911 Overload Calls for Transition to NG911, Technical Solutions, Policy, Procedure Changes

There’s no silver bullet to solve 911 overload issues, but there are solutions to alleviate the problem, said Jamie Barnett, chief of the FCC Public Safety Bureau. Some of the approaches include minimizing overloads with prioritization and having backup systems, he said. Bottom line is emergency communications system needs to remain operational, he said, urging continuing to develop overload technologies and standards. The FCC has been working with standards organizations like ATIS, he noted. The FCC is still examining the East Coast earthquake’s impact on wireless services, he noted. Next Generation 911, a top priority for Chairman Julius Genachowski, is a solution to overloading issues, he said. Lack of funding and resources are main reasons for overloading, said George Rice, executive director of the 911 Industry Alliance.

The FCC seeks to identify a cost-efficient way to fund NG911, Barnett said. The commission estimated that the network connectivity and call routing costs to transition to NG911 will be as high as $2.68 billion over 10 years, he said. But costs could be lower if the move results in call center consolidation, he said. The technology for NG911 is there but training for 911 call takers needs to be in place as technology comes in, he said. There needs to be funding and resources dedicated to training, he said. The FCC is also interested in the use of social media for emergency situations, Barnett said.

Additionally, the commission plans to develop a governance framework for NG911, Barnett said. Jurisdiction issues have to be addressed, he said. The FCC will also develop and implement technical standards and location accuracy mechanisms for NG911, he said. The FCC has already been heavily involved in facilitating location accuracy equipment, he noted. A goal is to enable consumers to send text, photos and videos to 911 call centers, he said. He acknowledged that the transition to NG911 might not occur uniformly across the country. The cooperation with the Homeland Security Department and federal agencies on emergency communications has been good, Barnett said. But 911 is an area where many responsibilities stay at the local level, he said. That brings out the liability issue for governments and the private sector, he said. Congressional action is needed to bring some certainty to liability issues, he said

There’s no single solution to solve overload but the problem can be tackled in different ways, said John Healey, a communications system specialist at the FCC. He cited traffic rerouting, having backup systems, prioritization, educating the public not to call 911 for non-emergency situations and implementing texting to 911. Public safety agencies can also increase call handling capabilities by adding call takers and equipment but that’s a very expensive solution, he said.

Regarding Enhanced 911 system, currently 16 states have legislation requiring businesses, schools and government agencies to provide Enhanced 911, said Jerry Eisner, group director of Red Sky Technologies. Some additional states are considering similar legislation. Federal legislation might be needed to accelerate the transition to E911, he said. The FCC needs to take a stronger role to set policy for emergency communications, said Chip Yarborough, western regional director for the National Emergency Number Association.

Meanwhile, the FCC receives no data on interconnected VoIP outages, Barnett said. Many critical services rely on broadband communications, he said. But the FCC has no way of monitoring the reliability and availability of these systems, he said. As communications infrastructure migrates to broadband, the FCC needs more reliability data, he said. Meanwhile, the first ever national emergency alert system test, scheduled for Nov. 9, is critical to ensuring that the emergency alert system works as designed, Barnett said. The FCC has been educating the public about the test, he said. Barnett also noted a Commercial Mobile Alert System, also known as the Personal Localized Alerting Network, is expected to launch in April with an early launch in New York City expected in December, he said.