Michigan Association of Public Safety Communications Officials Recognizes Phyllis Fuller from Peninsula Fiber Network

by | Nov 11, 2021 | Comm Center News

Peninsula Fiber Network, LLC (PFN), a leading provider of fiber optic-based telecommunications and Next Generation 911 services throughout Michigan, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota was pleased to learn that one of its key employees received statewide recognition.

PFN Employee Receives APCO Presidents Award

The Michigan Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) held its annual awards banquet in Frankenmuth on October 21, 2021. Each year, awards are presented to 911professionals recognizing their service and dedication to the profession…

Billings emergency dispatch moves to better match medical calls to best response (MT)

Billings emergency dispatch moves to better match medical calls to best response (MT)

by | Nov 11, 2021 | Comm Center News

BILLINGS – It’s not always necessary to dispatch a million-dollar fire truck to a medical call, but that’s the way it has worked in Billings, at least until this week.

The City County Dispatch crew is now working a new computer program to help match the right resources with the needed response.

It’s called priority medical dispatch, and people on the other end of the phone will play an important part in that response…

Open Source: Why has the Knox County 911 line gone down recently? (OH)

by | Nov 11, 2021 | Comm Center News, Opinions

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is in response to a reader-submitted question through Open Source, a platform where readers can submit questions to the staff.

MOUNT VERNON — The 911 phone line in Knox County has gone down twice in the last few weeks.

The reason why? On Nov. 5 and Oct. 16, CenturyLink — the provider the county uses for its emergency lines — had area outages.

Mark Molzen, global issues director for Lumen Technologies (the rebrand of CenturyLink), wrote in an email to Knox Pages that services were restored within hours on Oct. 16 and within 24 hours on Nov. 5… 

Automation To Help Arapahoe Sheriff’s Dispatch Staffing Shortage (CO)

Automation To Help Arapahoe Sheriff’s Dispatch Staffing Shortage (CO)

by | Nov 11, 2021 | Comm Center News

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, CO — A new automated phone system in Arapahoe County is expected to ease wait times and help with staffing shortages in the sheriff’s dispatch division.

Residents who phone the sheriff’s non-emergency number, 303-795-4711, will soon hear a new recorded ‘auto attendant,’ which will route calls to the correct department, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said. The new system is set to begin at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Cathy Raley, communications manager with the sheriff’s office, said the automated system will improve wait times…

Local 911 Center in Need of Employees as they have 16 Vacancies (PA)

Local 911 Center in Need of Employees as they have 16 Vacancies (PA)

by | Nov 11, 2021 | Comm Center News

“911 calls could take longer to answer, longer to process, longer to be dispatched,” John Grappy, the Director of Public Safety for Erie County said. “There’s an expectation that when someone is calling 911 during their greatest need that we’re going to have adequate staffing to answer, process, and dispatch those emergency calls.”

Right now they are struggling to do that. Grappy told Erie News Now there are only eight telecommunicators per shift, down from 10…

Public Safety Advocate: Rural Broadband, ESChat and TAK.gov, Vision Conference

by | Nov 11, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News

Rural Broadband 

As most of you know by now, the infrastructure bill was finally passed by the House last week. It had already been passed by the Senate and is now on its way to the White House for the President’s signature. This bill includes $65 Billion in funding for rural broadband services. Whether there are provisions for oversight and coordination of how this money is spent, who spends it, and for what technologies is unclear.

As I have said before, my concern is that without some form of oversight we could end up with a patchwork quilt of non-compatible broadband deployments in rural areas. Some think broadband must be fiber-only and some believe there are a number of technologies that can be used to deploy broadband services in rural America…