By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

Local 911 call center officials should have a better idea in February about how much it would cost to combine services.

Lewiston/Auburn 911 and Androscoggin County, Lisbon and Livermore Falls emergency call centers submitted surveys Thursday to All-Comm, a Revere, Mass., communications firm. That firm should issue a report in early February on the cost of combining the dispatch services.

“That’s the only way we’re going to be able to make an informed decision about what to do next,” said L-A 911 Director Andy D’Eramo. “We’re hoping it’ll lay to rest some of the unknowns and misconceptions that have been going around.”

D’Eramo said the report should show how big a staff and how big a building a combined countywide dispatch service would need.

“We don’t think that anybody has a space big enough to do it currently,” he said. “A big part of it will be costs, not just for staffing or space, but for things like computer hardware and software. That would all need to be updated.”

Maine 911 call-answering centers are facing a state mandate to reduce their numbers drastically by October. According to a new state law, call centers for Lisbon, Androscoggin County and Lewiston-Auburn will have to combine operations.

Local officials are also considering combining dispatch services. The three agencies currently take all of the 911 calls and dispatch all emergency workers in Androscoggin County.

• The Lisbon Police Department takes 911 calls and handles dispatching for Lisbon’s police officers and the Fire Department.

• Lewiston/Auburn 911 takes all of the calls and dispatches for Auburn and Lewiston police, fire and ambulances.

• The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department takes emergency calls for the rest of the county and dispatches for the Sheriff’s Department; the Mechanic Falls and Sabattus police departments; and the Poland, Minot, Turner and Greene fire departments.