Tuesday, February 23, 2016
A coalition of 911 public safety and industry leaders, in cooperation with the National 911 Program and the Next Generation 911 Institute, today announced a nationwide effort to accelerate the implementation of Next Generation 911 (NG911) services by the end of 2020.
The NG911 NOW Coalition, a group of national thought leaders in the 911 community, have come together in unprecedented fashion to bring significant attention to achieving NG911 nationwide. The Coalition currently is supported by government partners, members of academia, and led by 911 and emergency communications organizations that share a common mission to promote more effective emergency calling and response services including:
- National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA)
- Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT)
- National Emergency Number Association (NENA)
NG911 is a nationwide, standards-based, all-IP emergency communications infrastructure enabling voice and multimedia communications between a 911 caller, the 911 center (known as a “Public Safety Answering Point” or “PSAP”), and on to responders in the field. NG911 will enhance the 911 system to create a faster, more flexible, resilient, and scalable system that allows 911 to keep up with communication technology used by the public. Citizens in need of emergency assistance will be able to transmit photos, videos and other forms of broadband data and applications to 911 professionals, in addition to making a traditional voice call or sending a text message. This could include streaming video from an emergency incident, photos of accident damage or a fleeing suspect, or medical information, all of which will greatly aid 911 professionals in assisting the caller or communicating with field responders and incident commanders.
Moreover, when a highly reliable, secure, standards-based NG911 system is deployed nationwide, 911 centers will have enhanced tools at their disposal for more effective and efficient response, and increased ability to interoperate with other 911 centers or transfer all functionality in the event of a major disaster.
The NG911 NOW Coalition will be a leading advocate for accelerated deployment of NG911. The Coalition is launching a nationwide campaign to achieve its goal that “by the end of the year 2020, all 911 systems and call centers in all 56 states and territories will have sufficiently funded, standards-based, end-to-end IP-based 911 capabilities, and have retired legacy 911 systems, without any degradation in service.” The mission of the Coalition is to create increased attention to NG911 issues and promote actions that will accelerate implementation of NG911 systems and services throughout the nation.
The NG911 NOW Coalition will be seeking the assistance of other government and public safety organizations, as well as industry partners as it works to implement an action plan to secure the funding, governance, best practices and policies that will make this vision a reality.
For more information, visit www.NG911NOW.org or email the Coalition at info@NG911NOW.org
Source: http://www.nena.org/news/276464/9-1-1-Organizations-Launch-NG9-1-1-Accelerated-Deployment-Effort.htm