by ECC Editor | Nov 6, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
As is the case with all technologies, the systems underpinning the emergency telephone number used in the North American Numbering Plan have evolved since 911 was introduced more than 50 years ago.
Original 911 services, for example, didn’t have the ability to automatically detect the owners of the calling phone number — nor the address they were calling from. That changed in 1999, when the federal government mandated Enhanced 911, or E911. Today, however, E911 has again fallen behind the times in two important areas. Let’s look at those shortcomings and examine how Next Generation 911 (NG911) standards solve them as they bring emergency services up to modern technology levels… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 5, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
Welcome to November 2020. The election is finally behind us, Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc in the United States, and the number of wildfires, major storms, and hurricanes continue to make our first responders’ work even more essential. When FirstNet was created in February of 2012, it was a result of the public-safety community having banded together across disciplines. The Public Safety Alliance (PSA) sought and received support from a variety of organizations including Governors, Mayors, and most Land Mobile Radio (LMR) vendors…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 5, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
Encouraging the development of solutions that address unique public-safety coverage solutions and enhance mission-critical voice, data and video communications are among the focus areas highlighted the recently updated FirstNet Authority Roadmap that outlines strategic technological priorities for the FirstNet system.
Last month’s release represents the first update to the Roadmap, which was created last year as a strategic document that is designed to help identify development priorities for the FirstNet system…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 3, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Defense Department is looking to overhaul its public safety communications ecosystem.
The legacy public safety solutions DOD currently uses will be upgraded to the IP-based commercial technologies currently used by state and local government responders for routing for 911 calls, according to an Oct. 28 request for information…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 2, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Edward Parkinson, CEO, FirstNet Authority
The vision for a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (FirstNet) is rooted in the interoperability challenges that have faced our nation’s first responders for decades. The 9/11 attacks served as a catalyst for recommendations from the 9/11 Commission for interoperability across networks that transcend individual agencies.
Congressional action led to the development of the organization that I lead, the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), that is charged by federal law to ensure the building, deployment, operation, and improvement of the nationwide public safety broadband network in consultation with public safety. READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Oct 30, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
The use of cloud calling has exploded over the last year. While the primary driver has been COVID-19, the transition from on-premises to cloud systems was well underway, with the pandemic simply accelerating the inevitable. Digital transformation initiatives are highly dependent on communications, and cloud systems typically deliver innovative features faster than legacy systems. At one time, moving communications to the cloud was considered risky business, but it’s now riskier to not adopt cloud systems… READ MORE
