Project cost $750,000 Cops boost communications Gone are the days of hiss and crackle By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN THE REGIONAL com- munications centre at the Terrace RCMP detach- ment now has state of the art equipment after $750,000 was spent. The money was spent on special flooring, high tech work stations and computerised consoles used to contact officers in the field. Behind a restricted ac- cess door lies the nerve centre for 18 detachments in the northwest. The operators here take calls from the Yukon bar- der to Kitimat, from Gra- nisle to Houston up to and including the Queen Char- loite Islands but excluding Prince Rupert. It is the lar- gest RCMP communica- tions district in the pro- vince. The older centre used a mechanised push-button system to trigger radio re- peaters located on 39 mountain tops scattered throughout the region. The repeaters enable operators here to make a radio connection with offi- cers in the field, be it in Terrace or on the Queen Charlotte Islands. The new centre uses what's called Wireless In- tertalk Consoles (WIC) which allow operators to point and click on a.com- puter screen to dispatch members. “The old consoles went in in 1979 and were sche- duled to be replaced in 1999,” said regional RCMP technical support officer Kim Olfert. The new office equip- ment and the installation of WIC brings the region’s communications centre up fo par with others around the province. “WIC went in Feb. 19,” said Olfert. “It’s been trou- ble free. It went the smoothest of all the other installs.” The new consoles make communication between officers and dispatchers more clear and efficient, said Bill delaRonde, man- aper for the north district communications centre. “It employs digital sys- tem processing,” said Ol- fert. “So there is no back- ground hiss and the noise levels. are way down from an operator use point of view.” The renovations portion of the project also saw an- other wark station created. This allows up to four operators to work al any given time. The new work stations have more features and are more comfortable for the operators, said delaRonde, Electric lift systems allow the desk-tops to move up and down, power bars are mounted beneath the desks and top-of-the- line flat screen computer monitors make the opera- tor’s long hours at the desks'a lot more comfort- able. A special floor was also put in the centre to reduce the possibility of electric shock and other interfer- ences with the equipment. Should the dispatch centre here move to Prince George as planned, all of the equipment will be compatible with the call centre there. That move is not ex- pected to happen for a least two more years. The new software is not to be confused with 911 service. “This is not a 911 sys- tem, but it is compatible with that system,” said ° Benth delaRonde...... avn If 911, is, adopted by re-: coe “BEHIND A restricted access door at the Terrace RCMP detachment lies the gional governments, Ol-. newly. réfiovated regional communications centre. The operators here dispatch fert estimates it.would Officers to the scenes of crimes from the Yukon border, to the Queen Charlotte: Islands all the way to Granisle, Pictured is an updated work station complete with flat screen monitors and new state of the art communications software. take a year to integrate the two systems. Spring Has Arrived! Quiksilver * Roxy OshKosh * Hollywood Tommy Hilfiger & More! Dresses For Any Special Occassion Weddings * Confirmation * Christening ¢ Kaster Save 2090 on selected nck MINES LTD. wins “Washers _ Bedroom Suites Love Seats - ~ Dryers Mirrors Lamps Headboards The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 4, 2001 - A3 News In Brief New parks enacted LEGISLATION was introduced last week in Vic- toria to create 15 new provincial parks and six ad- ditions to existing parks. The new parkland, totalling more than a million hectares, stems from recently completed land-use plans in across northern B.C. New or expanded parks north of Meziadin Junc- tion on Hwy 37 include Ningunshaw Park, Stikine River Park, Todagin South Slope Park, Mount Ed- ziza Park, and Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park. The legislatiun also creates new parks in the Lakes District, Fort St. James and Mackenzie re- gions. New parks decided for this region in the just-— completed Kalum Land and Resource Manage- ment Plan have not yet been approved by cabinet. OAS goes up PEOPLE RECEIVING the federal Old Age Sccur- ity benefit received a small increase as of April 1 from the federal government. The basic OAS pension, paid to people 65 years of age atid over, is now $433.52 a month and that’s an increase of .5 per cent over the rate for the pre- vious three months. OAS benefits are adjusted based on increases in the Statistics Canada Consumer Price Index which tracks the cost of living. Adjustments take place very three months. More than 3.8 million seniors receive OAS bene- fits and the amount is now more than $24 billion a year. The maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement and allowance, based on family income during the previous year, is also going up by .5 per cent. Schools get money THE PROVINCIAL education ministry has kicked loose more than $2.5 million for school improve- ments in this area. Most of that, $2.3 million, will go to the Coast Mountains School District for mechanical impro- vements at various schools, There'll be, for instance, continued work on the heating and ventilation system at Caledonia. In New Aiyansh, the Nisga’a Elementary-Sec- ondary School is getiing a new roof. It’ll be cov- ered by $306,000 going to the school district in the Nass from an education ministry program designed to improve facilities. This money will go to the second stage of a roof replacement at the school and there will also be repairs and maintenance done to other schools in the area. Money for tourism THE PROVINCE is giving the Terrace Economic Development Authority $16,500 to see what can be done to boost winter tourism. “This study will help the community find work- ‘able options for off-season tourist attractions,” said Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrecht. Dining Room Chairs Kitchen Tables Recliner ¢17” Monitor *Computer 3 ¢Inkjet Printer 4 SPEAKER PAIRS STARTING AT STARTIN G AT $1499 The Originators of PC Computers. | Provincial Safety Award The Ministry of Mines has awarded Huckleberry Mines Ltd. the Edward Prior Safety Award for 2000. ae Sra Dy This award is given to the safest mine which has worked between 200,000 and 1,000,000 person hours in a year. In 2000, Huckleberry Mines Ltd. had “no time loss” due to work related injury. Huckleberry Mines Ltd. would like to congratulate all its - employees and their families on this achievement. se as , Terrace, B C, onths* No interest . No Pa yinents: PHONE: 638-0555: «FAX: 638-11. 19 _ TOLL FREE: -800-638-0530 We Ship Anywhere our Fi inst teal Is Octaber 4, 2001