911 Long-Distance Fees?

White County (Ark.) 911 is paying about $8,000 a month to AT&T for its 911 system, but that doesn’t include long-distance telephone charges when county dispatchers transfer calls to local agencies for actual dispatch. 911 coordinator Tamara Jenkins told a recent Emergency Services Administrative Board meeting that the fees mount up over the month. The situation is complicated by the different telephone companies, and even an Area Code split within the county. The Board said it plans to have an AT&T representative appear and explain how the charges are tallied.