KINGSTON – When the new Ulster County emergency communications system is up and running in about two years, it will link all police, fire, EMS and paging.

The current system transmits via 12 towers while the new one will use 16 towers.

Consultant Chris Carney briefed the county legislature’s Public Works & Capital Projects Committee on Monday.

“We’re timing it down to the micro-second so that all of the transmitters hit at the exact same time so there is not interference,” he said. “In order to interlink all of those towers together, we also have to build a backhaul system – think of it as a highway – it’s going to bring all of that data to the tower sites at the same time.”

Because of Ulster County’s mountainous terrain, the current transmission system does not cover areas. The new system is being engineered to provide much better coverage, especially in populated areas.