Change to Ottawa 911 system on the horizon

An Ottawa city councillor says a new 911 dispatch system is coming soon, while a local advocate says it can’t be delayed any longer.

In an emergency situation, Michael Wood, an advocate and Professor at Algonquin College, says Ottawa 911 was unable to transfer his call to Toronto, to get a hold of emergency services for a relative in that city who needed immediate help.

This limitation in the system sparked his push to advocate for change to the city’s 911 dispatch system.

“The frustrating part is that it’s 2023, and it’s time we updated,” Wood told CityNews. “There hasn’t been an update in many years.”

As it stands, the 911 operator in Ottawa can only transfer calls to and from Gatineau. And technology has not advanced to allow people in distressful situations the ability to text, send video or photos to dispatchers.

“We have to make sure these systems are interconnected so that these precious moments are not wasted,” said councillor for Orleans East – Cumberland, Matt Luloff.

Luloff echoes Wood’s sentiment and agrees there needs to be more interconnectivity across the province.

The next-generation emergency services is said to rely on Internet protocol (IP) broadband technology to allow the transmission not only to give people the ability to make voice calls, but also text data, pictures and video. The transition to next-generation 911 for emergency calls has been talked about for many years.

Luloff says city staff are working on modernizing the old system, and is confident change is on the horizon.