DeKALB – Though some phone carriers may be ready, the ability to text a 911 operator in DeKalb County is still months away, according to local law enforcement.

DeKalb Police Cmdr. Jason Leverton, who heads the county’s E-911 board, said the DeKalb Police Department 911 center, which services the city and Northern Illinois University, received its Next Generation 911, or NG911, system equipment and it was installed Dec. 8. He said that first phase of the transition means the call center’s connection is now digital and fiber-based, as opposed to analog.

“Even just that is a big improvement,” Leverton said Wednesday.

Leverton said the aging copper phone lines presented some difficulties for first responders, with water sometimes getting into the lines and affecting call quality. He said dispatchers now can make the caller’s voice louder without having to tell them to speak louder and audio quality is better overall.

“There’s just a lot more control over the quality of the call,” Leverton said.

The update comes after county 911 officials started providing regular check-ins about the system implementation process in April 2018. Back then, those officials said DeKalb County would be part of the first of 11 northern Illinois counties to make the upgrade and now that total counties number is now down to nine, including Ogle, Winnebago, Boone, Stevenson, Jo Daviess, Bureau, Carroll and White counties.

Next Generation 911 systems use digital or internet-based technology to create a faster system that allows callers to communicate with voice calls or by sending photos, videos or text messages. But because most 911 systems were built using analog technology, making this changeover requires work and coordination, according to 911.gov.

Former DeKalb County 911 coordinator Glenna Johnson, who retired in December, had confirmed the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office 911 center, which services the rest of the county, was set to receive their equipment and have it installed Dec. 9. However, she said at the time, the county still has a ways to go before county residents will actually be able to text 911 dispatchers and it’ll take another six months for wireless carriers to agree to support the service.

Leverton said on Wednesday some phone carriers already are ready to go for 911 texting capabilities. However, he said, the call centers can’t flip the switch to activate those capabilities until all of the phone carriers are on board.

As long as the phone carriers are ready to go and the system is functional, Leverton said, then the texting 911 functionality will come. After that, he said, the police department and sheriff’s office can make the public announcement that the system is live.

“It’s definitely going to be after March 1,” Leverton said. “It’s a lot more realistic to expect a few months after that.”

Johnson had said DeKalb County previously was set to be the first of the northern Illinois counties to have the 911 texting capability. However, because of some setbacks along the way and the COVID-19 pandemic, she said in December she expected the county would be about the third in the state to get that ball rolling.