As many of you have no doubt noticed, there is an increasing number of smartphone applications coming into the market that intend some type of interaction with public safety or 9-1-1. Many of these applications attempt to enhance the user's ability to contact 9-1-1 by either voice or text, and/or provide a means through which a "caller" can provide PSAPs with additional information. PSAP Managers and 9-1-1 Authority groups are expressing both interest and concern.

A NENA/APCO working group has been actively working to address many of the comments and insights that have been shared with us. We are finalizing a short document that will address critical considerations for app developers as they consider new products. This document will be shared with the major app stores, and will also be available on the NENA and APCO websites.

Concerns have also been expressed about the recent letters that were sent by 911 Emergency Assist (911EA) to many PSAPs advising of the launch of their product. We have been in touch with 911EA and will be continuing discussion to address PSAP training and how they are marketing their product. 911EA has welcomed the offer to incorporate further public safety driven insight into their path forward.

More updates soon. Please share your thoughts on how smartphone applications can best integrate with PSAPs and public safety by visiting the new Smartphone Applications Forum on the NENA website.

Join us for the 2012 URISA/NENA 2012 Addressing Conference, taking place  August 6-9 in Memphis, TN, at the Peabody Hotel! This is only conference where GIS professionals, addressing coordinators, and 9-1-1 and emergency response specialists come together for education and networking.

The URISA/NENA Addressing Conference begins with full-day preconference courses, followed by two days of keynotes, breakout sessions, networking events, and valuable time with exhibitors. The conference concludes on Thursday morning with an off-site technical tour.

Learn more about the conference and register online here.

The NENA 2012 Live Learning Center provides you with online, on-demand access to audio and synchronized presentation materials from nearly every Education & Training Session held at NENA 2012. That's 80 hours of expert presentations addressing best practices, innovations, trends, and more available at the click of a mouse!

On June 29, 2012, a fast-moving weather storm called a derecho brought a wave of destruction across wide swaths of the United States, beginning in the Midwest and continuing through the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the country. Millions of Americans lost electrical power during the storm for periods ranging from a few hours to over a week in the middle of a heat wave, and the storm caused billions of dollars in physical damage. The storm had a significant adverse effect on communications services generally and 9-1-1 facilities particularly. From isolated breakdowns in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, to systemic failures in northern Virginia and West Virginia, it appears that a significant number of 9-1-1 systems and services were partially or completely down for several days.

The impact of the storm in northern Virginia was particularly severe, notably in Fairfax County, parts of Prince William County, Manassas Park and Manassas, where more than 1 million people faced the possibility of not being able to call 9-1-1 successfully. In those jurisdictions, media reports and local government officials indicate that public safety answering points (PSAPs), which process calls to 9-1-1 facilities, failed, as did backup systems. Multiple access technologies appear to have been affected by the outages, including traditional networks, broadband networks, and wireless networks.

Click here for more information and to read the full Public Notice.

"During times of natural or manmade disasters, it is critical that 9-1-1 remain operational and available as the vital lifeline between the public and emergency responders. It is our hope that lessons learned from this examination will enable state and local governments, telecommunications companies, 9-1-1 service providers, and Public Safety Answering Points to work together and ensure that future losses of 9-1-1 service can be minimized or mitigated to the greatest degree possible."

 

In other words, we do all the research and you get the latest news in your inbox or on your handheld device, absolutely free.

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NENA's new and improved career center now offers more options and search functionality to job seekers and recruiters, including the ability to browse openings by category, subscribe to receive email notifications of new openings, and apply for openings directly online. Recruiters can now view and rate candidates applying for openings, search the resume database of available candidates (members-only feature), and manage postings online. 

Visit the Career Center to learn more.

URISA/NENA Addressing Conference - Aug. 6-9, 2012 - Peabody Hotel - Memphis, TN

9-1-1 Goes to Washington - Spring 2013 - Washington, DC

NENA 2013 - June 15-20, 2013 - Charlotte Convention Center - Charlotte, NC