Allen County Commissioners are the final government body needed to approve funds for a more efficient 911 service.

Fort Wayne Director of Communications Tina Taviano is scheduled to request between $80,000 and $100,000 from the commissioners so that her department can afford to install new software.

The software, VisiCAD, would link computer systems with the city and Allen County dispatchers to the Three Rivers Ambulance Authority.

The link, Taviano said, would save more time, and lives, by removing the dispatchers as middlemen.

Currently, if the emergency is medical-related, dispatchers have to manually transfer the calls over to TRAA.

Taviano reported at the least, this adds time before the caller receives service as the person has to wait, then re-explain, the situation to the TRAA call center workers.

The total cost for the project is $662,000; about half will be funded through grants. Fort Wayne Council approved $300,000 in county economic development income tax when they passed the 2009 city budget. The county's share would come out of its E-911 fund if it is approved.