National 911 Program report reveals some progress toward next-gen 911, but much work remains

Traditionally, PSAPs have operated independently, because legacy 911 technology did not support connectivity between 911 centers, Flaherty said. By migrating to the IP-based NG911 architecture, PSAPs can benefit from considerably more flexibility in terms of personnel use and resiliency plans, but this also requires a “huge culture shift” in the emergency-calling arena, she said.

“Because it’s possible for them to connect to each other [via the NG911 environment], there are questions of consistency, uniformity, collaboration and coordination that they didn’t have to worry about before,” Flaherty said. “So, not only is it a question of how folks will work together within a state, but at the end of the day, if this is all going to fit together, what needs to happen at the national—but not necessarily federal—level to make this work?

“Then, going even bigger than that, how do we make sure that it all fits with what’s going on around 911, both in terms of some of the deadlines that the service providers have set for retiring their legacy systems and the whole FirstNet thing? There’s enormous pressure being applied from several different directions to make this happen.”

Although there is still work to be done on the technology side, Flaherty said she believes the biggest challenges to NG911 deployment and operation will be found in other areas.

“It’s the governance issues and the funding issues that I think really are the tough ones,” she said. “Anytime you talk about who’s in charge and who’s going to pay for it, the conversation gets interesting really fast.”

Flaherty said she is encouraged by recent signs of progress, including the release of the NG911 migration report by the FCC’s Task Force on Optimal PSAP Architecture (TFOPA) and the establishment of the NG911 NOW Coalition.

“I think the more we can do together, the more it will give the right people the political cover they need to move the issue forward,” Flaherty said.

“I’m encouraged by how many people already have come together on this, and how many organizations have already voiced their support about what the coalition is doing. Hopefully, that will continue, because—and I don’t want to sound corny—the sum of the whole is certainly greater than the sum of the parts on this.”