by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 19, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Jeff Bratcher, Chief Network and Technology Officer, First Responder Network Authority
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11. In the aftermath of that tragedy, the public safety community pushed for its own dedicated network to address some of the communications challenges responders faced on that day. The community called for a nationwide network, one it could rely on to communicate and share information with each other during emergencies as well as their day-to-day operations.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 18, 2021 | Comm Center News
OUC staff requires more supervision, improved call handling, and efficient location identification; recent improvements should continue with enhanced support
October 19, 2021 (WASHINGTON) The D.C. Office of United Communications 911 Operations Division (OUC) has seen inconsistent handling of calls, difficulties with determining the location of emergencies, and does not meet national standards in getting timely help to callers, according to a new report issued by the Office of the D.C. Auditor (ODCA).
The report by public safety communications consulting firm Federal Engineering, Inc. (FE) on contract with ODCA assesses the effectiveness of OUC against national standards including a review of 2019 and 2020 call metrics, a sample of 911 call recordings, an evaluation of OUC culture and training, and a review of OUC’s technological capabilities and internal investigations…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 14, 2021 | Comm Center News
ST. LOUIS – A plan to consolidate 911 dispatch operations in St. Louis City will likely need state approval before it can become a reality.
The Post-Dispatch reported a plan to merge all of the 911 dispatching services in the city is already being reviewed. Now city officials are trying to figure out how the different unions would come together under the proposal.
Richard Frank, the city personnel director, spoke Wednesday before the Aldermanic Public Safety Committee. The Post-Dispatch reported Frank told the committee that the state board of mediation would need to clarify whether the dispatchers under the consolidation plan would be represented by the city police or firefighters union…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 14, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
This week I decided to once again discuss the urgent need for nationwide Push-To-Talk (PTT) interoperability between FirstNet, broadband, and Land Mobile Radio (LMR). Well, we no longer have to wait for vendors to finally work together. With some vendors’ capabilities, and since many agencies have already deployed their preferred flavor of push-to-talk, perhaps we should look at building nationwide interoperability starting at the agency level and working up.
[Note: None of the vendors mentioned in this article are current clients.]
Push-To-Talk Interoperability Today
Many agencies have moved ahead on their own and worked with an approved FirstNet PTT vendor. Tango Tango has not waited around for the PTT vendor community to solve the interoperability problem. It has found solutions to the problems as it has focused on the agency level…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 12, 2021 | Comm Center News
There is a shortage of 911 dispatchers and call takers. Many Hampton Roads cities are down more than 10 workers.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Author’s note: the video above first aired in July 2021.
Emergency dispatchers help people through some of their worst moments.
Call takers say it’s a thankless job that comes with a ton of pressure and stress. Now, the stress is even higher because they don’t have enough people to answer your 911 calls…
