A call came into the Taylor County Enhanced-911 Center.

There was screaming and yelling at the end of the line.

Before dispatchers could ask what was going on, the call was cut off.

Because the new E-911 system shows the location from which a call is made, Senior Telecommunicator Randy McFall said, dispatchers were immediately able to send a deputy to check on the situation.

It was a domestic violence call.

After five years of waiting, Taylor County's E-911 system went on-line about a month ago. The system is in a test phase, according to Campbellsville Police Chief Bill Cassell. The test phase will last 30 to 60 days. The E-911 center falls under Cassell's day-to-day supervision.

"So far it's working well," Cassell said Tuesday morning.

Before E-911, according to Senior Telecommunicator Ronnie Dooley, dispatchers would have to wait as much as two hours for a hang-up call to be traced.

"We would just feel so helpless," Dooley said. "Now we don't feel as helpless as we once did."

Part of getting the E-911 system started was a re-addressing. That's been under the direction of E-911 Coordinator Bonnie Childers and 911 Supervisor Anne Sanders. On Tuesday, Childers said addressing was 99 percent complete.

"But, I'm still working on it."

As E-911 coordinator, Childers is responsible for giving addresses to new residents and businesses that move into Taylor County. She draws the new address onto a map. She measures roads to ensure that the new address fits into the E-911 system.

There are nine dispatchers who answer the emergency calls that come into the center. According to Sanders, two dispatchers are usually on duty at one time.

The center includes a full-service kitchen. There are times, Cassell said, when dispatchers can't leave the center to take a break. There are also showers and lockers, he said, in case there is an emergency that keeps dispatchers on duty longer than a normal shift.

In the center's rest room are a telephone and notepad. Sanders said dispatchers even have a portable radio with all the channels they dispatch programmed into it. Dispatchers take the radio to the rest room with them.

"They are never away from a phone," Cassell said. "These are dedicated men and women."

McFall said emergency dispatching is a rewarding and exciting occupation. "You never know what's going to be on the other end of that line."

The center dispatches the fire department, rescue squad, police, sheriff's department, water department and city government.

News and weather from around the country are monitored at the center, especially local weather.

If a storm is moving toward Taylor County, Cassell said, the 911 center alerts local emergency agencies by paging the agencies' department heads.

Dooley said that since the new weather alert system went in place, emergency agencies have known of approaching storms 24 to 48 hours before arrival. This allows department heads to call out more workers, to ready vehicles and make other storm preparations.

In a power outage, Cassell said, the new center is powered by a generator that runs off a Chevrolet motor. The generator can operate off either natural or bottled gasoline. There is also a large Universal Power System battery pack in the basement of the center. The battery pack powers the center when the electricity is working. It can also power the center for several hours if there is an outage and the generator fails to work.

"If the power goes out," McFall said, "we don't even know it."

The transition from electricity to generator is "seamless," Cassell said, because of the battery pack.

Eventually, plans are that the basement will include all the equipment dispatchers use upstairs. If there is a disaster, the basement would become a command center for emergency agencies and a dispatching center for the county.

"We can operate in any condition," Cassell said.

Everyday, he said, the people who work in the new center are coming up with ideas for improving it.

"We're still finding little flaws," McFall said. "But, we're going from the stone age to an all new high-tech system."

When an emergency call comes into the Taylor County E-911 center, an alarm sounds.

The sound demands the immediate attention of a dispatcher. It's not the ring of a normal call.

Those calls are given priority, according to senior telecommunicators Ronnie Dooley and Randy McFall. That's why they ask that no one call "911" unless there is a true emergency. The administrative phone number for whatever emergency agency the caller is trying to reach, Dooley said, should be used in all situations that aren't true emergencies.

If dispatchers answer a 911 call that isn't a true emergency, Dooley said, the call will be ended and the caller will be advised that the 911 number is for emergencies only.

The center receives 911 calls from people asking about road conditions, if a particular emergency worker is on duty and other such requests.

"911 lines get priority," McFall said, "so don't use them unless there truly is an emergency."

The administrative number is 465-4121.

Taylor County's E-911 coordinator wants to make sure everyone has the right address.

Having a incorrect address is detrimental to the E-911 system working as it should.

Coordinator Bonnie Childers said that people who move to new rental property, buy a new home or move to a new business, need to find out what their new address is.

If there is a question about an existing address, Childers said she encourages residents to call her. "I'd rather they call than not call and have the wrong address."