by ECC Editor | Nov 16, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
WASHINGTON, November 15, 2021–– Experts at a Federal Communications Bar Association event earlier this month said the current funding allocation for next-generation 911 services is inadequate.
Currently, under the Joe Biden administration’s Build Back Better Act, the new 911 services – which will allow people to share videos, images and texts with 911 call centers – is allocated $500 million.
“It’s not enough to fully fund 911,” David Redl, CEO of consulting group Salt Point Strategies, said on the FCBA’s “What Comes Next in 911” panel on November 4. Redl was formerly the head of the Commerce Department’s telecom agency National Telecommunications and Information Administration…
by ECC Editor | Nov 16, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
As the westernmost point and Territory of the United States, Guam’s unofficial motto is “Where America’s Day Begins.” It will also be where the first 9-1-1 calls on a calendar day will be dispatched using Caliber’s Computer-Aided Dispatch solutions.
After a thorough evaluation process, the Guam Fire Department (GFD) announced the award and notice to proceed with Tyto Government Solutions (Tyto) to upgrade from the existing obsolete E9-1-1 system and deliver Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) equipment, technology, and services. The NG9-1-1 system will give emergency call takers and first responders an accurate and comprehensive view of incidents, improved caller location, enhanced mapping, decision support tools, and more. Among the project’s various components, Caliber Public Safety, a Tyto GSI partner, will deliver the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Mobile solutions, including PocketRescue™ – a smartphone application enabling access to mission-critical information… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 11, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Rural Broadband
As most of you know by now, the infrastructure bill was finally passed by the House last week. It had already been passed by the Senate and is now on its way to the White House for the President’s signature. This bill includes $65 Billion in funding for rural broadband services. Whether there are provisions for oversight and coordination of how this money is spent, who spends it, and for what technologies is unclear.
As I have said before, my concern is that without some form of oversight we could end up with a patchwork quilt of non-compatible broadband deployments in rural areas. Some think broadband must be fiber-only and some believe there are a number of technologies that can be used to deploy broadband services in rural America…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 10, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
When providing emergency services to a community and/or region, it is only common sense that the citizens receive service promptly. In the Lompoc Valley, three separate and distinct organizations provide emergency medical response service. They are the Lompoc City Fire Department, Santa Barbara County Fire Department, and American Medical Response.
It is imperative that the taxpayer-funded emergency response system resources be managed effectively to gain the maximum benefit for the community. Minutes and seconds matter when life-threatening emergencies occur…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 10, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Public Safety, Critical Infrastructure Highlight Importance of Backup Power in Disasters
Public safety, business and critical infrastructure officials emphasized the importance of backup power and collaboration between wireless providers and energy providers during a field hearing on disaster communications that was a part of the FCC’s October 26 meeting.FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said it is important that the FCC learn as much as possible whenever communications outages and field hearings provide a strong outlet for that…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 5, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
While most U.S. emergency communications centers (ECCs) use a CAD system to dispatch 911 calls and facilitate records management, few CAD system components are uniform across vendors. This can create problems transferring emergency calls and associated data, such as caller location information.
It can also create problems with the transfer of call information to first responders in the field via public safety broadband networks. These transfer functions are important capabilities for enhancing responder safety and situational awareness and is essential for the transition to Next Generation 911 (NG911) functionality…
