Industry
City, County Eye $400K System amid Tough Fiscal Climate
January 25, 2011Santa Fe — The city’s fire and police chiefs want to raid a reserve fund to buy mapping software they say would help get emergency vehicles to the scene faster. If their proposal manages to win approval in this time of tight budgets, they say the days of police officers and ambulance crews flipping though map books while responding to calls could be history.
Read full articleMid-Winter Hamfest in Kane County, Ill.
January 25, 2011Kane County, Ill. — Jim Robbie of Moline pulled a Zenith Radionic vacuum tube from his pocket and proclaimed, “These are hard to find, and this is a good place to find it.”
Read full articleForeign Correspondence
January 24, 2011As the U.S. and Canada have designated 9-1-1 as their unique emergency number, other countries have their individual, historically grown structures of emergency numbers. A few years ago, an APCO International evaluation revealed that there are more than 170 different numbers worldwide to reach first responders. We thought it would be interesting to identify differences in countries, cultures and emergency numbers. For my first article, I have chosen to report about my home country, Austria, and provide an introduction to the European-wide “112” emergency number.
Read full articleCenter Looks for Reaccreditation
January 24, 2011Huber Heights, Ohio — On Saturday, a team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. arrived to examine all aspects of the Huber Heights Public Safety Communications Center in its effort for reaccreditation.
Read full articleHuman Error Results in No Response to Alarm
January 20, 2011Denver – When Denver 9-1-1 received an alarm notification for the home of Lisa Sommers, police were not dispatched because the public safety telecommunicator transposed the alarm’s permit numbers. Such incidents could be prevented by implementing automatic notification and adoption of the Alarm Interface Exchange Standard.
Read full articleDelayed 9-1-1 Response Raises Concerns
January 20, 2011Williamson County, Tenn — As a stranger circled her home, pulling on doors and windows at 2 a.m., Robin Ribeiro was pleading with a police dispatcher. It was 40 minutes before an officer arrived on scene. The delay with blamed on staffing shortages and the wireless 9-1-1 call being routed to the wrong agency.
Read full article730 Days & Counting
January 20, 2011All FCC Part 90 licensees operating in VHF spectrum 150–174 MHz and UHF spectrum based on location 421–512 MHz must reduce their emission to 12.5 kHz or less or use technology that provides an equivalency to 12.5 kHz in a 25 kHz emission on or before Jan. 1, 2013. The FCC’s ultimate goal is for 6.25 kHz or equivalent emission in the future. As of today, the FCC has not set a date for when this must take place.
Read full articleUniontown Man Jailed for Four Alleged 9-1-1 Pranks
January 20, 2011Greensburg, Pa. — A Fayette County man is in jail over police allegations he made four prank calls to a 911 call center, causing police to break down a woman’s door in one instance and to surround an unsuspecting family’s home in another.
Read full articleRamsey County’s Outdated 9-1-1 Center Will Be Evaluated
January 20, 2011Ramsey County, Minn. — The Ramsey County Board on Tuesday approved two contracts with consultants to evaluate the emergency dispatch system used by 16 communities in the county, including St. Paul. It’s the first major step in what could be a multimillion-dollar upgrade or replacement project likely to involve political debate.
Read full articleNominations Deadline Extended for 9-1-1 Honors Awards
January 19, 2011The E9-1-1 Institute, National Emergency Number Association (NENA), Association of Public-Safety Communications-Officials International (APCO), National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators (NASNA), and 9-1-1 Industry Alliance (9IA) want to remind you that nominations are open for the 2010 9-1-1 Honors Awards.
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