FAIRFIELD — Three weeks ago, emergency dispatchers in the basement of the town's Police Department had to use the telephone if they needed to contact Westport police or security officials at Fairfield and Sacred Heart universities.

But now the dispatchers are just a computer command away from contacting those public safety departments.

State and town officials met Tuesday in the Emergency Communications Center to learn about a $300,000 communications system installed from Sept. 11 to 13.

The state Department of Homeland Security provided a $275,000 grant for the system, while the balance came from town coffers, said Police Chief David Peck.

Deputy Fire Chief Art Reid said the grant was designed to improve communications between town dispatchers and emergency responders to other public safety departments.

"The key was interoperability. We did have to demonstrate to the state it made us more interoperable with police and fire across the state," Reid said.

Peter Gall, a systems engineer at Northeastern Communications in Waterbury, which engineered and installed the system, showed First Selectman Kenneth Flatto how easy it now is to get security at SHU on the radio.

After clicking a cursor on a computer screen, Gall was talking to SHU security loud and clear.

The new Motorola communications console also links university security officers to Fairfield and Westport patrol officers, said Dennis Vieira, a senior account executive at Northeastern Communications.

Dispatcher Matt Bensey said radio frequencies continue to be added to the new system and it will be just as easy to contact other public safety departments as that happens.

The new system, like the old one, has a general channel that lets dispatchers talk to every public safety department in the state, Bensey said.

Maryellen Fox, a dispatcher for 16 years, said dispatchers can view aerial photos of every property in town on the new system.

The photos enable dispatchers to tell police officers and firefighters en route to an emergency where a driveway is located and how far back a house is set from the road. Dispatchers could previously view only maps on their computer screens, Fox said.

The old communications system, installed 12 years ago, was slower and replacement parts were hard to find. Dispatchers helped design the new system by identifying features they know would work effectively, Vieira said.

Dispatchers deploy police and firefighters on about 40,000 calls a year, and Vieira said 911 calls are usually of "the utmost importance."

"When you call for help, we're the people who have to decide who to send and how to keep you safe until they get there," dispatcher Martha Kuczo said.