A shared 911 communication center is the recommendation of a recent study prompted by improving emergency efforts in Montgomery County and the city of Radford, according to the Roanoke Times. Talks of enhancing emergency services have been increasing over the past couple years since the Va Tech massacre on April 16, 2007.

"A new study recommends that a shared emergency 911 communication center be created and used in Montgomery County and Radford.

The center could be shared by agencies in Montgomery County, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, Radford University and Virginia Tech, according to the study's findings. Currently, all six entities have separate dispatch centers and radio systems.

An $85,000 grant by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency funded a study to determine whether it is feasible to create such a regional 911 center. AECOM Design/CTA Communications conducted the study.

The localities have been exploring the concept of sharing their public safety dispatch centers for 20 years, but the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech shootings "illuminated the challenges of interagency communications and brought about a new resolve to explore the feasibility of consolidating two or more of the dispatch centers in the region," according to the study."

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