It once was that when an emergency call came into the 911 center in Glynn County, the dispatcher would ask for the caller’s address.

That changed with introduction of the enhanced 911 system, which automatically flashes street addresses on a computer screen.

Now, the 911 system at the Glynn County Public Safety Complex has even greater capability. In addition to displaying the address of a caller, it also shows the exact location on a map from which the call is coming, as well as the history of calls made from any given telephone number.

It is an upgrade that equates to quicker and better prepared responses from emergency personnel, say dispatchers at the Glynn-Brunswick 911 Center, where city and county route police, fire and ambulance services.

“Enhanced 911 not only brings the call to the right 911 (dispatcher), but it provides the data of the call as far as the phone number, the homeowner, the address and so forth,” said James Chrichton, director of the Glynn- Brunswick 911 Center.

“When that enhanced information comes in here, we have programs that check our database for previous calls and also maps the call.”

The capability of the new technology is most important when a frantic caller is unable to provide specific information.

Rhonda Herrington, administrative supervisor of the Glynn-Brunswick 911 Center, said dispatchers can now point out cross streets to responders and give them directions leading to the door of where a call originated.

“It’s a lot faster and a lot more accurate,” Herrington said. “We make fewer mistakes because we can look at what’s mapped, whereas before you (only) thought you knew exactly what was going on.”

The map program is updated daily and shows new subdivisions, as well as the footprint of buildings.

Dispatchers can move their computer cursors over a building or house to find an address in case a caller is unable to for some reason or other.

“Before you would have to get the description of the house, what kind of car they had in the yard or anything else that was different from their house,” Herrington said.

“A lot of time (callers) are yelling and they don’t want you asking them anything,” she said.

Calls made from traditionally wired phones are not the only ones that can be mapped with the new system. It also works for calls from cell phones.

Cell phone carriers provide the ability for calls to be properly routed to the center. The center is given the address of the tower that is servicing the call and the direction it is coming from so coordinates can plot the call on a map.

In the case of moving vehicle, the center can send a signal to a phone and get information about where the call is coming from and follow its movement.