911 Services

Verizon and Intrado’s deployment of a modern 911 services platform, powered by IP-based technologies, in the Denco Area 911 District in North Texas, is the beginning step of a new initiative to advance the state of 911 emergency services in the U.S. As Farooq Muzaffar, vice president of product management at Verizon (News - Alert) Business, said in a statement, “Just as people are changing the way they communicate, so too must the 911 system change and evolve beyond just the limited information available under current systems. Working with Intrado (News - Alert), we’re building an advanced emergency communications platform that can provide multimedia information from the connected world we live in.”

The collaborative effort of Verizon, a provider of broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services, and Intrado, a provider of emergency communication services and technology, is to enable call centers nationwide to support and implement the handling of multimedia information – voice, data and video – for 911 services. The new solution uses Verizon’s managed IP network to route emergency calls, and advanced call-management capabilities powered by Intrado to support the handling of multimedia communications calls. More specifically, Verizon Emergency Communications Solutions will combine Verizon’s global IP network and managed and professional services with Intrado’s advanced 911 technologies to deliver calls and data services to emergency response personnel at public safety answering points (PSAPs).

“This new system will help our public safety agencies share information more quickly and thereby deliver a coordinated response from police, fire and other first responders,” said Mark Payne, executive director of Denco, in a press release. Under a contract with the Denco Area 911 District, Verizon and Intrado are upgrading the district’s 911 services platform, at a value of $9 million over six years.

The step taken by Verizon and Intrado is one of many to be taken among the immersive market of next-generation 911 services. As TMC reported, Norman Mineta, former United States Secretary of Transportation, said in a statement, “We need more emphasis put on the importance of emergency preparedness. By doing so, more Americans will feel confident in their abilities to react to an emergency."

Released in December, the 2010 American Public Safety Survey found that approximately 60 percent of respondents are most fearful of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack. The vast majority of those surveyed are anxious about these events occurring at an airport or in mass transit.

Possibly the most startling aspect of the survey is that only 46 percent of respondents indicated that they have an emergency plan or 911 services solution in place. Of this group, just over 60 percent feel that they have an adequate knowledge of their area's specific emergency and 911 services procedures.