by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 2, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI) today announced that it has made a new service available to the public safety market — CommandCentral Citizen Input — which is designed to help 9-1-1 call takers to better engage with citizens in their time of need. Citizen Input is a cloud-based service that allows citizens calling or texting 9-1-1 to send video, photographs and recordings of an incident to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), using controlled and permission-based procedures…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 2, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
By David Buchanan, Executive Director of Public Safety Advocacy, FirstNet Authority
Last year saw the release of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) Roadmap, the launch of network investment planning, and significant buildout of the network. It also saw a renewed commitment from our FirstNet Authority team of expert public safety advisors to engage with public safety and improve, expand, and bring innovation to FirstNet.
Through targeted engagements, our team has been working to better understand public safety’s technical and operational broadband needs and how FirstNet is impacting public safety operations today. Since January, our team has taken part in more than 900 in-person and virtual engagements, meeting with nearly 21,000 public safety stakeholders from across the country. Whether engaging in person or virtually, we have received recommendations and ideas to positively influence the FirstNet network’s path forward. READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 2, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Federal Communications Commission has voted along party lines to expand the use of the 4.9 GHz band, over objections from public safety users.
The 4.9 GHz spectrum, which consists of 50 megahertz (4.940-4.990 GHz), was designated for exclusive use by public safety for fixed and mobile services back in the early 2000s. That spectrum was allowed to be shared with non-traditional public safety responders. The FCC has now dropped the requirement that the spectrum be used for public safety-related activities. The GOP majority on the commission supported the view that due to the high cost of equipment in the band and the fact that its use is mostly confined to a few metropolitan areas, the spectrum is underutilized and states ought to be allowed to use it to “best meet their unique needs,” as the FCC said in a statement…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 2, 2020 | Comm Center News
Research shows that nearly 6 billion text messages are sent every day in the United States, more than 2.2. trillion per year. SMS or text messaging has become a way of primary communication for many people to communicate. With this change, emergency communications centers across the country needed to adapt to the changes and upgrade their system to support this new wave of communication…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 2, 2020 | Comm Center News
Manatee County, Florida may become the first local government entity in the country to use its emergency 9-1-1 system to dispatch the delivery of emergency medical supplies by drone for people suffering from heart attacks or other serious medical emergencies.
On September 15, the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners gave approval to a preliminary agreement between the county Public Safety Department and Orlando-based Archer First Response Systems, an affiliate of Archer UAS, which would install an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), comprising a drone capable of carrying a medical payload and a ground control hub, on county property…
