As an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited Standards Developer (ASD), APCO International is dedicated to ensuring public safety communications has a role in the development of standards that affect our industry. The integrity and inclusiveness of the process results in high quality standards that assist ECCs with operational, technical and training guidance. APCO’s standards development activities have a broad scope, ranging from the actual development of standards to the representation of public safety communications in other standards development areas.
Standards Working Groups Seeking Members
When APCO creates a new standard or revises an existing one, the working groups are the creative minds behind the standard. Groups include about 15 volunteers with training, operations or technical backgrounds who research and write a standard together. The following working groups are currently seeking members:
Core Competencies, Operational Factors and Training for Next Generation Technologies in the Emergency Communications Center (ECC)
This standard working group addresses core competencies, operational factors and training requirements for public safety telecommunicators specific to Next Generation technologies. Topics include processing, dispatch and utilization of multi-media systems. The standard also addresses operational factors, including increased workloads, security requirements, impact of evolving voice and data networks, stress issues and use of non-traditional resources.
Emergency Communications Common Disposition Codes For Data Exchange
The goal of this working group is to revise and maintain an up-to-date standard for common disposition codes for data exchange. This document is intended to provide a list of Common Incident Disposition Codes that could be used when disparate ECCs/authorized agencies are sharing incident information. The standard does not require an agency to change any internal codes; it simply provides a list of common codes to which the agency can map its internal data.
Minimum Operational Standards for the use of TTY/TDD or Similar Devices in the ECC
The goal of this working group is to revise and maintain and up to date standard to assist emergency communications centers (ECCs) by providing operational guidance for the use of TTY/TDD and/or similar devices. This standard provides minimum operational guidelines for ECCs in providing emergency services access to the deaf, deaf-blind, and hard-of-hearing communities using TTY/TDD or similar devices.
Find Standards
Locate operational, technical and training standards developed by APCO for the public safety communications profession.
Standards Review & Comment
The APCO ANS process allows anyone using APCO standards to have confidence that our standards are based on a consensus of views arrived at through a fair and open process. Anyone can participate in reviewing and commenting.
Help With Standards Development
Join the Standards Development Committee, one of the three subcommittees, or working groups to develop new standards and revise current standards.
APCO Standards Activities in Progress
The following standards are currently in development:
Operational Candidate ANS
- Non 9-1-1 Call Processing and Dispatch
- Supplemental Emergency Responder Recommendations
- Minimum Technical Requirements for Remote Support to Emergency Communication Center (ECC) Operations\
Technical Candidate ANS
- Common Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) GIS Identifiers
Training Candidate ANS
Revisions to Current APCO ANS Standards
- Multi-Functional Multi-Discipline CAD Minimum Functional Requirements
- Public Safety Communications Incident Handling Process
- NENA/APCO Minimum Training Standard for TTY/TDD Use in the Public
- NENA/APCO Standard for Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce (TERT)
- APCO/NENA Standard for the Establishment of a QA/QI Program for ECCs
- Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Telecommunicators
- Core Competencies and Minimum Training Standards for PSC Training Coordinator
- Core Competencies and Minimum Training Standards for PSC Training Officer (CTO)
Questions and Suggestions
If you have any questions, suggestions, or need help finding a specific standard, please email [email protected] or call the Standards Program Manager at (386) 681-8719 .
