A new system enabling immediate electronic transfer of information between ambulance, fire and police communications centres could be ready for use by the middle of the year if the cost is signed off, St John says.
The system would link all three agencies, allowing them to instantly alert each other to incidents through one message.
St John emergency ambulance communications centre (EACC) operations manager Alan Goudge said the system could speed up responses to 111 calls.
"At the moment, our systems do not converse electronically. We share information verbally and that cannot always be full information or accurate information.
"We should be electronically talking to each other, so we don't have those delays."
EACC service development and contracts manager Colin Lawrence said the project, being managed by police and in conjunction with fire and ambulance, had been in development for several years.
The project team had recently confirmed costs and was seeking approval for the expenditure.
He did not specify the cost of the project.
Subject to those discussions, the joint emergency services expected to complete the work before the middle of this year, Mr Lawrence said.
A spokesman said NZ Police did not want to discuss the project while it was still under discussion.
The computer aided dispatch systems of NZ Police and the Fire Service - whose communication centres were co-located across the country - were already able to converse electronically and those services shared information, he said.
