The emergency response data-management vendor RapidSOS on Tuesday announced the creation of a new “partner network” that integrates 20 other vendors’ products into a common dashboard. The purpose, the company said, is make it easier for workers at the nearly 5,000 emergency communications centers that use RapidSOS’ software to sift through the ever-increasing layers of data collected when responding to a call.
“There are so many screens these communicators need to look at,” Jessica Reed, the company’s vice president of strategy and global partners, said in a phone interview. “Our goal is to bring it to one screen.”
RapidSOS is one of a handful of companies that markets software that aims to deliver real-time information to public safety answering points that’s more robust — and, ideally, precise — than the existing 911 system, which is built on physical telephone lines, and being phased out slowly for a next-generation system better suited for contemporary wireless communications…
Every 911 operator has that call that will
demand more of them than usual … this was mine.
I was the second 911 operator she had spoken with that
morning. Only six minutes into our phone conversation on that 911 line, I had
determined that she very likely had paranoid schizophrenia with a totally
unhealthy splash of “watched one too many fictional espionage dramas.” She was
a chaotic ball of nervous energy going on incessantly about the electronic bugs
in her apartment (and in her brain), the neighbors to the immediate left of her
building that were harassing her by staring into her windows at night, and all
the reasons why she didn’t trust law enforcement to begin with. I tried to
sound gentle and reassuring even as I recognized what I was dealing with…
Chicago, IL, July 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First responders have a new wireless solution that enhances mission-critical communications services. UScellular and Tango Tango are teaming up to expand radio reach, enable agency collaboration and extend the life of land mobile radio (LMR) systems for public safety officials.
UScellular’s wireless network and the advanced networking, mobile, and cloud technologies from Tango Tango, help expand the coverage and capabilities of a traditional LMR system ideal for push-to-talk services used by police, fire and emergency operations…
Department of Homeland Security teams are working to make aging IT infrastructure interoperable and ready for 5G emerging technology.
Norman Speicher was looking at colleges in Boston, Massachusetts, with his daughter when he made a 911 call on behalf of someone who suddenly fainted. His phone connected to a cell tower on the south side of the city, and algorithms routed the call to the wrong dispatch center, as the dispatcher informed him. This delayed help by four or five minutes.
The episode illuminates some of the interoperability cracks in computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems between 911 call centers, first responders and law enforcement…
Four key phases exist in a VoIP project: assessment, design, procurement, and implementation. An independent consultant can bring you an unbiased perspective throughout the journey by identifying potential bottlenecks, estimating budgets, determining what needs to be upgraded or replaced, and developing a set of system requirements to ensure a competitive bid process and smoother implementation. Here, I’ll share an inside view of how to make the most of each phase of the VoIP process—giving you a taste of the value a consultant brings to the table.
VoIP projects typically take six to 12 months to complete, and engaging an outside expert to handle the process takes a burden off your IT department. The consultant can work as part of the IT group, performing many of the tasks necessary to complete critical phases while still allowing oversight from the project team… READ MORE
AUSTIN, Texas, July 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — In 2012 Joan Lantz called 9-1-1 on her cell phone. She died in her apartment in Rock Hill, South Carolina because 9-1-1 operators could not locate her. In 2020 Sheila Sheppard died in her Washington DC residence because the address of her emergency did not appear on the 9-1-1 operator’s screen. Every year there are countless tragic stories like these. Over the past 10 months calls to 9-1-1 have increased dramatically to exceed pre-pandemic levels and over 80% of those calls are from cell phones; as a result an increasing number of Americans are becoming aware of a serious problem. When 9-1-1 is called from a cell phone the call taker does not receive your address, 9-1-1 doesn’t know your location. Even in ideal circumstances where there is a high density of cell towers and the most advanced public safety technology, 9-1-1 can only identify that you’re in an area ranging from 25,000 to 27,000,000 square feet. Real Safe 911, a new app and system from Real Safe Brands, has solved this critical location issue. When you call emergency services using Real Safe 911, the 9-1-1 operator will automatically receive your current address. Real Safe 911 works over the existing 9-1-1 infrastructure, and with every 9-1-1 system in the US and Canada… READ MORE
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
