Wireless RERC - National Emergency Number Association (NENA)

EAAC Identifies NG911 Accessibility Gaps

mz22 — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 15:39:42 +0000

Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC)

National Emergency Number Association (NENA)

July 2013 —The Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a report outlining “gaps in NENA i3 NG9-1-1 specifications related to EAAC Accessibility reports.” The report reviews the NENA Functional and Interface Standards for Next Generations 9-1-1 (NENA i3), a document widely used in the development of NG9-1-1, and notes that certain gaps in the NENA i3 may prevent accessibility within NG9-1-1. Specifically, the EAAC notes that future versions of NENA i3 need to address many items, including the need for standards to address emergency calls using a relay service, the use of media communication line services, transferring and call-back procedures relating to multi-media calls, joint use of text and voice in emergency calls, and silent call procedures. Although the EAAC notes that issues with accessibility remain in the current version of the NENA i3, they also note that “the NENA i3 08-003 specification represents a tremendous accomplishment in establishing the framework for accessible NG9-1-1 communications, and the list of gaps in no way overshadows or diminishes the work done to date.”

Mixed Progress Toward Text-to-911

mz22 — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 20:07:55 +0000

Text-to-911

National Emergency Number Association (NENA)

NENA News Release

July 2013 — Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile released reports outlining their progress to deployment of text-to-911. These reports were issued following an agreement made between the wireless providers, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), and APCO International to offer text-to-911 services to subscribers. The reports note that while the four providers all deliver bounce-back messages to subscribers who attempt to send text messages to 911 in areas where the services is not yet provided, each provider is currently in a different state of text-to-911 deployment. Sprint recently completed a six-month trial of various vendors and will soon make a selection, while AT&T is set to begin a trial of text-to-911 later this year. T-Mobile has selected a vendor and is working to develop an “interim” text-to-911 solution. Finally, Verizon is working with Telecommunication Systems Inc. (TCS) to deploy text-to-911. Through Verizon, the service is currently available in eleven jurisdictions in North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Texas, New York, and Maryland, and is scheduled to deploy in additional locations later this year.

NENA 2013 Conference & Expo

mz22 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:44:19 +0000

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) will hold its annual Conference and Expo on June 5-20, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina. By attending NENA 2013 you will join thousands of public safety professionals, telecommunications specialists, and federal, state, and local policymakers for a week aimed at developing an understanding the near and long-term issues facing public safety and the skills needed to address challenges. NENA’s educational tracks, among other things, will address NG911, accessibility, text-to-911, public outreach, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Wireless RERC Principal Investigator, Helena Mitchell, PhD, will present Current 9-1-1 & Alerting Trends for People with Disabilities, reporting on current data on how people with disabilities receive public alerts and their preferences and practices for contacting emergency services.

Start Date:

Saturday, June 15, 2013 - 7:30am to Thursday, June 20, 2013 - 1:00pm

Additional Information:

NENA 2013

National Emergency Number Association (NENA)

911

Next-Generation 911 (NG911)

Subscriptions:

Emergency Communications