Serving Public Safety, a Year in Review

My work in communications has given me a unique view of public safety. I have the privilege of sitting in calls with Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) directors across the country to learn more about the challenges you face in bringing better 9-1-1 to your communities. I have appreciated your candor in sharing frustrations with what you have and what you are trying to accomplish. I also appreciate your resolve and feelings of hopefulness for the future.

As a company, we have learned many valuable lessons over the past year. I am incredibly proud to work with a team of people with the compassion and flexibility required to meet business objectives and customer needs during such trying times. No doubt, when things get tough, the NGA 911 fam reaches in and finds another gear. For this reason, and so many others, I think there is no better team on the planet to serve our public safety professionals.

As we wrap up the year at NGA 911, I feel fortunate to say that 2020 has been a tremendous year of growth for our company. That is because of the trust and faith of pioneering public safety professionals, who have chosen to break the legacy mindset and select the tools that will enable better 9-1-1 communications.

As a team composed of industry veterans, we are honored to work next to the first of the first responders across the country as we bring them into the future of 9-1-1. Here are just a few of the things we have been up to in 2020:

Earlier this year, we brought one of the few remaining basic 9-1-1 systems into the 21st century in Elko County, Nevada. Those PSAPs now have Next Generation 9-1-1 with integrated location data pinned to the call takers map. For those reading this that are outside of public safety, integrated location is a huge part of Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1). As it stands, when you call 9-1-1 from a cell phone, the call takers do not know your precise location. This results in delayed response times, especially when a caller cannot speak or the line becomes disconnected.

We have also been hard at work in LA and the central region of California! California is on track to be the first state with a National Emergency Number Association (NENA) i3 compliant N9-1-1 solution. California’s transition to NG9-1-1 remedies a chronic inability to route 9-1-1 calls accurately, and the robust, resilient technology is capable of instantly scaling up to meet demand in the event of a large emergency.  We are so excited to be part of that journey.

We recently received recognition for deep expertise in public safety technology on a global stage based on our work. We are the only Next Generation 9-1-1 cloud-based service provider that has earned the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Public Safety & Disaster Response Competency distinction. We are proud to represent the 9-1-1 industry as one of just sixteen recipients.

Because we built NGA 911 from the ground up to serve public safety, we own our code and can do really cool things, such as creating an outage reporting tool. (A first!) This notification tool helps first responders reach citizens ahead of major catastrophes like fires and floods.

And finally, we are pleased to announce the 9-1-1 Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (9-1-1 ACOG) selected NGA 911 to deploy Next Generation Core Services and ESInet for 49 cities in four counties and 20 PSAPs. The 9-1-1 ACOG mission is to deliver the highest quality 9-1-1. NGA 911 is proud to support that mission by offering an NG9-1-1 deployment model that replaces legacy 9-1-1 systems in months rather than years. 

In the midst of all this, we’ve been educating and promoting our team. We continue to attract talent with some of the greatest minds in tech and public safety. We have also been at work, making critical investments in your community to continue to deliver the very best in service.

In closing, I would like to share a video of our CEO, Don Ferguson, from earlier this year. In it, he reminds us all that no matter what the world throws your way, you continue to serve our communities to the very best of your ability. This is why we do what we do.

What I hope you take away most from this message is that we love solving problems and working alongside you. It would be a pleasure to bring you the tools you need to serve your community in the year 2021 and well beyond.

Cheers,

Brandi L. Holder

VP, Strategic Communications at NGA 911

A special note to those reading this that are outside of public safety:

Now more than ever, 9-1-1 needs an upgrade from failing 1960s technology.

Consumer Technology will continue to evolve, and just like you, the general public will continue to assume that 9-1-1 is keeping up. In an emergency seconds matter. Your emergency responders deserve to have tools to make communication easier for you and the communities they serve. I want to remind you that you have the right to push your elected officials to invest in better 9-1-1 technology. 

If you would like additional information about us, NG9-1-1, or ways to talk to your representatives about 9-1-1, please let me know. It would be my pleasure to assist!