Last week, the Iowa Department of Homeland Security announced it had won a $500,000 grant from the Public Safety Foundation of America to help build a system that will let 911 dispatchers pinpoint the locations of emergency calls made with wireless devices, including cell phones. The Business Record took a few moments to speak with Ellen Gordon, the state’s homeland security advisor, and John Benson, who manages the 911 program in Iowa.

Q: Why does Iowa need a system like this?

Gordon: When you dial 911 on a wireless phone, the signal goes to the nearest dispatch center. This technology would give a dispatcher the needed geographic information to get emergency teams to you. People might be moving through the state and maybe they don’t know where they are, or maybe they’re hurt to the point where they can’t articulate where they are. Depending on the technology, it could locate a call to within 10 meters.

Q: How far will the money go?

Benson: In Iowa, there are 127 answering points, which are basically the places where emergency dispatchers handle 911 calls. The $500,000 will be used to upgrade all of those facilities with equipment that will allow these points to accept longitude and latitude information. That completes one piece of the puzzle that we need in place for the system to work. The other part is that we need an engine that takes that longitude and latitude data and plots it on a map to give a location. Forty-two of our answering points have the capability to do mapping. For the rest, we need to figure out how to get them the mapping program.

Q: How do you plan to get that money?

Gordon: Everyone pays 50 cents a month on their wireless cell phone bill, which has helped us get to where we are today. During the last legislative session, we were unsuccessful in getting an increase. We’ll probably have to go back. We’re looking at other funding sources, including the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Benson: There are doors to be knocked on, and we’re still knocking on them. Bills have been introduced at the federal level. We’re watching that and encouraging the people who need to be encouraged. There’s a feeling among some people that maybe the federal government needs to get involved in this. It makes sense. Whenever anyone has an emergency, the first they do is call 911.

Q: What will it cost to finish the mapping upgrade?

Benson: About 18 months ago, mapping vendors told us it would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million to get it done.

Q: Are there any reasons to be concerned about privacy?

Benson: In terms of confidentiality, there are federal and state limits to how any information can be used. For a 911 call, you want that information to be there.