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Florida Agency Implements PowerPhone 9-1-1 Protocol

The system combines protocol technology, certification training and assessment that improves the level of service provided to callers, responders and communities. The protocol software, Computer Aided Call Handling (CACH) Standard in Total Response, uses scenario based protocols operating with a centralized database. The protocols help dispatchers more effectively manage every call.
“PowerPhone’s Total Response solution is more user friendly than other vendors’ and is significantly more adaptable, which gives our dispatchers the freedom to really focus on helping a caller in distress,” said Mario Bryant, communications center manager. “This software is also simplistic with navigation and design. The questions being asked by our dispatchers come off very natural.”
Certification training uses a proven, adaptable framework allowing the dispatcher to adjust the line of questioning as scene conditions change. For Boynton Beach, this transition allowed the agency to flourish and confidently provide the best standard of care to the community.
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Lafayette Parish Deploys Carbyne’s 9-1-1 Technology

The plug-in enables Lafayette Parish telecommunicators to receive device-based location for 9-1-1 and nonemergency calls, receive call-taker enabled video streams from callers, and instant message with citizens in situations where verbal communications may be untenable.
“Lafayette Parish 911 is leveraging advanced 9-1-1 technologies such as Mark43 and Carbyne, to make citizens and first responders safer,” said Craig Stansbury, 9-1-1 director of Lafayette Parish. “Both solutions are built for the digital age, providing benefit to our 9-1-1 center today and in the future. Implementing Carbyne’s technology provides our citizens with easily accessible, next-generation emergency services — ultimately decreasing time to dispatch and saving more lives.”
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IAFC Officials Discuss T-Band Auction Challenges with FCC

The representatives touched on the pitfalls of spectrum relocation and the impact such an event will have on affected jurisdictions. Also mentioned were the many benefits that the T-band provides to public safety as a reliable communications resource.
The IAFC representatives also thanked FCC officials for the proposed ±3-meter metric for vertical location accuracy detailed in the fourth further notice of proposed rulemaking (FNPRM).
During the discussion, the representatives suggested that the FCC explore narrowing the margin of error over a reasonable timeframe as technology develops. The security of the technologies and methods used to determine dispatchable location, including that of the National Emergency Address Database (NEAD), was also stressed as being important to the IAFC.
The full ex parte letter is here.
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Recent Motorola Acquisitions Drive Growth, Affect Future Plans, Executive Says

