Looking back at 2020, one of the bright spots for APCO was joining with other leading public safety associations to advocate for legislation that would establish a significant one-time federal grant program to achieve Next Generation 9‑1‑1 (NG9‑1‑1) nationwide. Following months of collaboration between various public safety associations and congressional staff, the Next Generation 9-1-1 […]
New FCC Spectrum Rules Put Public Safety Communications at Risk
By Jeff Cohen APCO recently filed two formal petitions with the FCC regarding a major change it made to regulations that govern the use of spectrum that is relied upon by public safety. One was a Petition for Reconsideration, urging the FCC to repeal the new rules and fix numerous problems; the other was a […]
Federal Report Estimates Extent of Interoperability Challenges for 9-1-1
This won’t come as news to anyone working in public safety communications, but 9-1-1 faces significant interoperability challenges. While ECCs are generally able to transfer basic voice 9-1-1 calls to neighboring ECCs, they often cannot share other types of communications and data important for emergency response.
2020 Legislative Priorities
By Jeff Cohen We just started a new year, but there are only a few months left to achieve a number of public safety legislative objectives before Congress enters into election mode. Click on the topics listed below to read background info and talking points for raising these matters, especially if you have plans to […]
FCC on the Verge of a Major Setback to 9-1-1 Location Accuracy
By Jeff Cohen This Friday, the FCC will vote on new rules that are supposed to ensure that first responders can locate someone who calls 9-1-1 from inside a multi-story building. Unfortunately, the rules will not only fail to produce meaningful improvements, the FCC will let wireless carriers continue to avoid pursuing much better options […]
New Progress for Getting Wireless 9-1-1 Calls to the Right ECC
By Mark Reddish Apple recently announced that devices running iOS 13 will enable location fixes quickly enough to be used for routing wireless 9-1-1 calls. This is a significant development because routing 9-1-1 calls based on the device’s estimated location, rather than relying on the location of the cell sector serving the caller, will allow […]
Quick Updates for the 2019 Annual Conference
By Jeff Cohen, Chief Counsel & Director of Government Relations APCO’s Annual Conference and Expo is fast approaching. We have the remaining program updates for the Cutting Edge Developments track to share. APCO’s Government Relations Office chooses content for this track, and we make a habit of holding one or two sessions open as close […]
What Does Interoperable Mean in the Real World?
This article focuses primarily on communication tools such as land mobile radio (LMR) and computer aided dispatch (CAD) in addition to illustrating the overall need for an interoperability-based approach to any communications technologies intended for use by public safety.
9-1-1: Nearing 50 Years of Dependable Emergency Assistance
By Martha Carter, President, APCO International February 16, 2018 will mark 50 years since the first 9-1-1 call was placed in Haleyville, Alabama. In the decades since, 9-1-1 has become one of the most well-known brands of all time. Children are taught at the earliest possible age to call 9-1-1 in an emergency. And the […]
Achieving the True Promise of Next Generation 9-1-1
9-1-1 is part of America’s critical infrastructure, but it profoundly lags behind in technology. Public safety communications professionals across the country deserve to have the best tools available to protect and save lives. Next Generation 9-1-1 promises to deliver many benefits, including putting 9-1-1 on par with technology used in the commercial sector, which for […]
