MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs, Office of Emergency Communications has selected AT&T to implement AT&T ESInet™, including Next Generation 9-1-1 (NextGen 9-1-1) call routing and emergency call statistic reporting, to improve emergency communications across the state. This new contract between AT&T and the state of Wisconsin is valued at up to $84 million over the next 10 years. Services provided by AT&T under the contract will help improve public safety and support 9-1-1 telecommunicators, dispatchers and first responders to help keep Wisconsin communities safe.
“Helping to ensure everyone in the state has access to NextGen 9-1-1 services is an essential step in keeping people safe and making first responders aware of ongoing threats to public safety,” said Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, Wisconsin’s adjutant general…
The Regional Communications Center in Augusta is short 10 people. The director said every 911 call will be answered, but said dispatchers are feeling burned out.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Some 911 dispatch centers in Maine are struggling with staffing.
“Especially since COVID hit. It’s definitely harder to get applications in. Nobody wants to work. Nobody wants to work in public safety, public safety across the board,” Hinckley said…
Soon, Californians will be able to dial a new three-digit number when seeking help for a mental health crisis.
After weeks in which funding to make the hotline work in California seemed uncertain, the state Department of Health Care Services announced last week that it would spend $20 million to help support the 9-8-8 network — billed as a “robust statewide call center” designed to be an alternative to 9-1-1 calls.
The money “is a first step towards creating an easier to access system for mental health care. But it’s just a first step,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said in a statement. The Steinberg Institute he founded had advocated for even more money… READ MORE
The night started normally enough for Suffolk County fire dispatcher Darin Swicicki, but as Wednesday night’s storm surged, taxing the New York City’s 911 system, he found himself inundated with calls about emergencies unfolding two counties away.
Swicicki, 40, began his shift early at 7:30 p.m. to earn some overtime and avoid traffic as the storm bore down. “After the second or third call it was clear that something was going on that they weren’t able to handle,” he explained.
On a typical night, Suffolk dispatchers in his unit might field about 90 calls. On Wednesday night, 260 calls flooded in, many about emergencies in the city, he said…
Jeff Johnson says 9/11 shed light on the flaws in communications systems used by the nation’s first responders.
When Jeff Johnson watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center on live television from his office at the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue in Aloha 20 years ago, he wondered if it was going to be another Pearl Harbor.
“Like so many of us in America, I just got out of my chair and said, ‘That’s no accident. Someone intended to do that,'” the former TVF&R chief said.
One month later, Johnson was called to New York City to help with the process of replacing the 343 firefighters lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It is not uncommon for TVF&R personnel to be called to respond to national disasters like this.
When Johnson arrived, he was struck by how empty the city was. He also remembers how the community treated surrounding fire stations like shrines, with lost crew members’ belongings remaining untouched, just as they were the day they left the station on that tragic day…
Working at a 911 call center is not for the faint of heart. Soon you could be put into a situation that can actually mean life and death. With rigorous education and strong instructions, these dispatch hubs can enable emergency personnel to respond incredibly fast to each incoming call. Here are some of the ins and outs you may not have known about operating the 911 Contact Center.
Appropriate training
The 911 Call Center is different from standard customer service operations. Calls need to be processed quickly, but it takes time to get all the information needed to provide them to emergency personnel. In such cases, the live call may be disconnected or something may happen in the scene where the information is interrupted.With Phone number search, The call operator can attempt to reconnect with the caller. Advanced technology can also use GPS location to identify the origin of a call if it is coming from a mobile phone instead of a landline…
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
