9-1-1 Communications

The Emergency Communications Center is where all emergency and non-emergency calls in the city of San Marcos are received and processed. San Marcos 9-1-1 is located within the San Marcos Police Department and serves as the city's public safety answering point (PSAP). 

Our communications center has 6 dedicated 9-1-1 trunk lines and 6 administrative lines for non-emergency calls. At the touch of a single button, we can transfer calls to many surrounding jurisdictions, Poison Control, and the Language Line (for non-English-speaking callers). We have a mapping system that ties in with the 9-1-1 lines which pinpoints the exact location for all calls from landlines and gives an approximate area for calls from cell phones. 9-1-1, the ten-digit admin line phone number, and text to 9-1-1 are all received through the same phone system. Often callers on the ten-digit admin line can be placed on hold while an emergency call is processed. 

Emergency Communications Officer Mary Rodemyer at Her Workstation

Computer-Aided Dispatch

Our computers are equipped with Tyler Enterprise Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) program. Using this software we can track each emergency responder’s location and status; enter, view, and modify current calls for service; search a database of all previous calls for service by date, location, call type, and many other variables; and communicate with our police officers on their Mobile Dispatch Terminal (MDT) through a client similar to many popular Instant Messaging programs.

Workstations

There are 13 workstations in the 9-1-1 Communications Center. Of those, 6 stations are outfitted with call-taking and radio dispatching equipment. On any given shift, there are 1-2 call-taker’s, 1 Police Radio Operator, and 1 Fire/EMS Radio Operator.  TCOs are ready to handle any Police, Fire, or EMS emergency that may come in via phone or radio from our completed stations. We are in the process of fully outfitting our remaining 7 stations with emergency equipment. 

The City of San Marcos, LCRA, and CAPCOG have each contributed to outfitting the Communications Center with some of the best emergency communications equipment available. Each workstation is equipped with 6-7 LCD monitors:

  • 2 for 911 phone system and mapping
  • 1-2 for the Harris Radio System and WestNet
  • 3 for the CAD system and other programs utilized by TCOs for daily tasks

Other Communications

The 9-1-1 Communication Center is also the hub of all radio transmissions for the city’s Police and Fire Departments, as well as all San Marcos communication with the San Marcos/Hays County EMS. We operate a 700 and 900 megahertz digital trunked radio system.