by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 24, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
As we planned for the FirstNet network, the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) worked together with the public safety community to understand their critical communications needs. To make use of mobile broadband for daily operations and emergencies, first responders told us they needed the network to be available when and where they needed it most.
The FirstNet Authority incorporated this important feedback on coverage into our Request for Proposals for the network. We ensured that terrestrial cell sites would be deployed where public safety needed them most according to each State’s plan. We also enabled innovative solutions for coverage by incorporating public safety deployables or portable cell sites into the FirstNet offering. READ FULL ARTICLE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 24, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The European Union’s BroadWay project, which paves a technological path for interoperable, cross-border public safety broadband, has taken another step toward reality, with the project recently demonstrating the results of its prototyping phase for buyers in EU member countries.
According to a Project BroadWay release, it held a prototype demonstration on June 7 with suppliers Airbus, Leonardo and Frequentis.
Project BroadWay already has 11 EU member states involved as procurers, led by ASTRID, which provides emergency and security communication services in Belgium. The prototype demo gathered interest from an additional seven member states and three associated countries, Project BroadWay said…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 23, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Orleans Parish Communication District (OPCD) is working to launch a cloud-based 911 contact center that allows for next-generation 911 services and unifies location, audio, video, chat, text-to-911 and mapping data on one platform.
Carbyne, a public-safety technology company, announced June 3 that OPCD had tapped its APEX solution to help streamline and speed 911 response. With the platform, dispatchers can send direct text messages to a 911 caller and establish a secondary, secure path via instant, verified silent chat or video without the requirement of an app. Additionally, APEX’s natural language processing allows the system to automatically transcribe and translate a caller’s words into text, freeing dispatchers to focus on what the person is saying, not what information they need to enter into the computer system…
by ECC Editor | Jun 22, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
National Emergency Number Association (NENA) CEO Brian Fontes said it is “false” that his organization would oppose legislation that would provide $15 billion in federal funding for next-generation 911 (NG911) deployments, but he reiterated NENA’s stance that some language in the existing proposal should be changed.
NENA’s position on the NG911 funding language in the U.S. House infrastructure bill—known as the Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow’s America Act, or LIFT America Act—is being mischaracterized by some as opposition, Fontes said during a keynote interview at the virtual Conference for Advancing Public Safety (CAPS) event hosted by Mission Critical Partners. NENA believes there are “many, many good aspects” of the legislation, particularly the $15 billion in federal funds with no requirement of a local match, he said… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 21, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Huawei’s court challenge to a Federal Communications Commission order that declared it to be a national security threat and denied it access to federal funding was rejected as the FCC ramps up pressure on the company and seeks to deny all future authorizations to it and similar businesses with links to the Chinese Communist Party.
The FCC initially designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats last summer, banning the two companies from accessing U.S. government subsidies to build communication infrastructure. The commission said government subsidies from its $8.3 billion annual Universal Service Fund “may no longer be used to purchase, obtain, maintain, improve, modify, or otherwise support any equipment or services produced or provided by” Huawei. The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau concluded that Huawei was a national security threat. After Huawei sought a review of the designation, the FCC again affirmed in December that the company “poses a threat to the security and integrity of our nation’s communications networks…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 21, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Due to increased call volume and workload over the last 16 years, the DeKalb County Emergency Communications District (E-911) is looking to hire more dispatchers with extra help from the City of Smithville and DeKalb County governments.
The city has already done its part.
During a budget work session in April, 911 Director Brad Mullinax met with the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen at city hall to ask that the city increase its annual contribution to $160,000, up from $119,595. Two weeks ago (June 7th) the aldermen honored Mullinax’s request by including in the 2021-22 city budget funding of $40,405 (salary and benefits) for another paid E-911 dispatcher position. The aldermen adopted the budget on second and final reading last Thursday night, June 17…
