A crash course on next-gen 911

This month, the National Emergency Number Association will host its 26th annual 911 Conference and Trade in Charlotte, N.C.

Roger Hixson, NENA’s technical issues director, spoke with MRT senior writer Donny Jackson about opportunities at the show for attendees to learn more about the future of 911 service.

The conference is rife with technology sessions, as it is every year. Is there a particular session or track that stands out in your mind?

We have a general session on Monday (June 11) that is meant to pique the interest of those who attend concerning what NG911 is all about: what its drivers are, why it’s important and what are some of the issues, considerations and questions that are involved.

For those people who choose to continue on the NG911 track, the 10 or 11 sessions over three days are meant to flesh out all of that initial impression in various areas, from what kind of originating devices are out there now, what’s coming in the future and how that’s going to evolve and impact emergency-service provisioning. Other sessions will look at policy issues associated with it and database considerations for public-safety authorities and PSAPs.

It’s an attempt to lay out in several sessions the technical, operational and in-depth conceptual information about NG911 — what it is, why it is needed, where we’re going, how we plan to get there and what it will be when it grows up. For people who dedicate themselves to the NG911 track the entire week, the objective is for them to walk away with a specific understanding about what NG911 is all about and the process that we have to develop it and get it into place.

Will the i3 guidelines be released at the conference?

They won’t be out in an approved public form, but we’ll be covering them in the conference sessions.

The first version of the i3 architecture and interface specification is scheduled to be finished in the second quarter. It will probably be reviewed and approved early in the third quarter, but that’s only the first version — and it’s only part of the picture.

Work will continue on that in version 2 the rest of this year and into early next year. At the same time, we need to do standards development associated with database systems, database management and certain aspects of systems operations … including specific performance expectations and contractual information that supports [NG911].

How does i3 fit into the NG911 effort?

When you take the various development pieces and put them all together, that’s NG911. The idea that i3 equals NG911 is not a valid statement. The i3 standard provides the architecture and interface basics of NG911, but it’s far from the whole package.

When do you believe the “whole package” for NG911 will be complete?

My assumption is that the earliest that can happen is in early 2009, but it probably will be late 2009. In order to accomplish that, development has to take place this year and during the first half of 2008, or maybe a little later in 2008. It’s all got to be tested and trialed before we put it in place.

NENA 2007 Basics

Where: Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center

Pre-conference workshops: Sat., June 9 and Sun., June 10, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Conference sessions: Mon., June 11, 2:45 to 5:00 p.m.; Tues., June 12, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Wed., June 13, 9:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Exhibits: Mon., June 11 and Tues., June 12, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

PSAP tours: Mon., June 11 through Wed., June 13, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Keynote: Greg Levine, humorist and call center consultant, Mon., June 11, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m.

Welcome reception: Sun., June 10, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

First timers’ breakfast: Mon., June 11, 7:00 to 8:15 a.m.

More info: www.nena.org

Exhibitor List