APCO 2014: Day 2

Representatives from 12 key public-safety organizations met last week in an effort to develop a consensus position about next-generation 911 (NG911) that would encourage Congress to provide federal funds supporting a transition from legacy systems to an IP-based 911 platform capable of supporting multimedia communications. Conducted last Friday in Washington, D.C., the meeting was co-hosted […]

Language that would reclassify public-safety telecommunicators as “Protective Service Occupation” personnel instead of administrative/clerical workers will not be part of a key defense funding bill, but 911 advocates expressed their intent to continue the reclassification effort through other legislative efforts in 2020. 911 telecommunicator reclassification language was one a many amendments included in the House […]

FCC commissioners yesterday voted to approve rules requiring wireless carriers to deliver 911 callers’ vertical location that is accurate within three meters in most cases, but critics expressed concern that the location information will not be provided in a manner that is useful to public safety. Under the new order, vertical—or Z-axis—80% of indoor wireless […]

There are more than 6,000 dispatch points throughout the United States, and this vital emergency service is now under constant threat, because hackers are infiltrating dispatch centers and rerouting calls away from dispatchers. Malware and spear-phishing attacks impact emergency service dispatch centers without warning. There’s no siren going off to alert a dispatcher about a […]