Case Study: Transitioning to NG911 in Massachusetts
Table of Contents Massachusetts Needed NG911
The Upgrade to NG911
A More Prepared, Responsive State
Overcoming Obstacles
How Massachusetts Migrated to NG911
Massachusetts Needed NG911
In a state with harsh winter weather, the clock was ticking down on upgrading Massachusetts’ 911 system. Not just because its old, copper wire infrastructure was designed for landlines and couldn’t directly receive mobile calls, texts or images or take advantage of digital innovations. The wiring was sensitive to moisture, making 911 unreliable during annual blizzards and flooding. And support for legacy, wirebased systems was diminishing.
“If we lose the copper infrastructure, how do callers get through? That’s what NG911 does,” says Franklin Fire Chief Gary McCarraher.
The Upgrade to NG911
In late 2017, Massachusetts completed its statewide rollout of NG911 to almost 240 call centers or public safety answering points (PSAPs)—the equipment, database and fiber network. The public couldn’t see the immediate benefits, but they were significant.
The network is more stable and provides the capability to deliver a more precise location for callers, speeding emergency response. It backs up swamped PSAPs by rerouting calls, allows dispatchers to receive mobile calls directly and, by the end of the year, will allow for receiving texts from citizens.
“It’s frustrating to see only about 50 percent of states moving forward,” says McCarraher, who tracks NG911 progress nationally in his role as chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ communications committee. He points to two major obstacles: funding and whether or not it’s a priority.
A More Prepared, Responsive State
When a 23-inch snowstorm hit Franklin, half the community lost power, but NG911 stayed up. “We still could access the 911 system,” says McCarraher. “There was no need to worry about downed phone lines.”
The backbone of the Massachusetts system involved a major undertaking: geographic mapping of the entire state to more exactly identify a caller’s location. The feature can potentially shave critical minutes off response time.
“If Mrs. Smith from New York saw a house fire and didn’t know she was in Whitman, it took longer to figure out where she was,” explains Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno. When the wireless carrier provides a precise location, he says “NG911’s state-of-the-art mapping ties into dispatch and pinpoints where she is.”
To gain the full benefits of NG911, the towns of Plympton, Halifax and Rochester opted to join a regional call center in Duxbury. The gains include freeing up firefighters doubling as dispatchers, reducing costs by eliminating redundant systems and providing professionally trained dispatchers.
At Duxbury, dispatchers aim to turn around a call in 10 seconds. “The real first responders are the dispatchers. They’re the first link in the chain of survival,” says Fire Captain Rob Reardon who oversees the Duxbury center.
Overcoming ObstaclesWhile each state may differ, Massachusetts' goal is to centralize all 911 services by moving local PSAPs to regional centers to centralize dispatching where it makes sense in order to share costs, increase efficiencies, and provide better services. But many towns want to retain local control. “The basic thinking is that a station should never go dark and that’s made the process more difficult,” explains Normand Fournier, Deputy Director of the Massachusetts’ 911 department. “We believe they’ll have a better level of service.” Even state financial incentives haven’t spurred buy-in, highlighting a common implementation challenge: overcoming opposition to change.
Reardon was an early supporter, pushing the state to select Duxbury as the NG911 pilot for regional call centers. He was frustrated that “people weren’t getting the help they needed quick enough.” At town forums, he touts the benefits.
A key one: directly answering mobile calls. Although Boston and other major cities are answering calls directly, the majority of NG911 PSAPs continue routing mobile calls to the state police, which then must determine the location and transfer calls to the correct local dispatcher. Reardon’s pitch to local departments: “We’re one-stop shopping. No transfers when someone isn’t breathing.”
The full potential of NG911 won’t be realized until dispatchers can receive video, photos and rich digital data from the public, dramatically improving emergency response. Although the base technology is in place, Fournier estimates it could take years to establish the required standards and protocols for securely transferring such rich digital data from the public over the network.
How Massachusetts Migrated to NG911
Throughout a three-year implementation, Massachusetts worked systematically to ensure that NG911 was ready to go live.
FOURNIER OFFERS THREE MAJOR PIECES OF ADVICE TO STATES PREPARING FOR THEIR NG911 UPGRADE
► Test the system through pilot programs and in realistic settings to detect flaws;
► Invest in the extensive training of dispatchers;
► Hire an independent security vendor to perform either a scan or evaluate the security of the NG911 system.
The state’s implementation strategy called for taking small steps in favor of big leaps, contributing to its success.
The training program involved 5,200 dispatchers across Massachusetts. Learning how to expertly navigate new software after an NG911 upgrade has more on the line than mastering the usual software program. Says Fournier, “Here you could lose a life if you do something wrong. It’s not like correcting an error on a spreadsheet.”◆
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In This Issue
Understanding Next Generation 911
5 Ways NG911 Can Improve Your Department
Transitioning to NG911 in Massachusetts
How Fire Benefits from Next Generation 911 Infographic
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