Carbon County is looking toward the future for its 911 computer-aided dispatching system.

On Thursday, the county commissioners approved an amendment to the license agreement with Tyler Technologies, formerly New World Systems, for the 911 center upgrade to the .Netplatform for dispatching.The project, which will cost approximately $327,310, has been approved and will be 100 percent funded through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Act 12 Interconnectivity Funding.Gary Williams, 911 director, explained 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 includes the software, implementation services and third party products and services.Williams said that once the upgrade is completed, which is anticipated to take between nine and 12 months, it will provide dispatchers with a number of features that will allow for quicker responses and improved safety for the first responders."We want to provide citizens of Carbon County with state-of-the-art CAD for current and future needs," he said, adding that this upgrade avoids millions of dollars in costs for a replacement system down the road.The project is also part of a regionalization with Monroe and Lackawanna counties and Williams said that this is a reason funding through the state was approved.A secondary project is being planned that would improve a relay system between the three counties.Williams provided an example, noting that if there was an incident in Carbon County that needed response from Monroe, 911 dispatchers in Monroe County would be able to see the incident in the system or additional information could be released to them if an emergency, such as a pursuit, crossed county lines."We wouldn't lose a beat," he said.Carbon County purchased the current New World Systems in 1994 at a cost of $97,477 plus maintenance costs, which expire in February 2018.Williams stressed that the general public will not see any changes to the what they experience when they call 911, but said that in the long-term, it will provide a stronger network to best serve both the public and the first responders.