Motorola’s acquisition of Avtec, announced in March, offers two advantages for the company, Motorola CEO Greg Brown said during an earnings call for the first quarter of 2019. The acquisition expands the markets Motorola serves by providing inroads to seaports, airports and rail ports, which are new markets for Motorola, Brown said.
Additionally, Avtec’s focus in research and development (R&D) will fit well with Motorola’s own dispatch R&D and provide economies of scale, Brown said. Motorola expects revenues of about $20 million from Avtec this year, said Gino Bonanotte, Motorola executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO).
Brown said he thinks there is some concern among consumers about cameras containing Chinese components and that such concerns could help Avigilon, which Motorola acquired in February 2018.
“Specifically, from a components standpoint, you’re right,” Brown said. “Huawei has a silicon chip that is in a number of competitors, but if you look at the federal government and also critical infrastructure, which has many of the same attributes, yeah I think it is a growing concern. I think the NDAA takes effect in August of this year, but I think it’s clearly favorable in terms of what we’re doing with Aviligon.”
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prohibits federal agencies from procuring wireless technology and components from specific Chinese manufacturers.
Brown noted that Avigilon saw good growth in the first quarter, and is expected to grow at about 15 percent because of improved traction in federal, state and local government. When Motorola first purchased Avigilon, it was focused entirely on commercial, enterprise video solutions, but Motorola has begun directing sales and marketing resources to take it into the public-safety market, helping fuel its growth, Brown said.
The company’s recent acquisitions have helped it build out and diversify its product offerings, Brown said.
“We feel very good about the components that we have, and the width and breadth of what we’ve acquired to include 9-1-1 call-handling, CAD dispatch, records and evidence management, and we do not believe that competitively, anyone else has the width or breadth of this suite we’re building,” he said.
The company’s transition of its command center software suite to cloud-based solutions is going well, said Kelly Mark, executive vice president, services and software.
Motorola expects to have the majority of its software platform cloud ready by the end of 2020, Mark said. However, even with that transition, on-premises software will still be available.
“That transition will be gated based on our customers’ desire and how they want to execute on a deployment, but we view it as moving along quite well on that transition,” Mark said.
Motorola is also monitoring and exploring governments’ legal ability to store certain data in the cloud and will use that information to guide the future of products as needed, Mark said.
For the first quarter of 2019, Motorola reported revenue of $1.7 billion, up 13% from the year-ago quarter. Operating cash flow for the quarter was $251 million, up $751 million from the year-ago quarter. That previous year’s quarter included a $500 million voluntary debt-funded pension contribution.
Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) operating earnings for the quarter were $229 million, up from $171 million for the previous year, and non-GAAP earnings were $315 million, up from $260 million in the previous year’s quarter.
Revenue growth of 4 – 5% is expected in the second quarter of 2019 compared with the previous year, and revenue growth for 2019 is expected to be 6 – 7%.
“Q1 was an excellent start to what I believe will be another strong year, with first quarter records for sales, operating revenue and ending backlog,” Brown said.
Motorola’s products and systems integration segment reported GAAP earnings of $108 million, compared to $90 million from the previous year, and non-GAAP earnings of $147 million, compared to $125 million from the previous year quarter.
Key wins in the quarter for the segment were:• An award to build a new statewide Project 25 (P25) radio system in North Dakota,• An $25 million P25 award from the New South Wales Telco Authority in Australia, and• An $8 million TETRA order for a utility customer in Chile.
The services and software segment reported GAAP earnings of $121 million, compared with $81 million in the previous year’s quarter, and non-GAAP earnings of $168 million, compared with $135 million from the previous year’s quarter.
Key wins in the quarter for the software segment were:• A $17 million managed services contract with a mining customer in Latin America,• A $7 million CAD and records contract for a large government customer in California, and• $5 million video services renewal with the Chicago Office of Emergency Management.
The double-digit growth in sales for both segments was driven by the Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Bonanotte said.
Jack Molloy, executive vice president of product and sales, said that Brexit and a downturn in the German auto industry impacted Motorola sales, but had not had a major effect.
“Our European business is largely insulated as we’re largely a managed services company when you consider Airwave and other networks,” Molloy said. “The preponderance of our business is recurring revenue and management and support services in Europe.”
In the quarter, capital expenditures were up $25 million compared with the previous year’s quarter. That increase was primarily related to Airwave and U.K. Emergency Services Network (ESN) investments, as well as Avigilon, Bonanotte said. Motorola also spent $445 million acquiring VaaS International and $136 million acquiring Avtec in the quarter.
“I think the strength and continued performance of what we’re doing is because of the width and breadth of our product portfolio led by a healthy economy in North America but also reflecting at its fundamental base, the criticality and consistent demand for land mobile radio,” Brown said.
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New NG 9-1-1 Network Deployed in West Virginia

Much has changed since the first 9-1-1 call was placed in West Virginia. The state’s 9-1-1 service has been dependent on technologies that are now becoming obsolete and unserviceable. NGA 911 is a springboard for emergency response operations in West Virginia, taking emergency calling into the future of Next Generation solutions.
“NGA911 will move us into the future of 9-1-1 call-taking by cutting the cord with decades old technology, to state-of-the-art IP and cloud technology,” said Michael Mayhorn, Boone County (West Virginia) Emergency Management Agency. “With NGA911’s strong background and commitment they have already shown us, I am confident their service will reliably connect our citizens to 9-1-1 services, no matter what method or device they use.”
9-1-1 professionals and first responders can receive voice calls, photos, streaming video, real-time text, and building plans with the platform, leading to faster response and more lives and property saved.
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Elkins Joins NHTSA, National 911 Program

Elkins first worked for the Maryland Health Department on injury prevention programs. She then oversaw grant management and program implementation for two large counties in Maryland.
At NHTSA, Elkins splits her time working on initiatives for the National 911 Program and Office of EMS. She is supporting the 911 Grant Program to ensure states have access to additional funding needed to upgrade emergency communications systems.
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Comtech Buys General Dynamics NG 9-1-1 Business, Gains $100M Contract

The contract award, acquisition and hiring of new employees are expected to strengthen Comtech’s position in the growing NG 9-1-1 solutions market. Under the five-year contract award, which begins Aug. 4, Comtech will develop, implement and operate a secure, IP-based NG 9-1-1 system for the state that permits emergency service requests from its existing public networks through new and emerging modes of communications and devices. Comtech will perform similar services from April 29 through Aug. 3, 2019.
Comtech will provide financial and other information concerning this contract award and the NG 9-1-1 acquisition during its regularly scheduled conference call to review the results of its fiscal quarter ending April 30.
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San Francisco Partners with RapidSOS for 9-1-1 Integration with Uber

