by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 10, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Anu Appaji, Domain Lead, Secure Information Exchange, First Responder Network Authority
It’s the beginning of a tour of duty for an officer in a typical police department.
The officer leaves the roll call briefing and checks out her equipment for the day—a radio, body-worn camera, taser, and smartphone. She proceeds to her vehicle and conducts a quick safety inspection of the exterior. As she sits down, the dispatcher announces that there are several assignments demanding immediate attention on her beat.
Unfortunately, she cannot begin her tour yet. She still has to sign on to several mobile applications on her smartphone and in-car computer before she can hit the street.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 10, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Webster Dictionary defines “Unified” as “Brought together as one.” Under the public-safety Incident Command (IC) structure, “Unified” means “Unified Command (UC): In incidents involving multiple jurisdictions, a single jurisdiction with multiagency involvement, or multiple jurisdictions with multiagency involvement, Unified Command allows agencies with different legal, geographic, and functional authorities and responsibilities to work together effectively.” (For more information about Incident Command see FEMA.)
Based on both meanings of “Unified,” I would like to suggest that public safety leave “interoperability” and “PTT interoperability” (Push-To-Talk interoperability) behind and replace these terms with “Unified.” This might make it easier to explain exactly what is needed by the public-safety community when it comes to push-to-talk…
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 3, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
Illustration by scarysideofearth via Flickr.
Americans make at least 240 million 911 calls each year. Many of these calls result in timely professional responses to medical emergencies, fires, and serious crimes in progress.
This everyday excellence—24 hours a day, 365 days a year—is a remarkable, often life-saving accomplishment. Indeed, 911 professionals are true first responders. At the same time, America’s 911 system exhibits many opportunities for improvement.
Research shows that most 911 calls are not related to a crime in progress, yet often still elicit a police response. This results in police spending much of their time responding to low-level or non-criminal incidents that do not amount to public safety or health emergencies…
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 3, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
I hear that a good time was had by all who celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the creation of FirstNet. I, on the other hand, unexpectedly spent my Tuesday in a Mayo Hospital operating room while they put final touches on a minor surgery. Still, I was able to watch some of the live stream and from what I saw, it appeared to be a professional and well-organized event.
The Celebration
Congratulations are in order for the FirstNet Authority, the management team at the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (PSBTA), and members of the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA)…
by ECC Editor | Mar 2, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
Rosenworcel Proposes NG911 Funding Plan
Last week, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel gave a speech in which she proposed funding a portion of the transition to Next Generation 911 (“NG911”) services through proceeds from future spectrum auctions. Chairwoman Rosenworcel suggested that the FCC should consider utilizing these funds in a similar manner to how the Commission funded FirstNet, which was established from revenue raised in the 700 MHz band auction in 2012. Congress must extend the FCC’s authority to auction spectrum by September 30, 2022… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 2, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
Alexandria, VA – The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International has issued a call for participation for working group members to participate in the creation of a candidate standard titled Common Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Public Safety GIS Identifiers.
CAD systems are the principal application used by public safety agencies to manage law enforcement, fire and EMS incidents from the initial time an incident is reported, to the conclusion of the incident. These systems may be composed of both tabular records management systems and spatial or geographic information (Geofile) systems…
