Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media first responders in Greene County will be using a more powerful communication system by the end of the week. County lawmakers were updated on the new high-bandwidth radio system on October 2. The switch has been several years in the making, Greene County Emergency Services Deputy Director Randy Ormerod said. Emergency medical services personnel and law enforcement made the switch to the new system September 10; on October 9 fire departments will make the changeover. Public Safety Chairman William Lawrence asked if Greene County EMS would continue running the low band and high band systems concurrently. Emergency Manager Specialist Daniel King said the low band system would remain in effect for about 30 to 60 days. The cost of going high-band varies by department size, King said. “It’s about $200 to $500 per radio,” he said. The transition from low-band to high-band was part of a four-year communications overhaul at the dispatch center. The upgrade cost about $2 million, with the radio upgrade costing $750,000. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.