The City of Windsor has approved a request from Windsor police to install a call centre to back up its 911 operations.
Windsor City Council approved a sum of $2.3-million for the new secondary service in case the main call centre breaks down or becomes inundated with calls.
The expenditure was approved behind closed doors because the location will be kept secret for security purposes.
"It's an asset for the community at large," says Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick, who spearheaded the initiative. "So whether that be backup for fire, or whoever's in the emergency situation."
Although the backup centre has been in the works for a while, the chief says last week's historic flooding in Windsor was a prime example of how the city's communication resources can be stretched. During a typical 24-hour period, the call centre handles 1,100 calls, but Frederick says the flood puts things into perspective.
"Our call volume for the three hours in the middle of that afternoon was 887 calls," says Frederick.
Currently, the backup system has only two phone lines where as the new one will have 18. No additional operators will be needed, and the new regime will also work off a different power grid.
The current 911 call centre is located at Windsor police headquarters.