In Stewart County, located in northern Tennessee, a massive lighting strike on April 5 took out most of the county’s E911 equipment along with the sheriff’s equipment, computer and radios. As a result, the county has decided to upgrade to Next Generation 911 equipment, even though officials are struggling to choose among a host of providers.

NG 911 retains the core features of the current E911 system, which automatically provides the dispatcher with the caller’s phone number and, in most cases, the caller’s location. To these core capabilities, NG 911 will add text, email, photo and video capabilities to the country’s 911 system. With photo and video capabilities, the FCC (News - Alert) hopes that NG 911 will transcend language barriers as well as provide eyewitness quality information to first responders.

The service will also support 911 access from a variety of service providers, including cellular and VoIP, as well as application developers and multiple device types. Another goal of NG 911 is to better integrate Public Safety Access Points (PSAPs) and dispatchers with emergency personnel and service providers. In all, NG 911 means a transition to a broadband, IP-based 911 system from today’s current analog, voice-centric system.

“It’s hard to imagine that airlines can send text messages if your flight is delayed, but you can’t send a text message to 911 in an emergency,” said FCC chairman Julius Genachowski (News - Alert). “The shift to NG911 can’t be about if, but about when and how.”

For its part, the FCC has come up with a five-point plan to upgrade the nation to NG 911. First, the FCC will enhance its location accuracy mechanisms for E911. Second, the FCC will work on rolling out technical standards for the hardware and software that PSAPs and carriers use.

Next, the FCC will coordinate NG 911 with state and local governments and will develop a cost-effective NG 911 funding model. Ultimately, consumers will be able to send text, video and photos to PSAPs around the country.

For its part, Stewart County simply has to settle on an equipment provider. AT&T (News - Alert), GeoConnex and Greer Communications are the three organizations in the running to provide equipment for Stewart County. AT&T has cost advantages, while dispatchers have voiced support for GeoConnex. Even though Greer is primarily a radio provider, the company’s helpfulness during the recent lightning strike has rendered county officials sympathetic to their bid to provide equipment.

America is slowly turning the corner toward NG 911 implementation. Hopefully, the U.S. won’t need the equivalent of a massive lighting strike before it develops a sense of urgency.