It’s time for PSAPs to prepare for move to next-generation 911

The notion that E-911 Phase 2 is not ubiquitous is hard to fathom, given the fact that about 70% of all calls to 911 today are made from cell phones. It’s hard to imagine that the public will tolerate a similar timeline for PSAPs to be able to receive the kind of multimedia input—text, data, photos and video—that consumers commonly share with each other on a daily basis.

There are potentially other forces at work here, as well. Much attention has been focused on FirstNet’s efforts to build a nationwide broadband network for public safety that will allow the distribution of relevant multimedia information to first responders. However, the potential benefits of such a network only can be realized fully if one of the greatest sources of multimedia—citizens at the scene of an incident—are able to share their information with public safety via the 911 system.

There is no mandate that PSAPs have to move to an all-IP architecture that is the foundation of next-generation 911, but many PSAP coordinators agree that migrating to the IP-based infrastructure enables much greater flexibility in adapting to new technologies than trying to retrofit a legacy 911 system that was designed initially to accommodate only wireline telephony calls.

Of course, there always seem to be funding issues surrounding 911, as well as legal challenges. But it seems clear that PSAP coordinators should be developing plans to migrate to a next-gen 911 platform, because policymakers and public they serve soon will expect emergency call centers to be able to accept more than just voice calls for emergency assistance.