GREENSBORO -- New technology is helping first responders in Guilford County get to emergency calls even faster.
During an emergency, even a few seconds can mean the difference between life and death, especially when the call involves an alarm.
"When the phone rings, we have to answer it which takes some seconds,” said Guilford Metro 911 supervisor Paige Cummings. “And then the alarm company has to verbally tell us the address, the resident's name, the resident's phone number, what type of alarm it is and the location inside the home or business the alarm is coming from."
New technology at Guilford Metro 911 in Greensboro is now eliminating the need for that phone call.
"We are getting all of that information directly from the alarm company over the computer,” Cummings said.
Dispatchers estimate it will save them roughly 20,000 calls a year.
"We average, for alarm company calls, anywhere from a minute and a half to three minutes per call,” said Guilford Metro 911 operations manager Christine Moore. “So if you think about 20,000 of those calls, that's a lot of time we're going to reduce."
It will, in turn, get first responders to the scene faster.
"It's going to reduce times for responses for the fire department, police department and EMS,” Moore said. “And it's going to make it a seamless response."
Right now the call center is using the new technology with Vector Security and is hoping to bring more than a dozen other security companies on board in the coming months.
Guilford Metro 911 is one of only two centers across the state and the 13th nationwide to use the new technology.