by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 3, 2021 | Comm Center News
It’s the end of an era for emergency communications using analog radio on Martha’s Vineyard when the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office digitizes the airwaves Thursday.
The move will make first responder communication clearer and more stable, but a side effect will be the silencing of traditional scanners that many Islanders use to follow fire, police, and EMS activity.
The cost of reconnecting with those transmissions will require an investment of about $400 to $600 in a digital scanner, according to Dukes County Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Gould, one of the architects of the modernization project. Deputy Gould said he also hopes to channel certain major emergency response communications, fires and crashes for example, into a traditional scanner frequency — 154.1225 — but that’s still a work in progress…
by ECC Editor | Jun 3, 2021 | Comm Center News
About the 911 Strike Force
On February 17, 2021, the Federal Communications Commission announced the establishment of the Ending 9-1-1 Fee Diversion Now Strike Force (911 Strike Force), a new federal advisory committee dedicated to studying and making recommendations to address 911 fee diversion — that is, the practice of some states and jurisdictions of using the 911 fees that consumers pay on their phone bills for non-911 purposes.
Congress directed the FCC to establish the 911 Strike Force in the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act of 2020, which is Section 902 in Division FF, Title IX of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Section 902 also gave the FCC additional tools to address 911 fee diversion… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Jun 3, 2021 | Comm Center News
The Lyon County Emergency Communications center has implemented a new, higher standard of fire protocols to identify and expertly assist when there are life-threatening circumstances involved during an emergency.
Dispatchers are now EFD (Emergency Fire Dispatch) certified; recognized by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch as the world standard of care… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 3, 2021 | Comm Center News
A woman frantically called 9-1-1 after men pulled out their guns inside of a PetSmart. During the incident, she said the phone continued to ring for several minutes.
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — A woman who asked to remain anonymous said she was shopping at PetSmart on Financial Parkway two Sundays ago when she heard several men shouting in the next aisle over.
“They were saying things like ‘it’s about to go down, I’m going to end you, this is going to happen now’,” the woman said.
That’s when she saw them run around the corner..
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 3, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
There is certainly a lot happening in the field of wireless communications. Next week I will be commenting on the recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling on public-safety 4.9-GHz spectrum, but this week I want to back up and talk more about broadband for those in rural areas who do not have broadband and those who may have broadband available but not the financial resources to pay for broadband to their homes or elsewhere.
Rural Broadband
The infrastructure bill being discussed by Congress and the Executive Branch currently includes $65 billion for rural broadband deployment, which is down from the original $100 billion. It is not yet clear if this bill, as currently written, will capture the votes needed in both Houses of Congress and be signed by the President…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 2, 2021 | Comm Center News
Denco Area 9-1-1 District (Denco 9-1-1), providing 9-1-1 services to nearly 800,000 people in 33 jurisdictions throughout North Texas, recently worked with GeoComm to bring indoor maps to 86 K-12 public schools throughout the region.
This project addressed the challenges of locating 9-1-1 callers indoors by utilizing GeoComm Indoor Maps and Denco 9-1-1’s GIS data to extend Emergency Communications Centers (ECCs) mapping capabilities. By addressing the challenges and establishing an indoor mapping program, Denco 9-1-1 empowered themselves with a visual representation of indoor spaces providing 9-1-1 actionable location information for improved emergency response situational awareness…
