The agency is seeking comments on a proposal to “strengthen wireless 911 location accuracy rules and to put more actionable location information in the hands of Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) and first responders.”
The FCC says it will accept comments until June 6, with reply comments due no later than July 7.
“Better location information from the outset of a 911 call translates to time saved during a response, and that time saved translates to lives saved,” the agency says. “From the handsets in consumers' hands, to the provider networks and technologies used to derive and deliver location data to the PSAPs, to the equipment and systems used by the PSAPs, our goal is to encourage cooperation and collaboration among all parties.”
The proposal comes as big and often expensive upgrades are taking place in emergency call centers nationwide — such activity one of the drivers of business for public safety technology providers.
The FCC proposal could potentially lead to better location data from inside large buildings, reflecting another trend among government technology companies. For instance, they are working to better connect sensors in commercial buildings to emergency dispatch systems; provide more real-time data about emergency locations; and use video, drones and other tools to aid first responders racing to those calls.
More precise address data, including apartment numbers, could be part of any FCC-backed change, according to the proposal document. The agency also wants such groups as NENA, or the National Emergency Number Association, and NASNA, the National Association of State 911 Administrators, to help with test-data collection and validation of potential new location technologies.
The FCC proposal likely will influence gov tech companies in one way or another, according to Brian Fontes, the CEO of NENA.
“The 911 community is served by a variety of companies with a range of technologies, and we expect there will be a competition among them to meet the new standards — if and when they are adopted,” he told Government Technology via email.
Those new rules could help produce “a faster, more accurate response by first responders,” he said.
