URISA/NENA Addressing Conference

2009 URISA/NENA Addressing Conference
August 4-6, 2009
Providence, Rhode Island

Registration | Exhibit | Sponsorship |Preliminary Program |Main Conference Page

NENA, NASNA, 9IA Oppose 9-1-1 Fund Raids

Posted: Tue, 07/07/2009 – 08:33

Policy Statement of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators (NASNA) and 9-1-1 Industry Alliance (9IA) Opposing State Raiding of 9-1-1 Funds July 7, 2009

Thousands of lives are saved every day thanks to Americas 9-1-1 system. Decades of government leadership and steady technological progress have given citizens a reliable 9-1-1 system they can trust. In return, citizens trust their state and local governments to responsibly manage the funds collected to pay for 9-1-1 systems. Unfortunately, some state and local governments have seen 9-1-1 revenues funds raised through fees assessed on telecommunications bills specifically for 9-1-1 as a revenue source available to be diverted from 9-1-1 and emergency service delivery for use in other programs, to balance budgets, and/or to provide budget flexibility to fund other non-9-1-1 budget priorities. Commercial telecommunications companies are held to truth-in-billing requirements to properly disclose the purposes of fees assessed on their customers. Unfortunately, some state and local governments do not have to meet similar truth-in-billing requirements on their 9-1-1 fund expenditures, and increasingly some state governments are being less than honest with their constituents about the purposes of the 9-1-1 fees they impose.

Download a PDF of the full statement

NENA APPLAUDS SENATE CONFIRMATIONS

Posted: Mon, 07/06/2009 – 14:50

NENA is pleased with the Senates unanimous confirmation of Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and Robert M. McDowell for his re-appointment as FCC Commissioner, as well as Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce (DOC), said Craig Whittington, ENP, NENA President.

In his DOC role, Strickling will serve as Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

“These appointees bring a wealth of government and private sector experience to their positions,” Craig Whittington added. “NENA looks forward to working with these leaders to improve our nation’s important emergency communications capabilities.”

ANSI Approves NENA/APCO Standard for TERT Deployment

Posted: Mon, 06/15/2009 – 10:55

Today, NENA and APCO announced the approval of the American National Standard (ANS) to assist public safety answering points (PSAPs) and governing 9-1-1 authorities with the information required for developing, training, equipping and deploying a Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce (TERT) team. The Standard for TERT Deployment, APCO/NENA ANS 1.105.1-2009, was approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on May 29.

NG9-1-1 Integration Demonstrations

Posted: Tue, 06/16/2009 – 13:46

NENA Provides NG9-1-1^(?) Related Vendor Integration Demonstrations

At its 2009 Annual Conference in Ft Worth, the National Emergency Number Association hosted an NG9-1-1 Showcase in which four vendors successfully integrated their NG9-1-1 oriented products with components of a prototype NG9-1-1 core system for the first time. Certain components of the system were replaced with vendor products for each demo. These demonstrations clearly indicated the growing capability of multiple vendors to interoperate among themselves and meet the future needs of Public Safety to support Next Generation 9-1-1^(?) services.

Enhance 911 Act Rules

Posted: Fri, 06/12/2009 – 11:22

National 9-1-1 Office Announces Final Rules for ENHANCE 911 Act Grant Program

The joint NHTSA/NTIA National E9-1-1 Implementation and Coordination Office (ICO) has published final rules for a $43.5 million grant program authorized by the ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004. The Notice announces the availability of funds for the acquisition and deployment of hardware and software that cover the implementation and operation of Phase II E9-1-1 services and to enable the migration to an IP-enabled emergency network, and training for the use of such hardware and software. Applications from states must be submitted by August 4, 2009 with grant funds to be awarded no later than September 30, 2009.

Federal Register Announcement

NENA2009 –

Posted: Tue, 07/14/2009 – 09:51

Follow-up information

Opening session notes
Exhibitor Listing
Highlights from General Sessions
Denim and Diamonds Gala

View a photo slide show – The Faces of NENA2009

NENA signs Alliance with IJIS

Posted: Thu, 07/02/2009 – 14:25

NENA has signed an Alliance agreement with the IJIS Institute.

The IJIS Institute fosters relationships between industry and government by delivering services and facilitating programs that promote national information technology standards and improve information sharing across jurisdictions at all levels.

NENA Responds to FCC National Broadband Plan Notice

Posted: Wed, 06/10/2009 – 00:22

NENA submitted comments in response to the FCC’s National Broadband Plan Notice of Inquiry (NOI).Â In the comments NENAÂ stressed that the National Broadband Plan offers a significant opportunity to outline steps to foster the migration from analog, voice-centric 9-1-1 and emergency communications systems into a 21st century, next generation, IP broadband-based emergency services model that embraces a wide range of voice, video, and data applications.Click read more to download a copy of NENA’s response.

Proper use of 9-1-1

Posted: Fri, 06/05/2009 – 11:09

If you are on the phone and hear 9-1-1, what is your emergency? the correct answer is never going to be I dont have an emergency, but As the weather warms up and school lets out, misuse of the 9-1-1 emergency number increases, tying up the phone lines and preventing attention to real emergencies.

If you know it is not an emergency, then you should be looking up phone numbers or calling Information, said local dispatcher Zoe Middleton. Remember you are tying up an emergency line when someone with a true emergency may be trying to call us.

She said an emergency is an event in progress requiring immediate attention of medical, fire or law enforcement professionals. Examples include a heart attack, serious injury, fire, car accident or burglary in progress.

However, there are plenty of times when 9-1-1 should not be called. A person should think about whether or not there is an immediate danger. If a few extra minutes wont make a difference, 9-1-1 is the wrong number to use. For example, it is usually inappropriate to call 9-1-1 for information, a ride to an appointment or for an officer to come scare a little child into doing their chores.

The remainder of this article is at The Dallas Chonicle

Best Practices for Wireline Call Volume Testing

Posted: Tue, 07/14/2009 – 09:32

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions’, (ATIS) Network Interconnection and Interoperability Forum (NIIF) has published a testing process related to Emergency Notification System (ENS) Call Volume over wireline networks. This procedure is available for free from the ATIS NIIF Document Page – click here.