by AllThingsECC.com | Feb 4, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
For more than ten years, scores of people, organizations, and federal, state, and local agencies have been using band aids to “fix” the digital divide and address poverty-level access to broadband services across the United States. Many have been writing about and actively pushing for a much more focused and central approach to finally extending broadband to everyone who wants and needs it regardless of their location or ability to pay…
by AllThingsECC.com | Feb 4, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
What a difference a year makes. It’s a little-known secret within the first responder community that Pro Football’s Big Game each year is actually a massive public safety event. But in a pandemic, does this still hold true? The short answer is yes.
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa this Sunday will be about 30% full, with 7,500 first responders invited to attend as honored guests. And while that’s a big change from the typical packed stadium, pre-game concerts and 5G fan experiences of years past, what doesn’t change is public safety’s need to be prepared for every eventuality…
by ECC Editor | Feb 3, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
When the Dec. 25 explosion in Nashville caused outages that prevented 911 calls from being completed, many 911 centers turned to technology from cloud-based RapidSOS to both identify and locate emergency callers, so response efforts could be initiated, according to officials from RapidSOS and a Tennessee 911 center.
Cassie Lowery, assistant director at Rutherford County (Tenn.) Emergency Communications District, said the workaround is representative of the resourcefulness of the telecommunicators and other personnel at her 911 center, which also lost Automatic Location Identification (ALI) data for all 911 calls received during the outage… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Feb 3, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) jointly announced today that the Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute will spearhead a $268,000 project to develop interoperability standards for Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems used by the Nation’s public safety agencies.
Managed by S&T’s First Responders and Detection Program on behalf of CISA’s Emergency Communications Division, the research project will seek to rectify the current inability of first responders (i.e., police, fire and emergency management services) to use their CAD systems to electronically exchange information with other CAD systems during a joint emergency response…
by ECC Editor | Feb 2, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
In the evolving environment of Next Generation 9-1-1, the data received will change and come from different sources. The NENA NG9-1-1 Data Flow Standard seeks to inform on E9-1-1 and NG9-1-1 data flow issues and identify at least a few transition issues for additional consideration… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jan 31, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The following is a statement from Edward Parkinson, CEO of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), on key network developments:
The FirstNet Authority is pleased to see the adoption of the FirstNet network continue to grow at a fast pace. First responders need a network that works for them, and with the number of connections almost doubling since late 2019, it is clear that FirstNet is providing them with the capabilities they want and need.
It is also exciting to see how FirstNet is transforming the marketplace for public safety. These new mission-ready solutions are delivering innovative capabilities into the hands of first responders. Through our engagements with public safety, they identified these features as essential to advancing the FirstNet user experience, so we are thrilled to see them move from concept to reality…
