This Month's Feature Article | |
Does Your PSAP Have an Actionable Plan
for NG911?
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PSAPS are facing increasing urgency to evaluate their feasibility and readiness to migrate to Next Generation 911 (NG911) services. The pressure is originating from a variety of sources, to include statewide initiatives to migrate to NG911, or from outside vendors notifying PSAPs that legacy 911 call handling equipment or services now in place will no longer be supported after a future date. Once the decision is made to move forward with migrating to NG911 services, it is important to complete an assessment of the areas impacted by NG911 migration. Note: The items below are shown in part - use this link for the complete article:
NENA i3 Compatible Call Handling Equipment (CHE)- Is your equipment i3 compatible? Equipment at the PSAP must be evaluated and if the current equipment is not i3 SIP compatible, it will need to be upgraded or replaced.
Environmental & Space- Is your hardware and equipment room ready? NG911 operates on hardware designed to process data communications. This hardware is more sophisticated and sensitive than traditional telephone company service terminations.
Geographic Information System (GIS) Data Readiness- Is your GIS data ready for NG911? Since NG911 systems rely on more sophisticated GIS data, the PSAPs need to ensure their local GIS departments are integrated into the NG911 deployment.
Training Logistics- Is there a training plan? Agencies should anticipate the need to train personnel on some of the nuances associated with NG911 including GIS data mapping and transferring calls to other agencies.
Compatibility with Downstream Systems- The systems downstream from the 911 CHE, like CAD and mapping, will need to be tested before the NG911 system can go live.
Interoperability with Other 911 Systems- NG911 services are offered as competitive telecommunication services, unlike the legacy telecommunications provider which historically has been the only vendor of 911 services in its franchise area. This means multiple 911 providers could operate within an area where there are several neighboring independent 911 administrative entities.
Making the transition to NG911 is not a project that everyone might have to do. Eventually all PSAPs throughout the United States will be required to migrate to NG911 as telephone vendors stop supporting the legacy 911 equipment and services. The process from the initial needs assessment to the procurement and implementation of NG911 core services and products can easily take one to three years depending on the size of the agency or agencies involved. It is crucial to begin these conversations now.
Winbourne Consulting has the experience and expertise necessary to assist your agency with making this transition.
To read the complete article, visit: Does your PSAP have an actionable plan for NG911? – Winbourne Consulting, LLC (w-llc.com)
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The City of Columbus, OH, Department of Public Safety (DPS) Emergency Communications Center contracted Winbourne Consulting to conduct a staffing assessment of its call taking and dispatch operations and supporting organizational infrastructure. Key objectives identified by City Stakeholders included:
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Enhance operating model. Identify opportunities to improve the operating model for delivery of emergency and non-emergency call taking and dispatch of public safety resources.
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Staff appropriately. Improve staffing to respond to resident and visitor expectations, industry standards, growing workloads, and employee wellbeing.
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Build the culture. Create a work environment and workplace that new hires want to join and where employees want to remain from hire-to-retire.
Winbourne performed an extensive data collection and operations analysis of the Columbus DPS ECC PSAP, to include multiple site visits and interviews, and successfully developed comprehensive findings and recommendations to assist the City in enhancing the capacity and capability of its 911 and Emergency Communications operations.
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Winbourne Consulting was awarded a contract by Princeton University to assist the Public Safety Department in developing requirements, conducting an assessment, and acquiring a new Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management System. As a university police department, the agency faces the need to not only integrate with state and multiple local mission partners but meet other requirements unique to a campus environment.
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International Use of Emergency Telephone Numbers
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In many countries, there are multiple emergency telephone numbers. Police, fire, and emergency medical each has a separate emergency telephone number and the separate emergency numbers have national laws associated with police, fire, and health care.
Experience worldwide has shown that the use of multiple emergency numbers can cause confusion. This is especially true when someone is experiencing an emergency such as a car accident with injuries, a choking child, or a home is on fire. Transitioning to a single emergency number is the internationally recognized best practice.
