NG 911
NEXT GENERATION 911 (NG911)
Technology is changing rapidly and 911 systems have depended on the traditional telephone network to when calling 911. The legacy system has served 911 well but time has come to migrate to the NEXT Generation to better serve the public, especially are people with disabilities.
The Next Generation (NG911) Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) must be able to accept text messages, automatic crash notification data, sensory alarms, pictures and streaming video from all types of wireless devices the public is using today. This type of equipment and infrastructure is very costly and 911 systems today are struggling to make this happen.
911 organizations such as National Emergency Number Associations (NENA) and Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) along with the National 911 Institute are working to reach this goal across the nation.
In March of 2013, the FCC made recommendation that Congress create incentives for states to become NG911. They are recommending that State-level governance encourage NG911 deployment creating standards that support seamless communication among PSAP’s, emergency responders, and provisions to make NG911 fully accessible to people with disabilities.
There are several states in the nation that have deployed NG911. A consortium of 16 counties in Southern Illinois are working on a project to develop NG911 infrastructure in their communities but Effingham and surrounding counties are not to this point, mainly due to lack of technical network and the expense. This is a project that will hopefully be coming in the near future.
The full report can be found in the NEXT GENERATION 911 ADVANACEMENT ACT OF 2012 put out by the Federal Communications Commission.