San Jose’s 911 dispatchers are sounding the alarm and urging the city council to take immediate action addressing a staffing shortage.
Dispatchers said the staffing issue means some calls for help are getting put on hold.
Fire dispatchers said during the VTA yard shooting some other emergency calls had to be put on hold for up to 30 minutes because the limited number of on-duty dispatchers were tied up handling the shooting and two significant structure fires at the same time…
With a study into a potential merger with the city of Chandler on Emergency Call Center services now called off, Maricopa is looking to build its own facility and host operations for municipal partners.
The Chandler study was halted for a variety of reasons, according to City Manager Rick Horst.
“Chandler has recently advised us that they wish to pause this process,” Horst said. “Reasons include the recent retirement of their city manager and the ongoing recruitment process. Recent events in the city of Chandler have mandated their time and attention away from this study process and to some degree, misinformation circulated as promulgated by parties with self-serving agendas…
Apple’s devices are usually expensive relative to the competition. The argument that Apple fans make on behalf of the company is that Apple doesn’t compromise its quality. Thus, you would expect that its devices will be perfect and without any design fails. However, this is far from the truth. Like other electronics for other brands, Apple’s devices malfunction from time to time, and its designs aren’t always perfect. This time, it appears that the company will have to do something about the emergency services on Apple Watch. A new report shows that it is “too” easy to call 911 accidentally with the Apple Watch.
Huawei’s court challenge to a Federal Communications Commission order that declared it to be a national security threat and denied it access to federal funding was rejected as the FCC ramps up pressure on the company and seeks to deny all future authorizations to it and similar businesses with links to the Chinese Communist Party.
The FCC initially designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats last summer, banning the two companies from accessing U.S. government subsidies to build communication infrastructure. The commission said government subsidies from its $8.3 billion annual Universal Service Fund “may no longer be used to purchase, obtain, maintain, improve, modify, or otherwise support any equipment or services produced or provided by” Huawei. The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau concluded that Huawei was a national security threat. After Huawei sought a review of the designation, the FCC again affirmed in December that the company “poses a threat to the security and integrity of our nation’s communications networks…
Due to increased call volume and workload over the last 16 years, the DeKalb County Emergency Communications District (E-911) is looking to hire more dispatchers with extra help from the City of Smithville and DeKalb County governments.
The city has already done its part.
During a budget work session in April, 911 Director Brad Mullinax met with the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen at city hall to ask that the city increase its annual contribution to $160,000, up from $119,595. Two weeks ago (June 7th) the aldermen honored Mullinax’s request by including in the 2021-22 city budget funding of $40,405 (salary and benefits) for another paid E-911 dispatcher position. The aldermen adopted the budget on second and final reading last Thursday night, June 17…
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
