The Webster Progress-Times

TERRY McCAIN/COURTESY

Dispatchers Tiana O'Briant, Nanette Buford (seated) and Libby Brand prepare for the 911 cutover on Jan. 17.

MATHISTON - All equipment has been working properly since the first phase of Webster County's emergency telephone system cut over at 11:05 a.m. Jan. 17, according to 911 Coordinator Terry McCain.

The first 911 call that day came about 4 p.m. to report a stove fire nearby in Mathiston. The call was actually routed to the sheriff's office but McCain said the 911 Center helped dispatch firefighters.

McCain said the call did not come there because all cellular phone service providers were still routing 911 calls to the sheriff's office (which has a backup 911 system) as of that day, but he has since been contacting them to instead route these calls to the 911 Center in Mathiston.

Non-certified 911 dispatchers began training last week with two days remaining for a total of 40 hours. One dispatcher is on duty per 12-hour shift.

McCain also reminded residents to post their 911 address numbers where visible from the road as soon as possible to help emergency responders locate their address more quickly. He also said people should call 911 if they have an emergency and not the regular seven-digit numbers for the hospital, police or sheriff's departments, or city and county fire services.