On August 19, 2013, APCO International President Terry Hall and Ralph Haller, Chairman of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC), signed an agreement solidifying a partnership first announced in March.

Under the agreement, NPSTC agrees that any appropriate technical recommendations for public safety communications that it desires to be adopted as ANSI Standards will be submitted to APCO International for that purpose, except matters related to 3GPP.

Some of the initial recommendations to be submitted through the ANSI-accredited standards process of APCO International are likely to flow from NPSTC working groups. Standards candidates might include topics ranging from public safety voice communications to technical and operational systems requirements.

“APCO International is looking forward to leveraging our rich history as an ANSI-accredited standards body to partner with NPSTC to promulgate standards that will serve the future needs of public safety communications especially in an increasingly interoperable and broadband environment,” said Hall.

“NPSTC is pleased to enter into this agreement with one of our founding members and partner, APCO. We look forward to working together to improve public safety broadband communications,” said Haller.

About APCO International™ (www.apcointl.org)
APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals.  It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.

About NPSTC (www.npstc.org)
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.