A task force working to combine and consolidate 911 dispatch centers in St. Joseph County continued its work Monday.

Ultimately, the panel must whittle down the large number of emergency communications centers to just a pair.

"Right now they're saying two," said St. Joseph County Commissioner Dave Thomas. "We currently have much more than two -- South Bend Police, South Bend Fire, County Police, County Fire, Mishawaka Police, Mishawaka Fire, Lakeville ambulance, Walkerton Police, Fire, North Liberty, New Carlisle, so we need to get all of these fingers under one umbrella."

The new communications systems must be state of the art -- 800 megahertz systems.

The deadline for the switch is in 2014.