To standardize and simplify the confusion for tourists and other travelers, as well as for local residents, the International Telecommunications Union, or ITU, officially set two standard emergency phone numbers. In 2008, the 913 member countries of the ITU agreed that either 911 or 112 be designated as the standard international emergency phone numbers.
The ITU is the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs.
Currently, 911 is used in North America, while 112 is the standard across the EU and in many other countries worldwide. Although most EU countries continue to use nationally mandated ten-digit emergency numbers in addition to 112.
The ITU decision did not mandate a country to use 911 or 112 only, but to use them in addition to their local emergency numbers. So, any country that already uses a different number will not need to change it. For those countries establishing an emergency number for the first time, 911 or 112 are the recommended choices.
Need Help? How can a country transition from using only nationally mandated, separate emergency numbers for each public safety service and transition to a single emergency phone number? Winbourne Consulting has assisted many countries to make that transition successfully to include Bulgaria, Jordan, and Jamaica and large cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Jakarta, Indonesia.
This article was written by Jeff Winbourne who is currently leading business development and technical design for integrated public safety systems internationally. Over the past 25 years has worked in Vietnam, Romania, Chile, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, Poland, Panama, Canada, Bulgaria, India, Jordan, and Iraq on public safety communications and response projects.
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Did you know Winbourne has worked in many countries outside of the US?
Since 2000, we have worked with nearly 20 countries outside the United States, to include the governments of Kurdistan/Iraq, Jamaica, Chile, Indonesia, India. In many of these projects, in addition to working for investors, prime contractors, and national governments, we have supported organizations such as the World Bank, United Nations Developmental Programs (UNDP), United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), US Trade & Development Agency (USTDA), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
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August 7 - 10, 2022
Anaheim, CA
88th Annual Conference & Expo
APCO 2022 is the premier event for public safety communications officials, from frontline telecommunicators to comm center managers to public safety communications equipment and services vendors.
Starting August 7, APCO 2022 offers four days of educational sessions, committee meetings and special events, paired with two full days of exhibits.
Visit APCO 2022 for:
- Education
- Networking
- Exhibits
- Involvement
- Fun
To learn more visit: APCO 2022 | 88th Annual Conference & Expo
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August 24 - 26, 2022
San Antonio, TX
Each summer, thousands of the most prominent fire and emergency service leaders from across North America and around the globe come to Fire-Rescue International (FRI) to learn, network and collaborate together.
FRI education covers all areas of the emergency service:
Navigating the political environment
Managing change
Ethical leadership
EMS issues
Career development
And more
FRI attracts hundreds of exhibitors to showcase the newest fire service innovations in apparatus, technology, equipment, gear and more. If you're a fire/EMS chief, chief officer or company officer - this is YOUR conference for leadership education.
To Learn More Visit: Fire-Rescue International (iafc.org)
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October 10-14, 2022
Orlando, FL
For more than 30 years, EMS World Expo has been the leading education event for emergency medical healthcare professionals. This is where the leading medical experts from across the world come together to share their innovative research, demonstrate cutting-edge procedures, and drive the field of paramedicine and the delivery of emergency medical services forward.
More Than a Conference—A Community
EMS World Expo is more than just a conference. This is where your EMS community unites every year to network, share experiences, and forge lifelong connections. Although COVID-19 has made it hard to come together these past 2 years, our mission of uniting the EMS world remains unchanged. Join us as we reconnect again this year in Orlando and prepare to increase the quality of care for your patients, your community, and yourself.
To Learn More, Visit: Home | EMS World Expo
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October 15-18, 2022
Dallas, TX
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Conference and Exposition is the largest and most impactful law enforcement event of the year – more than 16,000 public safety professionals come to learn new techniques, advance their knowledge and careers, and equip their department for ongoing success.
