AT&T selected for Arkansas 911 next generation service

The Arkansas 911 Board has selected AT&T to implement its “Next Generation 9-1-1 service” to improve emergency communications across the state.

The state’s 114 public safety answering points (PSAPs) handle more than 1.6 million 9-1-1 calls each year. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Some aspects of the new service include:

  • Improved location-based services. Using location-based geospatial routing, when a person contacts 9-1-1, their location can be identified quickly and routed to the appropriate PSAP for improved response times… READ MORE

Public Safety Advocate: Nationwide Interoperability, FirstNet Authority 2022 Budget

Introduction

The imminent release of Motorola’s 3GPP-compliant (sans ProSe) Push-To-Talk (PTT) will be the second 3GPP-compliant PTT application available on FirstNet (Built with AT&T). With seven other PTT applications already approved for the network, I am concerned about how we progress from today where we have a variety of flavors of PTT to where we need to be with fully-interoperable push-to-talk for FirstNet and integration with multiple forms of Land Mobile Radio systems (LMR).

Last week, I wrote about the FirstNet Authority’s request for information concerning off-network communications. Response to that article was greater than to any I have written in the past three to four months. Most of the comments were positive and many brought up some of the same issues I wrote about…

Polaris Wireless claims first end-to-end 911 solution with vertical location through collaboration with Qualcomm

Polaris Wireless announced that its vertical-location (Z-axis) information can be delivered to carriers for 911 purposes by users of non-iOS and non-Android phones through a collaboration with Qualcomm—a deal that is expected to make the first end-to-end 911 solution with Z-axis location commercially available early next year.

Polaris Wireless CEO and founder Manlio Allegra noted that the company’s vertical-location technology bettered the FCC’s vertical-location accuracy requirements in tests conducted in 2016 and 2018, but the collaboration with Qualcomm on a control-plane solution promises to make it available broadly…

Division Chief Martha Ellis unpacks fireground communications and FirstNet

Fire Chief Marc Bashoor speaks with Division Chief Martha Ellis, executive director for the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association. Chief Ellis unpacks all things fireground communications, interoperability and FirstNet. She details the mission of the PSBTA and how FirstNet is currently serving the fire service. Contact Ellis here.

To hear this episode of the Side Alpha Podcast, CLICK HERE

Cloud-native incident management streamlines emergency response – GCN

Cloud-native incident management streamlines emergency response – GCN

emergency dispatcher (911.gov)

Cloud-native incident management streamlines emergency response

A new cloud-native software suite links data and workflows from an initial 911 call all the way through the criminal justice system.

Motorola Solutions’ CommandCentral suite provides a complete incident view, including 911 call handling, dispatch, video analytics, field reports, records, evidence and community engagement. The automatic collection and correlation of incident data from every source — including bystanders’ smartphones, officers’ body-worn cameras, fixed video, 911 calls and radio logs — enhances collaboration and the building of case files…

Can Private 911 Apps Help Improve Emergency Response?

As public agencies strive to upgrade technology in a national push, a San Diego-based company is positioning its new app as a way to help take pressure off hardworking emergency dispatchers.

That app, called Rescu, enables subscribers to get in touch with public agency emergency communication centers via the company’s own private dispatch professionals. In that sense, it shares some similarities with home alarm companies, and could potentially become more familiar to public agency dispatchers if the product catches on… READ MORE