The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office is the first Emergency Communications Center (ECC) to go live on the State of Arizona’s Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) Network and is fully i3 on June 27. The Arizona 9-1-1 Program made it a priority to implement a statewide NG9-1-1 Network and provide an ESInet to equip each ECC statewide to provide the fastest, most reliable, and cost-effective access to emergency services for any 9-1-1 caller from any communications device. While the existing 9-1-1 system the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office utilized has been successful for more than 60 years, it has been stretched beyond its limit and was unable to efficiently integrate with today’s newer technology. The old 9-1-1 system also lacked the reliability and monitoring capabilities needed to support today’s increased disaster environment. Due to the aging technology of yesterday’s 9-1-1 system, the number of outages continued to increase, and the previous 9-1-1 system was becoming less and less reliable. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) describes NG9-1-1 as a nationwide, standards-based, all-IP emergency communications infrastructure enabling voice and multimedia communications between a 9-1-1 caller, the ECC, and the field responders. NG9-1-1 will enhance the 9-1-1 system to create a faster, more flexible, resilient, and scalable system that allows 9-1-1 to keep up with communication technology used by the public. The system provides location-based routing to the appropriate emergency entity. The system uses additionally available data elements and business policies to augment ECC routing. The system delivers geodetic and/or civic location information and the call-back number. The system supports the transfer of calls to other NG9-1-1 capable ECCs or other authorized entities based on and including accumulated data. Citizens in need of emergency assistance will be able to transmit photos, videos, and other forms of broadband data and applications to 9-1-1 professionals, in addition to making a traditional voice call or sending a text message. This could include streaming video from an emergency incident, photos of accident damage or a fleeing suspect, or medical information, all of which will greatly aid 9-1-1 professionals in assisting the caller or communicating with field responders and incident commanders. Moreover, when a highly reliable, secure, standards-based NG9-1-1 system is deployed nationwide, 9-1-1 centers will have enhanced tools at their disposal for more effective and efficient response and increased ability to interoperate with other 9-1-1 centers or transfer all functionality in the event of a major disaster. Over the next couple of weeks, Apache County Sheriff’s Office, Winslow Police Department, Show Low Police Department and the White Mountain Apache Police Department will all be online with the NG9-1-1 system. Holbrook Police Department utilizes NCSO dispatch services for their communications. All the Emergency Communications Centers in Navajo and Apache Counties will be on the same network. “A top priority for me as your Sheriff has been to transition and utilize modern technology to enhance our ability to provide exceptional public safety. I am grateful for the State 9-1-1 Office and my staff for their diligent efforts in bringing the Next Generation 9-1-1 to Navajo County and this region of the State,” Sheriff Clouse stated.
