Commentary

Proposed three-digit suicide-prevention ‘Lifeline’ would benefit public-safety communications

About a decade ago, I received a call that no one wants to get—a beloved family member had committed suicide. He was schizophrenic, had tried a couple of times before—cry-for-help attempts, apparently—and he wasn’t good about taking his meds, so the call wasn’t unexpected. Nevertheless, it was stunning and sobering, with all of the “what […]

Commentary

The importance of commercial broadcast radio to public safety

The public-safety community has a variety of ways in which it communicates with the traveling public during emergencies. Examples include the highway roadside and overhead warning signs touting accidents, work zones, Amber alerts, Reverse 911 calls, as well as the Wireless Emergency Alert (“WEA”) system to send e-mails and text messages to your mobile device. […]

Commentary

FirstNet Authority standards director recaps June 3GPP Plenary Meetings in Newport Beach, Calif.

The June quarterly Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) meetings in Newport Beach, Calif., addressed standards in several areas relevant to the evolution of the public-safety broadband communications and the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN). The major topic across the 3GPP plenary meetings was planning for 3GPP Release 17 (R17). This release will be built […]

Commentary

Exciting times: When it comes to innovation, there is a lot going on in the public-safety sector

A previous article examined the obstacles faced by those public-safety entities known as “early adopters” as they strive to bring forward technological and operational innovations intended to improve emergency-response outcomes, keep emergency responders safer and protect mission-critical assets. This article explores some of the innovations that were discussed during the Early Adopter Summit hosted last […]

Commentary

Help wanted: 911 sector needs more early adopters

A small band of early adopters is working to lead the public safety sector into the future—but more are needed to accelerate the pace of innovation Nearly six decades ago, Everett M. Rogers, an assistant professor of rural sociology at Ohio State University, published a book in which he espoused his theory regarding how innovation […]

Video

WiMAX Forum: Mo Shakouri outlines benefits of WiGrid, AeroMACS technologies for private networks

Mo Shakouri, chairman of the board for the WiMAX Forum, explains how WiGRID and AeroMACS technology are designed use licensed spectrum to let critical-infrastructure entities build mission-critical private networks as alternatives to services provided by cellular operators. Shakouri spoke with IWCE’s Urgent Communications Editor Donny Jackson during pre-conference activities at the IoT World event in […]

Commentary

How 3D location can increase situational awareness and improve operational efficiency

Public-safety responders put their lives on the line every day to protect citizens from threats of all kinds. For most of us, this dedication and effort is taken for granted, as it goes largely unseen. This is because police and fire departments—and other first-responder agencies—are committed to being responsive in emergency situations while ensuring that […]

Bill to reclassify 911 telecommunicators is long overdue

The 911 telecommunicator community received some news last week that undoubtedly buoyed their spirits. A bill was introduced into the U.S. House by Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.)—a former telecommunicator—and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)—a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent and federal prosecutor—that would give telecommunicators (i.e., call-takers and dispatchers) the recognition they richly […]

Commentary

Help wanted: Working together to harness the power of data for 911

Your input is requested on all aspects of the draft 911 Data & Information Sharing: A Strategic Plan. Go to https://www.911.gov/project_strategicplanningfor911data.html for more information and to download a copy of the draft available for public comment. Input will be accepted at nhtsa.national911@dot.gov beginning January 18, 2019, and all comments are requested no later than February 1, […]

Commentary

Change is coming: Location-technology predictions for 2019

It’s that time of year again, when CEOs pull out their crystal balls to predict what will happen in our respective industries in the coming year. I won’t pretend that all my past prognostications have exactly come true, but I do take pride in the fact that the location-technology industry is constantly changing in reaction […]

Commentary

Commentary

Proposed three-digit suicide-prevention ‘Lifeline’ would benefit public-safety communications

Commentary

The importance of commercial broadcast radio to public safety

Commentary

FirstNet Authority standards director recaps June 3GPP Plenary Meetings in Newport Beach, Calif.

Commentary

Exciting times: When it comes to innovation, there is a lot going on in the public-safety sector

Commentary

Help wanted: 911 sector needs more early adopters

Video

WiMAX Forum: Mo Shakouri outlines benefits of WiGrid, AeroMACS technologies for private networks

Commentary

How 3D location can increase situational awareness and improve operational efficiency

Bill to reclassify 911 telecommunicators is long overdue

Commentary

Help wanted: Working together to harness the power of data for 911

Commentary

Change is coming: Location-technology predictions for 2019

Commentary

Coronavirus is a wake-up call. Are you listening?

Verizon, AT&T withdraw from smart-city efforts

3 tips for mitigating the ransomware threat to government offices

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Check out this week's #newscan, including a round up of stories about #COVID19 , the @TMobile & @sprint merger and… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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Making our existing cars more ‘clever’ could be a better way of getting autonomous cars safely on our streets rathe… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

The merger between @sprint and @TMobile is officially closed. And the newly combined company–often referred to as… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Building more connected cities makes our communities not only smarter, but also safer. See if these five projects i… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Ryan Poltermann, innovation architect at @CommdexC & vice chair of NPSTC’s LMR/LTE Integration and Interoperability… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

As the US settles into a “new normal” that includes spending a lot of time on the Internet to avoid spreading… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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