by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 3, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in partnership with the Department of Transportation (DoT), has selected the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI), a DHS Center of Excellence led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), to develop a framework and process for testing the interoperability and compatibility of Next Generation 911 (NG911) systems.
NG911 refers to an updated version of the current nationwide emergency response system operating on an Internet Protocol (IP) platform that will enable voice, video, photographs, text, and future communications technologies to be transmitted to and by the public and first responders for assistance…
by ECC Editor | Aug 2, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
An estimated 240 million emergency 9-1-1 calls are made from phones in the United States each year, with least 80 percent originating from wireless devices, according to the National Emergency Number Association.
Among those calls are an increasingly unhealthy number of 9-1-1 misdials, many coming from newer models of some cell phones and smart watches with a feature that activates an automated emergency call when side buttons are pressed multiple times — often accidentally… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 28, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
Amid a rapidly evolving technology landscape, how do public safety agencies find out about the latest and greatest options, and best practices on how to implement them? How do tech companies which want to serve the first responder market learn what their customers really need and how to make it real? And how do those two sides find each other during a global pandemic?
by ECC Editor | Jul 24, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
Imagine being able to text 911 when you need help or sending a video to 911 that shows how a car accident happened. Both would be possible with Next Generation 911 (NG911). Today, most of the 911 systems in use were built using analog systems rather than digital technology. These analog systems use copper-based wire and do not allow all types of data to be transmitted. Public Safety Answering Points, more commonly known as 911 call centers, would need to be upgraded to digital or Internet (IP) based 911 systems to allow more types of data to be transmitted and make other improvements… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 24, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
First Responder FirstNet Authority July 23, 2020
As the summer months heat up, so too does hurricane season. With the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasting an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season for 2020, first responders must be prepared. FirstNet, the only nationwide, purpose-built network for public safety, has been battle tested and designed to keep first responders connected during large storms and hurricanes. READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 23, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
While continuing research for my book on FirstNet, I happened across an Advocate published on July 26, 2010 entitled, “Mr. Seybold Goes to Washington.” I believe this column is a good recap of the activities the Public Safety Alliance (PSA), APCO, and others were engaged in and the politics they were up against. With the D-Block, another 10 MHZ of spectrum would be added to the 10 MHz then licensed to the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST), bringing the total public-safety broadband spectrum to 20 MHz, which was what we believed we needed to ensure public safety would have sufficient broadband spectrum to operate nationwide. At the time, we thought our activity toward the end of July, 2010 boded well for winning the D-Block spectrum and establishment of a Nationwide Public-Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN)…
