When officials from the Elburn Fire District approached us a few years ago, we began studying the possibility. It made sense that since all our fire agencies work together, we dispatch them all from one central dispatch center."
Bleck said adding the Elburn area into the Tri-Com dispatch center based in Geneva will have minimal impact on the dispatch center.
"We expect to receive only a few additional calls a day from that area," he said. "We are not planning on adding any additional dispatchers or equipment."
Last year, the Elburn fire and ambulance departments had a combined 1,097 calls for service.
The intergovernmental agreement to offer the dispatch service to Elburn addresses the issue of Elburn's potential growth. If the number of calls for service to Elburn increases too heavily in the future, either party could cancel the agreement. This could allow Elburn to build it's own 911 dispatch center.
In the next few months, Bleck said, there will be adjustments made to Elburn's communication equipment to make it compatible with Tri-Com's equipment and data that will need to be entered into Tri-Com's computer-aided dispatch system. This upgrading will help the dispatchers locate all the addresses in the Elburn Fire District.
From the Beacon News, Tuesday, February 8, 2000
06/24/08 07:45