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10 Years Later, N.Y. Responders Communicate Better
August 10, 2011Sept. 11 was a convergence of the worst possible problems in communication technology — a jammed commercial network made cell phone use impossible. Police and firefighter radio networks were not compatible. But the main problem, the FDNY says, was the damage done to infrastructure called repeaters, which made radio signals work at the twin towers. That left many commanders and firefighters unable to talk to each other. Firefighters in the stairwells couldn’t hear the evacuation order and as a result, 343 died.
Read full articleDelayed 9-1-1 Response Leads to Street Name Review in Maine
August 9, 2011Town Manager Michael Heavener told the Town Council on Monday night that the review comes in response to apparent confusion on June 6, when dispatchers sent police to the wrong address, delaying officers’ arrival to the shooting scene by several minutes.
Read full articleJuly Storm Swamped Illinois Dispatch Center
August 8, 2011During the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift that night in July, the dispatch center in Arlington Heights handled 2,592 phone calls. To compare, the same shift a week before recorded 258 calls.
Read full articlePittsburgh 9-1-1 Dispatchers Prep for Batman-Fueled Calls
August 4, 2011PITTSBURGH — Emergency dispatchers in Pittsburgh are preparing to take calls from residents who might be unprepared for fake gun shots, explosions and other mayhem while the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” films at various city locations.
Read full articlePrank 9-1-1 Call Ties Up Crews for an Hour
August 4, 2011INDIANA COUNTY, Pa. — A prank 911 phone call sent emergency officials on an hourlong search for a woman who claimed she was giving birth in the parking lot of an Indiana County mall. Gary Ryan, Indiana County’s 911 coordinator, said a dispatcher received a call on Tuesday night from a frantic woman asking for assistance after she began giving birth in a Chevrolet Tahoe in the parking lot of the Indiana Mall, near a theater.
Read full articleCouncil Curious about How Automatic Aid for Fire Crews Will Impact Dispatch Systems
August 4, 2011REDDING, Calif. — Redding officials have already learned they can’t use volunteer firefighters to make up for a critical shortage of paid professionals. Now, some City Council members want to explore whether an automatic dispatch agreement with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection would help.
Read full articleEshoo Pushes Funding Bill so 9-1-1 Dispatchers Can Accept Photos, Videos & Text Messages
August 4, 2011Someday soon, a person whose house is being robbed will be able to text 911 for help while hiding inside a closet or send police dispatchers a cellphone video of the thief driving away. As a group of Peninsula cities are moving to implement “Next-Generation 9-1-1” systems that allow emergency dispatch centers to accept photos, videos and text messages that have become standard fare for many cellphone users, Rep. Anna Eshoo is working to advance the systems on a national level.
Read full articleFCC Announces Spectrum-Sharing Agreements with Canada & Mexico
August 2, 2011WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC has reached arrangements with Industry Canada and Mexico’s Secretariat of Communications and Transportation for sharing commercial wireless broadband spectrum in the 700 MHz band along the U.S.-Canadian and U.S.-Mexican border areas.
Read full articleL.A. County Starting over on Emergency Communications System
August 1, 2011LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of millions in federal funds are at risk and years of planning are scrapped over concerns that the project’s nearly completed contract violates state rules on how it must be structured and awarded.
Read full articleNorthern Middlesex Eyes Regional 9-1-1 Service
August 1, 2011LOWELL, Ma. — With Greater Lowell cities and towns facing budget challenges because of steep declines in state aid in recent years, they have been forced to become more creative about how to achieve cost savings. One solution Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration has aggressively promoted to help municipalities achieve budget efficiencies is regionalization.
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