Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

The City of Chicago expects to go out to bid within the next few weeks for a computer-automated 911 dispatch system to replace one that is now two decades old … and could receive texts, photos and video of crimes and other emergencies. The city’s 911 system already has the advantage of connections to 29,000 cameras across the city.

The new system, part of a nationwide initiative, also will have more redundancies built in for it to keep operating if the main system fails for some reason.

Mayor Emanuel said last year that a new 311 system, which initially was estimated to cost about $30 million, would be in place by 2019. He initially proposed privatizing 311 to help cover the cost, but set aside that plan after aldermen balked and instead came up with a way to pay for it by moving a city maintenance yard and selling the valuable Goose Island property on which it currently sits.

thanks Dan