“The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management is always seeking ways to increase location accuracy from cellphone callers,” said Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of SFDEM. “This new technology with enhanced location services and travel information will help save lives. We are grateful that our private partners are working with us directly in making San Francisco safer for all our residents and visitors.”
Since late 2018, San Francisco’s 9-1-1 dispatchers began receiving more precise location information from 9-1-1 callers. Developed by RapidSOS, this enhancement gives 9-1-1 dispatchers the ability to toggle between standard carrier automatic number identification/automatic location identification (ANI/ALI) and the phone’s own coordinates, allowing for greater location accuracy. This technology and additional location information is only available on updated versions of iPhones and Androids.
Prior to RapidSOS integration, basic location information that users agree to provide on a mobile device was not provided to San Francisco’s 9-1-1 system when a person called for emergency assistance. As a result, if the mobile caller could not provide location information, the dispatcher would have to initiate a lengthy process in an attempt to approximate a caller’s location. In 2014, the FCC issued a report estimating that improved mobile location information for 9-1-1 would save 10,000 lives annually.
In addition to this enhancement to 9-1-1 call processing, SFDEM, under agreement and through an integration with RapidSOS and Uber, will be the first agency in the Bay Area to receive accurate caller location and additional emergency data from Uber passengers initiating a call to 9-1-1 via the Uber app’s “9-1-1 Assistance” feature.
This new emergency button feature on the Uber app allows 9-1-1 dispatchers to automatically obtain key details, including Uber driver and rider information, vehicle description, license plate, current location and direction of travel. When Uber’s in-app emergency button is used, the information is sent digitally to the RapidSOS interface, which a dispatcher can then access once a caller indicates they are using the Uber service.
“We believe technology can help make the roads safer. This feature is available in more than 60 cities, and we are proud to add San Francisco, our home, to the growing list of cities using this technology,” said Krishnaja Gutta, Uber product safety manager. “Every second counts in an emergency, and we want to make sure Uber users have important information to get help quickly if faced with an emergency situation.”
The new technology will directly benefit and assist with the response from the San Francisco Police Department.
“Our core mission is to ensure the safety of the public,” said San Francisco Police Chief William Scott. “We welcome the use of technology that enables our City’s first responders to react more quickly and efficiently during an emergency.”
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Orion Labs Offers Floor-Level Location Accuracy with Voice Platform

The integration delivers enhanced situational awareness and improved operational efficiency in GPS-deprived environments by tracing the location of Orion managed devices.
“The indoor location of personnel and equipment assets is a vital piece of the puzzle for many mobile business-critical applications,” said Ramon Llamas, research director at global market intelligence firm IDC. “The Orion Voice Platform addresses this challenge by deploying the comprehensive Polaris 3D location toolkit with APIs (application programming interfaces), providing proven location technology.”
The technology allows users to know exactly what floor or room a team member or 9-1-1 caller is located. Plus, Orion customers in any industry using Advanced Location Services can locate team members on the vertical axis accurate to 3 meters’ distance to keep teams better informed and connected. The technology offers enhanced team performance and improves worker safety across the board.

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Allen Police Department Deploys CentralSquare Public-Safety Software

The Allen (Texas) Police Department selected the CentralSquare Public Safety Suite Enterprise, which includes CAD, records management and mobile systems. The department’s purchase represents an upgrade of its existing communication and records systems.
The system helps ensure fast multiagency, multidiscipline and multijurisdictional response among law enforcement, fire and EMS.
“From the time we pick up a 9-1-1 call through writing reports and every other public-safety service we provide, we wanted one seamless system from start to finish,” said Allen Police Department Deputy Chief Ken Myers. “In partnering with CentralSquare, we’re working toward critical departmental goals: increase the speed and accuracy of our reporting, improve collection of data and make better decisions with analytics and citizen service tools, ultimately so we can keep officers out in the community. We look forward to leveraging the system’s flexibility, automation and citizen portal to make sure we enhance efficiency in all areas of our department.”
CentralSquare Technologies was formed by the mergerof Superion, TriTech Software Systems and Zuercher Technologies last year.
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HAAS Alert Partners with Active911 on Collision Prevention

Through the partnership, Active911 mobile app users can leverage the HAAS Alert Safety Cloud to automatically send digital alerts to nearby drivers and other emergency vehicles when responding to an emergency.
According to a University of Minnesota study, the risk of collision between a civilian vehicle and emergency vehicle can be reduced by up to 90% when nearby drivers receive an advance warning.
“Every day in the United States, there are almost 200 roadway collisions involving a first responder, with many of them having a connected device in their vehicle running the Active911 mobile app,” said Cory Hohs, co-founder and CEO of HAAS Alert.
By adding their digital alerting capabilities to our mobile platform, first responders using the Active911 system will have an added layer of protection while responding to emergencies.
For more on the HAAS Alert app, view the “FirstNet App Catalog: Apps for First Responder Teamwork” webinar on demand here.
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