The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International is seeking comments for the candidate American National Standards (ANS) Alarm Monitoring Company to Emergency Communications Center (ECC) Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP).

The candidate standard revision includes renaming in the title of the co-SDOs from “APCO/CSAA” to “APCO/TMA”, a renaming of “Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)” to “Emergency Communications Center (ECC)”, and the introduction of schema version 3.4, including new data fields and message types available to the users of this standard and critical to the mission of public safety. An emphasis on address verification/synchronization between the alarm companies and the ECCs is included.

“The revision to the alarm exchange is a significant step in enabling a more interoperable data exchange between ECCs and the alarm industry,” said Margie Moulin, President of APCO International. “As more CAD and alarm automation providers take advantage of the ASAP program, the technical blueprint becomes increasingly important to the interface development process.”

The deadline for public review and comment on this candidate standard is March 15, 2021.

For questions regarding APCO Standards, please email apcostandards@apcointl.org or contact the Standards/ACS Program Manager at (571) 289-7402.  For more information on APCO standards activities, please visit our website.

APCO International^® (www.apcointl.org)
APCO International is the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association. 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.