Dispatch/Call-taking

News

California 911 centers access OnStar crash data via RapidDeploy

California 911 centers now can receive vehicle-crash data and injury-severity predictions from OnStar through the RapidDeploy’s RadiusPlus map application that has been installed at the 450 public-safety answering points (PSAPs) in the state, according to an announcement released this week. Budge Currier, 911 and emergency-communications branch manager for California, said the initiative will enhance the […]

News

House proposes $15 billion for NG911 funding in new infrastructure bill

House Democrats have proposed a massive infrastructure bill that would provide $15 billion in federal funds to pay for 911 centers nationwide to be upgraded to IP-based, next-generation-911 (NG911) technology. While all public-safety organizations support the notion of NG911 funding, there are some disagreements within the community about some language in the legislation. Rep. Frank […]

Partner content

Combating call-center fraud in the age of COVID

Call centers are a fraudster’s dream. Millions of pieces of personally identifiable information (PII) are transmitted from customers to service agents every day. Anyone able to infiltrate these systems — either physically or digitally — can turn around and make a small fortune selling all sorts of valuable information on the Dark Web. In fact, […]

News

California PD: ‘Game-changing’ Live911 streaming of emergency calls accelerates responses

Police officers in the city of Clovis, Calif., are able to respond more quickly to incidents—saving lives and property—because they use the Live911 application developed by HigherGround to listen to the audio from 911 calls near their location, according to a Clovis police official. Jim Munro, a lieutenant in the Clovis Police Department, said the […]

News

Buffalo’s 48 hours to navigate a mission-critical transition to remote work

In Buffalo, N.Y., 311 is a vital lifeline for the city, providing an always-on call resource for the city’s 250,000 residents to reach city government. When the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a stay-at-home order, city officials knew a surge of calls was coming, and they needed to act fast to keep their front-line communications channel open. […]

Commentary

Redefining communications for today’s mobile workforces

Communicating with personnel was already a challenge for companies with workers in the field, deskless staff who travel, as well as widespread workforces in siloed divisions and office locations. Now that COVID-19 has all but eradicated traditional in-person relationships and many in-office team members are now working remotely, keeping everyone synced is an even more […]

News

FCC initiates proceeding, strike force to halt 911 fee diversion

FCC commissioners took the first step in fulfilling a mandate from Congress by unanimously approving a proposed rules to help tackle the longstanding issue of states and other governmental entities diverting revenues from 911 fees to initiatives that are not related to the emergency-call workflow. In December, Congress passed the “Don’t Break Up the T-Band […]

News

RapidSOS functionality helps 911 centers overcome outages after Nashville explosion

When the Dec. 25 explosion in Nashville caused outages that prevented 911 calls from being completed, many 911 centers turned to technology from cloud-based RapidSOS to both identify and locate emergency callers, so response efforts could be initiated, according to officials from RapidSOS and a Tennessee 911 center. Cassie Lowery, assistant director at Rutherford County […]

News

AT&T unveils FirstNet innovations, including HPUE, vertical location, deployable offerings

FirstNet subscribers now can access new technological capabilities that are designed to improve terrestrial LTE coverage, locate first responders, let agencies address coverage gaps quicker during incidents and enable interoperability between FirstNet PTT and LMR users, FirstNet contractor AT&T announced. Key FirstNet innovations unveiled yesterday as being available for public-safety use are: MegaRange, the FirstNet […]

Commentary

Public safety needs a better way to triage emergency calls

The overarching goal of the public-safety community is to ensure that 911 callers receive the most appropriate emergency response as quickly as possible. Lives often are on the line in an emergency, and every second matters. Achieving a balance between sending the optimal response to an emergency and having it arrive as fast as possible […]

News

California 911 centers access OnStar crash data via RapidDeploy

News

House proposes $15 billion for NG911 funding in new infrastructure bill

Partner content

Combating call-center fraud in the age of COVID

News

California PD: ‘Game-changing’ Live911 streaming of emergency calls accelerates responses

News

Buffalo’s 48 hours to navigate a mission-critical transition to remote work

Commentary

Redefining communications for today’s mobile workforces

News

FCC initiates proceeding, strike force to halt 911 fee diversion

News

RapidSOS functionality helps 911 centers overcome outages after Nashville explosion

News

AT&T unveils FirstNet innovations, including HPUE, vertical location, deployable offerings

Commentary

Public safety needs a better way to triage emergency calls

Commentary

Latest 3GPP standards-development work includes new classes of HPUE, progress on mission-critical services

Is LMR the best solution for first responders? Should 4.9 GHz license go to the FirstNet Authority?

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