by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 19, 2019 | Comm Center News
NENA Taking Comments on Version 3 of i3 NG 9-1-1 Standard
Officials can download the document for review and submit comments here. Comments are due July 8.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 19, 2019 | Comm Center News
Wright Named Executive Director of NG911 Institute
Wright, a partner at Keller and Heckman, will continue serving clients for the Washington, D.C.-based law firm. Wright regularly counsels corporate clients on matters before the FCC and state public utilities commissions, including compliance with rules related to 9-1-1 reliability and call handling, telecommunications service provider regulations, state tariff requirements, customer proprietary network information (CPNI), the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), private wireless licensing, and other related obligations. Wright also represents trade associations and corporate clients on policy matters before the FCC and has advocated policy positions on the 9-1-1 reliability rules, network outage reporting requirements, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Connect America Fund (CAF) and other rulemaking proceedings.
Slattery, also an attorney in the telecommunications practice at Keller and Heckman, counsels corporate clients and trade associations on matters before the FCC and state public utilities commissions, including compliance with 9-1-1 rules and telecommunications service provider regulations.
As Executive Director of the NG911 Institute, Wright will work closely with the Institute’s board to continue promoting public awareness of next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) and emergency communications issues. He will support the organization by providing outreach, education and support to the Congressional Caucus on NG 9-1-1 and emergency communications issues.
“The N-911 Institute Board is pleased to have Mr. Wright join the Institute as its new executive director,” said Joseph Marx, chairman of the board. “Wesley’s vast experience and enthusiasm will be a great benefit to the Institute and the public-safety community.”
The NG911 Institute supports the mission of the Congressional NG 9-1-1 Caucus to promote public awareness of NG 9-1-1 and emergency communications issues and serves the caucus as a clearinghouse of information on NG 9-1-1 and emergency communications issues.
Former executive director Patrick Halley was named senior vice president, advocacy and regulatory affairs for USTelecom in January.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 18, 2019 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Paul R. Patrick
Over the last 50 years, major U.S. industries—aerospace, automobile, energy, consumer electronics and more—have implemented significant technological changes to adapt to the shifting and growing demands of consumers. Just as these industries have evolved with the digital age, so too is the emergency communications industry, which is undergoing a major transformation with the arrival of FirstNet—the only nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to first responders.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
I first became involved in the efforts of FirstNet as a representative of and advocate for the communications needs of the National Association of State EMS Officials. Together with other public safety associations, we took our cause to Congress.
This Insights article appears in jems.com dated June 13, 2019.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 17, 2019 | Comm Center News
Michigan County Signs $47M P25 Contract with Statewide System Interface
The project will replace more than 3,500 portable radios and about 2,000 radios in emergency vehicles with Motorola Solutions two-way radios. The radios are equipped with Wi-Fi and support wireless programming. The contract includes replacing 76 radio consoles at the 20 Oakland County 9-1-1 public-safety answering points (PSAPs) with new Motorola Solutions dispatch consoles. These consoles will be integrated with the existing CallWorks 9-1-1 call-taking platform.
Implementing the network will take up to three years. During the next six months, the entities will design the 31-site simulcast system to submit to MPSCS for review. The system will be built with multiple layers of redundancy to withstand large-scale emergencies such as tornadoes or floods. The design includes 31 sites, 12 700/800 MHz channels, and P25 Phases 1 and 2 compliance.
Oakland County’s Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System (CLEMIS), which uses computer technology for criminal justice and public-safety applications, will use the company’s radio management system to maintain and update the fleet of radios through a central database. The new network will also provide Oakland County’s public-safety departments countywide paging of firefighters with new 700/800 MHz pagers.
“This new partnership with Motorola Solutions will launch Oakland County into a whole new level of emergency communications,” said Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard. “Technology is constantly changing, and this investment will give our first responders the tools they need to serve our residents. Once again, Oakland County will set a standard for other counties to follow and emulate.”
Oakland County’s contract with Motorola Solutions requires 1% grade of service which means 99 out of 100 times the two-way radio system will be fully available to a first responder. Also, the contract requires the new radio system to cover 97 percent of the county outdoors and 95 percent of the county in buildings.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 14, 2019 | Comm Center News
Missouri County Deploys Avtec Consoles with NEXEDGE Radio System
The new communications system includes 10 Avtec dispatch console positions and two additional console positions that are configured for operation as a backup dispatch center or for mobile operation. The system also includes radio interfaces including a direct IP integration to the county’s JVCKENWOOD NEXEDGE multisite trunked radio system and interfaces to about 20 other radio systems via Avtec radio gateways. An application programming interface (API) integrates with the county’s CAD system to provide dispatchers with the information needed to quickly and reliably make decisions.
Jasper County Emergency Services Executive Director April Ford said dispatchers have been using the same radio consoles to coordinate with first responders for 12 years.
“Our old system was antiquated and lacked the ability to easily adapt as our business practices changed,” said Ford. “Migrating from a hardware-based system to a software-based console solution provides us with communications that are crystal clear, which helps improve officer safety and reduce response times.”
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by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 13, 2019 | Comm Center News
Shelby County Implements In-Building 9-1-1 Location Technology
Shelby County buildings are multifloor, multidepartmental offices with key-lock, proximity or biometric access. In many instances, first responders would face an emergency call from a building with eight to 12 floors of 9,000-20,000 square feet each, and multiple rooms, small offices and cubicle areas. They would be forced to navigate this maze with no information as to floor plan, office numbers, service closets and hazardous areas, among other obstacles and route challenges.
Avaya introduced 911 Secure to the county as a proof-of-concept exercise, initially targeting three floors of the main administration building. Avaya IX Workplace with 911 Secure’s SENTRY uses new integration capabilities with the RapidSOS Clearinghouse. Through RapidSOS, first responders can access a building address, the specific endpoint location from which a call was placed, and other critical details such as the square footage of the property, detailed floor plans and which entrance is best to use — all within seconds.
“During the preliminary testing phase, we were immediately impressed with the system’s ability to recognize when an endpoint was relocated from one subnet to another; it was virtually instantaneous, and we could immediately see that one of our issues — endpoint portability — would be resolved,” said Jeff Yallope, manager customer support and telecommunications, Shelby County. “The 911 Secure capability to clearly identify locations by subnet is having a significant and beneficial impact on our network design standards. We now insist on using best practices for all ongoing network moves, adds and changes and are working retroactively to remedy some areas in preparation for a 911 Secure implementation.”
Shelby County plans to expand a complete rollout of 911 Secure’s SENTRY solution to cover the entire main administration building and the remaining seven or eight multilevel county buildings in the downtown Memphis area in the near future.
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