As many of you know, September is National Preparedness Month. With that in mind, NENA wants to make sure that as many 9-1-1 professionals as possible are prepared for the challenges ahead in our industry. To do that, we're offering you the opportunity to bring a coworker or colleague with you to SBP and/or CIF free of charge! 

All you have to do is register for the Standards & Best Practices Conference, Critical Issues Forum, or both! Once you register, you’ll receive a special promo code via email that you can share with a coworker or colleague who would like to attend the event as well. He or she can then register for the same event(s) as you at no charge by using the special promo code and entering your name in the "Referred by" box. 

The fine print: Offer good until 5PM Eastern on September 30, 2016. The free registration can only be gifted to someone not currently registered for the event(s). Only one free registration allowed per paid registrant. Cannot be used in conjunction with other discounts, including group membership vouchers and DSC promotional rate. Free registration only valid for same event as referrer. Additional registrations may incur fees. No refunds. Offer not valid for Education Summit or pre-conference courses. 

Overflow Housing Available!
If you can't get a room at the host hotel, we've also arranged for a discounted rate of $169/night for our attendees at the nearby Hampton Inn and Suites. If you can't get in at the Hilton, call the Hampton directly at 614.559.2000 and ask for rate code NEN.

From now through October 28, NENA is accepting session proposals for the NENA 2017 Conference & Expo taking place June 3-8 in San Antonio!

Leading a session at a national NENA conference is a highly sought after role. It’s your chance to share your knowledge and experience with an informed and enthusiastic audience filled with 9-1-1 professionals eager to gain and share information.

• Your proposal is issue-focused, not product-focused;
• Your 65-word presentation description contains a precise objective;
• You are able to identify three clear audience takeaways;
• You fully complete all areas of the submission form and provide accurate contact information, including phone number(s), e-mail address(es), and mailing address(es);
• You use proper grammar, capitalization, and punctuation

Headset bags! What 9-1-1 professional doesn't need one? Or two? Or three? (They also make great pencil bags for kids who may have just gone back to school.) All of our four great designs are on sale for just $6 each - a savings of nearly 50% on some styles - from now until October 7.

Click here, here, here, and here to see the bags and here to check out the rest of the NENA store!

9-1-1 centers have almost no margin for error. Any mistake invites inquiries from lawyers or reporters, sometimes with very serious repercussions. Don’t let it happen to you! Join us for this hour-long webinar examining some of the most frequent errors that result in litigation or negative coverage and how this can be avoided. Specifically, you’ll hear about:

• Actual cases where 9-1-1 centers and personnel were found liable based on things done or said; and
• Areas of concentrated policy and training that improve performance, prevent errors, and keep you out of the headlines or witness chair.

CEUs: Attend this webinar and receive one-half ENP re-certification point towards the ten-point maximum for NENA courses in the Professional Development CEU/Course Credits section.

Can't attend on the 5th? Register now and you will receive an email after the live presentation with instructions for accessing the on-demand webinar archive.

09.29 | Quality Assurance: Achieving QA/QI in the PSAP | Glendale Heights, IL | Register
09.29 | Liability in the 9-1-1 Center | Washington, DC | Register
09.30 | Liability in the 9-1-1 Center | Washington, DC | Register
10.03-07 | Center Mananger Certification Program | Cary, NC | Register
10.09 | Cybersecurity in the PSAP | Columbus, OH | Register
10.09 | Recruit, Hire, Retain, & Promote for Success | Columbus, OH | Register

View the NENA Education Calendar to see additional upcoming classes!

This specification of the NENA Detailed Functional and Interface Standards for the NENA i3 Solution builds upon prior NENA publications including i3 requirements and architecture documents. The i3 solution supports end-to-end IP connectivity; gateways are used to accommodate legacy wireline and wireless origination networks that are non-IP as well as legacy Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) that interconnect to the i3 solution architecture, as described below. NENA i3 introduces the concept of an Emergency Services IP network (ESInet), which is designed as an IP-based inter-network (network of networks) that can be shared by all public safety agencies that may be involved in any emergency and a set of core services that process 9-1-1 calls on that network (NGCS – NG9-1-1 Core Services). The i3 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) is capable of receiving IP-based signaling and media for delivery of emergency calls conformant to the i3 standard. 

Click here to read about what's new in v2!

On September 20, NENA submitted comments to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification Policy Committee in support of the proposed reclassification of public safety telecommunicators and dispatchers. Currently, these public safety professionals are classified under SOC Major Group 43-0000, "Office and Administrative Support Occupations." SOCPC Docket I-0199, however, consolidates several requests to reclassify these professions under SOC Major Group 33-0000, "Protective Service Occupations."

NENA recognizes that the SOCPC's initial review of the reclassification requests in the consolidated docket resulted in a recommendation against reclassification, stating that "the work performed is that of a dispatcher, not a first responder," and that the Committee's recommendation was based on limited, largely assertive information. However, NENA respectfully disagrees with the Committee's recommendation, and urges the Committee to reconsider its justifications in light of the substantive data presented in the comments.

Click here to read NENA's full comments.

A new item, Cyber Threats and Vulnerabilities to US Election Infrastructure, dated September 20, 2016, has been published by the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security, National Protection and Programs Directorate.  The document is attached for your review.  

This product is intended to provide perspective to assist federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies and authorities, the private sector Critical Infrastructure Owners and Operators, and other entities to develop priorities for protective and support measures relating to an existing or emerging threat to homeland security.

The 9-1-1 Professional Education Working Group seeks volunteers to assist in the development of standards related to 9-1-1 professional education to aid in the development of degree programs for public safety telecommunicators and individuals who work on 9-1-1 systems. This effort will ensure the 9-1-1 industry has a reliable work force both for PSAP operations and to manage, design, construct, and maintain the 9-1-1 system and its many components. This effort will also ensure that programs provide a basic level of knowledge and skill, no matter where they may be located. The group is in need of producers, users, and general-interest persons with operational and technical backgrounds. The commitment is participation for an hour or two per week via conference call.

Click here to join.

The PSAP Daily Operations Working Group seeks volunteers to assist in updating the NENA Communications Center/PSAP Daily Personnel Operations Model Recommendation Document to include today's ever increasing workload, staffing issues, and retention challenges. PSAPs are in need of and have requested definitive guidance regarding issues of scheduling and use of electronics in the workplace. The group is in need of producers, users, and general-interest persons with knowledge of PSAP daily operations.

Click here to join.