by ECC Editor | Jun 22, 2021 | Comm Center News
Over the last year, the Council Bluffs Fire Department, Council Bluffs Water Works and the Pottawattamie County 911 Communications Center underwent the ISO PPC evaluation process. I’m happy to report that Council Bluffs received a Class 1 rating that goes into effect July 1 of this year. Let me tell you what that means.
The Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) evaluates our fire-protection efforts about every 10 years. ISO evaluates three things to classify how the overall fire protection system works — water supply, 911 communications and the fire department’s capabilities as a whole… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Jun 22, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
National Emergency Number Association (NENA) CEO Brian Fontes said it is “false” that his organization would oppose legislation that would provide $15 billion in federal funding for next-generation 911 (NG911) deployments, but he reiterated NENA’s stance that some language in the existing proposal should be changed.
NENA’s position on the NG911 funding language in the U.S. House infrastructure bill—known as the Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow’s America Act, or LIFT America Act—is being mischaracterized by some as opposition, Fontes said during a keynote interview at the virtual Conference for Advancing Public Safety (CAPS) event hosted by Mission Critical Partners. NENA believes there are “many, many good aspects” of the legislation, particularly the $15 billion in federal funds with no requirement of a local match, he said… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 22, 2021 | Comm Center News
A new modern emergency phone system replaced an outdated program used by the City of Carlsbad last month after a state grant of $568,000 was secured.
The money was appropriated from the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) during the current fiscal year.
Katey Prell, commander of the Carlsbad Police Department’s communications division, said the previous system was “antiquated” by today’s electronic standards. She said the old system was installed in 2013…
“It did its job for many years,” she said…
by ECC Editor | Jun 22, 2021 | Comm Center News
Mayor Sylvester Turner has appointed the interim director of the Houston Emergency Center to the permanent role, according to a press release.
Robert Mock took on the interim role on Feb. 1, a day after the previous director, David Cutler, retired. Cutler served as the director of the Houston Emergency Center since July 2005.
The Houston Emergency Center, a division of the Mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security, was developed in 2003 to consolidate three emergency communications centers for 911: the Neutral Public Safety Answering Point, Police Department Emergency Communications Division and Fire Department Emergency Communications Operations. The center takes over 1.8 million emergency calls and over 800,000 non-emergency calls yearly… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 22, 2021 | Comm Center News
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon’s 9-1-1 Program and RapidSOS, an emergency response data platform, announced Monday a partnership to deliver lifesaving enhanced location data to each of the state’s 43 9-1-1 centers. Oregon is the first in the nation to securely deploy RapidSOS into an existing, secure statewide foundational Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet), powered by Lumen.
“The existing 9-1-1 system used to locate cell phone calls is over 20 years old, designed long before smartphones or GPS,” explained Oregon State 9-1-1 Program Manager Frank Kuchta. “When a person calls 9-1-1 from a cell phone, the dispatcher can’t see the caller’s exact location; instead, they have to rely on the caller’s wireless carrier for the information. This data comes from a cell tower that could put the caller miles away from where they physically are, depending on several variables, including proximity to the cell tower, topography and the connecting technology…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 22, 2021 | Comm Center News
DALLAS – The Dallas Police Department is addressing the 911 dispatch staffing shortage that has led to delays in response time to some priority calls.
The department says it is adding and moving staff around to beef up the emergency call center and getting more employees to work overtime.
In recent weeks, the department reported the center was operating about 25% below full staffing…
