EFFINGHAM, SC (WBTW) – Florence County Emergency Management has one hundred percent coverage of the entire county. Thanks to their state of the art digital radio system.
“As a part of the penny sales tax referendum 14 million dollars was set aside to replace the counties old analog radio system,” explains Director of Florence County Emergency Management, Dusty Owens.
With a digital radio system, first responders received new radios to better cover the eight hundred square miles of Florence. “It was a great investment, in enhanced the quality of the radio communication,” says Owens. Owens adds, “fire, law enforcement, ems are all praising the quality of the radio system.”
The system came with a one year warranty on the infrastructure which has now expired.
“What we are doing with the maintenance contract is protecting the counties investment in that digital system,” says Owens.
The two year maintenance contract includes routine and preventative care but most importantly software updates. Owens said, “It’s about 450 thousand dollars that we are paying annually, which is a reasonable amount considering we paid 14 million for the system.”
For the next two years Florence is locked into the contract. “At the end of two years we will have to re-negotiate continuing maintenance on the system and software upgrades. We hope to negotiate the best deal for the county and we don’t anticipate an increase,” Owens said.
