by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 7, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
FCC Commissioners Brendan Carrr and Nathan Simington say the agency is letting wireless carriers off the hook over 911 vertical location obligations after agreements with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon were announced Thursday.
Vertical location, or z-axis, data provided to dispatchers is meant to help emergency responders find wireless 911 callers more quickly when they’re located in multi-story buildings like apartments or offices…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 4, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
June 03, 2021 – A new NIST report sheds light on the role of mobile device biometrics for authentication to provide first responders immediate access to sensitive data, as an increasing number of public safety organizations adopt mobile devices to increase access to data.
“Public safety organizations face technology challenges that hinder their ability to accomplish their missions,” according to the report. “These professionals… need immediate access to critical information from the wide variety of systems technology available… to make the best possible decisions and protect themselves and the public.”
“Hand in hand with access challenges is the imperative to ensure robust internal controls on security,” it continued. “To address these challenges, all PSOs need to improve their identity, credential, and access management (ICAM) capabilities…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 4, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
(CNN) — More than a dozen cities are developing “alternative” or “co-response” programs to minimize or eliminate the role of police officers responding to 911 calls involving mental health, homelessness, or substance abuse.
Thirteen cities just finished an eight-week “policy sprint,” coordinated by advocacy groups Everytown For Gun Safety and What Works Cities. The goal was for cities to develop pilot programs or to nudge cities along that have already explored this model of 911 response. A handful of others are testing out programs on their own…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 3, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most disruptive innovation in a generation. It is quickly becoming an essential component in many industries, including public safety.
A perfect example of this combination of technology-assistance and human decision-making is in Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), where call-takers serve as the public’s first point of contact in an emergency. PSAP call-takers and dispatchers must separate the signal from the noise, which is all the more difficult when a flood of information from frantic callers washes over them. When the clock is ticking, highlighting critical data points even a few seconds earlier can save lives, and assistive AI excels at such essential work…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 3, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
As chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I have a responsibility to ensure that actions Congress and the federal government take regarding our transportation networks contribute to, and do not detract from, public safety. That’s why I oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to repurpose more than half of the 5.9 GHz radio frequency band, also known as the Safety Band.
Since 1999, the 5.9 GHz band has been reserved for dedicated short-range communications to enable vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. V2X communications, and the technologies they will enable — namely, connected vehicles — will make our transportation networks smarter, more efficient, dramatically reduce congestion, significantly increase throughput on existing infrastructure, and, most critically, make us safer. These technologies, in other words, have the potential to save lives but only if the frequencies they rely on continue to be available for V2X applications…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 3, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
There is certainly a lot happening in the field of wireless communications. Next week I will be commenting on the recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling on public-safety 4.9-GHz spectrum, but this week I want to back up and talk more about broadband for those in rural areas who do not have broadband and those who may have broadband available but not the financial resources to pay for broadband to their homes or elsewhere.
Rural Broadband
The infrastructure bill being discussed by Congress and the Executive Branch currently includes $65 billion for rural broadband deployment, which is down from the original $100 billion. It is not yet clear if this bill, as currently written, will capture the votes needed in both Houses of Congress and be signed by the President…
