Carbon County is moving forward with a nearly $500,000 project that will upgrade its 911 center's dispatching system.

Last week, the county commissioners approved a 911 Statewide Interconnectivity Funding Grant agreement with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for funds in the amount of $473,780.57 to be used toward the Pocono Regional CAD project. The agreement runs from Oct. 1, 2016, through Aug. 31, 2018.The project was outlined last month by Gary Williams, 911 director, who said that the project is part of a regionalization with Monroe and Lackawanna counties and will include upgrading to the .Net platform for dispatching.The project has been approved and will be 100 percent funded through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Act 12 Interconnectivity Funding.The .Net upgrade will cost $327,310; with the remaining funds being used to purchase hardware and servers for the software to be installed on, as well as the option to hire a consultant for the project, Williams said Thursday.Williams said in January that the reason for the upgrade is because the current dispatching system Carbon County is using was implemented in 1994.He said that the current system was "great while it lasted, but technology is passing us by."The upgrade is expected to take nine to 12 months, but once completed, will provide dispatchers with a number of features that will allow for quicker responses and improved safety for the first responders.