Prioritizing public safety, Next Generation 911, with its abundant benefit, will mold the state and local communities.
FREMONT, CA: A movement underway across the country is modernizing and upgrading the whole 911 experience and the technology infrastructure behind it. The ultimate goal is to make an easy platform where the callers can transmit detailed information about their emergencies, at 911 call centers, which are known as public safety answer points, or PSAPs, then provide that information to first responders.
The vision of the next-generation 911 system is to enable the public to make voice, text, or video calls from any of the communication devices through internet protocol-based networks. The Next Generation 911 (NG911), is designed to increase the infrastructure that underpins the 911 systems and switch from legacy circuit-switched voice to IP-based networks. One of the major goals of this initiative is the ability to transmit pictures and videos to 911operators using mobile devices. The nation has made varying levels of progress on transitioning to NG911 systems.
NG911 Technology Benefits
National Emergency Number Association (NENA) developed the technology standards that drive NG911. NG911 delivers better and highly accurate location information to PSAPs. Although upgrading to NG911 can be costly and a time-intensive process, but its proponents provide a lot of benefits. NG911 allows collecting the information in multiple media, from the public about different kinds of situations taking place in the locality. It allows receiving text messages in situations where the crime victim or the witness cannot carry a voice conversation. The true potential of NG911 rests in the ability for the PSAPs to collect the photos and videos of unfolding incidents like fires, car crash, or a potential act of violence.
If one PSAP is burdened with calls or goes down completely for some reason during a disaster, calls that would normally go to that center can automatically route to another PSAP.
