By JIM BUTLER

The days when every emergency agency received individual calls for help are long since gone.

It’s been 40 years since Rapides voters gave the go-ahead to a single district under Police Jury purview.

Rapides 911 Communications District commissioners will today (10 a.m.) discuss the next step in unified response and assistance, taking up the ins and outs of Computer-Aided Dispatch, software system access that acts as a central hub for 911 dispatching in the most-effective manner.

Discussion was pushed from the board’s bi-monthly October meeting to today.

October, incidentally, was the effective month of increased 911 surcharges on wireless and landline phone service in the parish.

The increases were approved by the panel in June. The charges are collected by phone service providers and forwarded to the parish.

The district and others across the state are authorized to levy such fees by state law first adopted in 1999.  It set a monthly cap of 85 cents.

Almost 20 years later new legislation boosted the fee authority and allowed use of Next Generation 911 when technical requirements can be met and funding is available.

Cost of the proposed system upgrade varies with such factors as system size, number of dispatcher stations, hardware, software and licensing.

The lowest-priced is not cheap, online inquiries indicate.

District commissioners, representing specified groups, are Jury appointed. They are:

Ryan Spiller, chairman, city/parish fire departments; Darrell Basco, Pineville COO and retired police chief, municipal government; Vernon Creecy, RPSO warden, minority interests; Sam DeBona, Cleco, private industry; Rep. Jason DeWitt, parish/state government; Marcus Sandoval, RPSO; Mark Tigner, APD, law enforcement; Jessica Trichel, Pafford, emergency medical; Russell Turnage, volunteer fire departments.