Commission hears detailed options for courthouse panic buttons and mass-notification upgrades; staff to gather additional quotes

Jackson County staff used the Jan. 28 work session to present options to improve emergency communications and staff safety at courthouse and annex sites.

IT staff described the current panic-button setup as tied into the door access system and vulnerable when facility computers reboot, saying the system is “almost worthless” in its present configuration. Staff recommended a vendor system with portable or wearable panic buttons that trigger local beacons/radios. Those beacons would communicate through a base station to cellular networks (multiple carriers) and feed dedicated monitoring stations that have access to county camera feeds so responders can quickly assess incidents. The recommended approach is designed to avoid dependence on county Wi‑Fi or building Internet.

Commissioners asked technical questions about interoperability with existing radio systems, warranty coverage, the number of beacons and buttons needed in the courthouse and annex, and whether an alternate radio‑based system (sending alerts via county police/fire radio) could be used instead. Staff said they had seen one radio-based option at a conference but had not gathered full quotes; they agreed to research additional vendors, warranty terms and possible redundancy options (including cellular fallback and a secondary Internet connection) and return with at least two comparative quotes.

EMA/IT also presented proposals for replacing the county’s mass-notification system. Staff outlined a non-integrated option (lower first-year cost) and an integrated option to connect the mass-notification platform to outdoor warning sirens. Integration would require additional hardware and was estimated at roughly $37,122.14 first-year cost (about $13,000 more than the non-integrated quote). Staff said the county currently had approximately 12,602 residents registered in its notification application and that integration would permit remote siren activation when staff are not physically at the emergency operations center.

Commissioners did not take a procurement vote at this meeting on either the panic-button or mass-notification system. They directed staff to bring additional vendor quotes, warranty and service-tier details back to the commission at the next business meeting for formal consideration.