by ECC Editor | Mar 11, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
A 911 dispatch looks about the same no matter where you are in the U.S.: sirens, strobe lights atop police cruisers, and first responders armed with guns and pepper spray, the reason for the call notwithstanding. But if you dial 911 in Denver, you might be greeted instead by a mental-health clinician and a paramedic driving a customized van equipped with food, water, and blankets. For the past six months, the city’s Support Team Assisted Response program, known as STAR, has been dispatching social workers instead of cops on nonemergency calls, with astoundingly good outcomes… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 11, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
It has been a while since I heard people claiming FirstNet (Built with AT&T) will replace Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems. I had thought by now most of us, including elected officials who hold the purse strings, would understand there is value in having both LMR and FirstNet.
FirstNet reports that the network is about 90% complete, more than a year ahead of schedule and double the number of first responders on the network. Still, there is a need for LMR systems and, just as important, there is a need for FirstNet and LMR to be able to work together to augment each other on a daily basis and during incidents. Public-safety community vendors, LMR, and FirstNet are working toward better ways to provide Push-To-Talk (PTT) across LMR and FirstNet for commonality of voice communications…
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 11, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is testing a tool that could make it easier for the public-safety community to prototype cutting-edge analytics on streaming video.
The Analytics Container Environment (ACE), being developed to support NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division, provides a modular framework for running containerized analytics on streaming video. Essentially, it could be used to detect footage of erupting fires, fights or other emergencies that demand swift public-safety response…
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 9, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
FirstNet keeps first responders and communities safe. It is the nationwide Public Safety broadband network, services and solutions that are dedicated to first responders and those that support them.
How does FirstNet work?
FirstNet is a dedicated high-speed communications platform using LTE cellular technologies along with its own core network and SIM cards. LTE is the baseline technology with FirstNet operating on multiple frequencies. Each new frequency essentially adds a lane to the highway, making travel faster and safer for everyone. FirstNet increases the speed of transmission for high-speed data, location information, images, and video that can mean all the difference when seconds..
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 4, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
We reached out to women in public safety leadership roles to discuss the challenges they’ve faced and provide advice for future leaders. In the coming months, APCO will highlight these interviews online and in our publications.
Jeryl Lynn Brown Anderson, Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator, Orange County Emergency Services
How did you get your start in emergency communications?
Started working for Wilmington Police Department, located in Wilmington, NC, as a Police Cadet in 1984 with aspirations of becoming an officer. My mother was a telecommunicator for the agency, who back then had three (3) staff members in what we called the “radio room”. I worked the front desk as a police cadet, answering phones, assisting walk-ins, keeping up with the call volume from the center and other assigned duties…
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 4, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Welcome to March 2021. If last month was any indication, this will be a very busy year for public-safety professionals, especially those providing communications to the public-safety community. I hope we will see Congress fund Next-Generation 9-1-1 (NG911), which is currently one of the public-safety community’ most critical needs. NG911 will convert standard voice 9-1-1 calls into broadband calls that will include text, videos, and images. While Emergency Command Centers (ECCs) will face some challenges in vetting and authenticating incoming requests for service, once that has been done, the pictures and even videos can be pushed out to first responders in the field…
