by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 15, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Brandi Vincent
As America fights a global pandemic and braces for what could be an alarmingly active hurricane season, public safety agencies looking to modernize response efforts have a new option to participate in personal, two-way conversations directly with each other and with those they serve—via text message.
RumbleUp, a peer-to-peer texting app that’s made notable waves for political and advocacy campaigns in recent years, was accepted into the FirstNet App Catalog, a dedicated library of secure applications that can be used by more than 12,000 public safety agencies. The addition could enable first responders to directly text people on the ground in support of COVID-19 testing and contact tracing efforts, as a lifeline during hurricanes, and other natural disasters or unexpected events and much more. READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Jul 10, 2020 | Articles
Cloud-native 911 solution developer RapidDeploy has experienced some hiccups during the past few months, but the realities surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated interest and acceptance of its cloud-based CAD, mapping and analytics offerings, according to a company executive.
Historically, 911 systems have been built with premise-based technologies that require telecommunicators to be physically present in designated 911 centers to accept emergency calls from the public and dispatch public-safety resources to the scene… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 10, 2020 | Articles
Although the questions around staffing and overtime at Meriden’s emergency dispatch center are far from settled, City Manager Tim Coon says there’s one thing on which both the city and the union are in agreement: that staffing shortages need to be resolved.
Beyond that, though, the discussion descends into charges and countercharges.
The union says dispatchers are working 72 to 88 hours per week. “We have tried repeatedly to engage management in fixing the problem, and we have tried to be part of…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 9, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Federal Communications Commission is usually enthusiastic about opening up additional spectrum for commercial use. Not in the case of the T-Band—which has long been used by public safety agencies in some major cities, but under a Congressional mandate, has to be auctioned off by February 2021.
FCC Chair Ajit Pai has repeatedly asked Congress to scuttle the so-called T-Band mandate, arguing that between the cost of moving users out of the band and the disruption to public safety communications, it’s not worth it. While there is bipartisan opposition to a T-Band auction and some legislation has been proposed that would include a repeal of the mandate, so far Congress hasn’t passed anything that lets the FCC off the hook for a T-Band auction. So the agency recently proposed rules (pdf) for the reallocation of the T-Band spectrum at 470-512 MHz…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 9, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
Over the years, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) has developed and published a large number of documents to provide Land Mobile Radio (LMR) and broadband network operators, public-safety users, and vendors with information that will assist them in providing features and functions needed by the public-safety community. For the most part, NPSTC committees are structured to enable anyone interested in a specific topic to participate in a committee’s activities and development of final work products…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 9, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
In attempt to save more lives and make emergency response more efficient, more and more AR technologies ard adopted by governments. With augmented reality technology, digital information is overlaid onto a view of the real world via a headset, glasses or smartphone. AR can help first responders get information about the location they are moving through, providing structural layouts and even showing where doorframes and people are in smoke-filled environments. AR helmets and masks can also help with training…