The three tenets of the conference are training, networking, and exhibit hall education. IACP 2022 will span four days of education and networking. The exposition hall will be open Sunday – Tuesday of the conference to meet with more than 600 vendors showcasing products and services to assist the law enforcement profession.
To Learn More, Visit: IACP Conference 2022 – THE IACP – Shaping the future of the policing profession (theiacpconference.org)
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The State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act improves collaboration between DHS and state and local governments by boosting the sharing of information and federal resources.
President Joe Biden signed a bill to increase cybersecurity coordination between the Department of Homeland Security and state, local, tribal and territorial governments.
State and local governments increasingly find themselves victims of cyberattacks, often because they do not have the expertise or resources to defend against sophisticated and persistent attackers.
The State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act improves collaboration between DHS and state and local governments in several key areas. The new law calls for the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) -- DHS’s 24/7 cyber situational awareness, incident response and management center -- to provide operational and technical cybersecurity training for state and local agencies related to threat indicators, defensive measures and incident response and management.
To read the complete article, visit: Biden strengthens cyber coordination between DHS and state, local government - GCN
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By enforcing its z-axis requirements and moving toward nationwide deployment, the Federal Communications Commission can fundamentally transform national emergency response.
Ingrained in the minds of every American is a number that each of us hopes to never call, 911. But in life’s most vulnerable and harrowing moments, 911 is a lifeline to critical support and sometimes life-saving services. The premise is simple: We’re just one phone call away from emergency services including police, firefighters or emergency medical assistance. Yet this promise can only be fulfilled with precise location intelligence.
In 911 calls, every second Matters
We live in a three-dimensional world where altitude can be the difference between rapid response and delayed support. In this life-saving equation, it’s most effective to equate distance with time. For example, a dispatchable first responder may be only minutes from a caller’s address, but if that address corresponds to a high-rise building, vertical location becomes vital to quickening response. The time spent working to understand a caller’s vertical location can delay response by seconds or minutes, diminishing emergency response outcomes and potentially putting first responders in harm's way. Delays due to a lack of location intelligence are a matter of life or death for both the caller and emergency responders across situations but especially in fire emergencies where locating individuals becomes extremely challenging.
To read the complete article, visit: All eyes on the FCC as deadline for 911 overhaul approaches - GCN
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A proposed bill would take proceeds from an auction of the 3.1 – 3.45 GHz band and allocate a portion to expanding the implementation of next-generation 911 (NG 911).
Specifically, the auction would be mandated by HR 7624, the Spectrum Innovation Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Communications and Technology marked up last week. The original bill did not name what the auction proceeds would go to but an amendment in the nature of substitute (AINS) introduced by Rep. Bob Latta specifically allocates those funds to several purposes.
“This includes providing the Federal Communications Commission with the funding it needs to rip and replace all of the suspect network equipment made by vendors that pose a national security risk,” Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Michael Doyle said in his opening statement during a markup of that and other bills. “And, it will also provide the public with secure, reliable, advanced 911 communications networks for times of emergency and disaster.”
To read the complete article, visit: House Subcommittee Approves Bill That Could Provide Up to $10B in NG 911 Funding (rrmediagroup.com)
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With AT&T almost done deploying the initial contracted FirstNet 700 MHz Band 14 infrastructure, the FirstNet Authority increasingly is focusing on solutions that will let public-safety users access the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) when outside of terrestrial system, according to FirstNet officials.
FirstNet Authority CTO Jeff Bratcher said that NPSBN contractor AT&T repeatedly has “exceeded expectations” in its Band 14 deployment, which is more than 95% complete. Contracted to be finished next March, this initial buildout phase likely is expected be completed later this year, according to an AT&T filing with the SEC.
To read the complete article, visit: FirstNet Authority CTO highlights coverage-extension efforts as initial Band 14 buildout nears completion - American City and County
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Winbourne Consulting provides a wide range of public safety services to our clients. Some of our services offered are (click on any of these to go to our webpage):
Areas of focus include:
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