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Tony Parrott shares real-world stories from two very ambitious PSAPs who decided to become NG9-1-1 frontrunners.

We recently spoke with the leadership at two PSAPs who upgraded to our Solacom Guardian solutions a few years ago to learn what their move to NG9-1-1 has meant to their operations.

As they described the benefits of the solutions’ speed, flexibility, and interoperability, the 9-1-1 center directors in Athens/Limestone County and Dane County shared a number of real-world examples. We’d like to share some of those examples with you.

The British Territory in the Caribbean adopts an integrated, geo-redundant emergency call management system. Tony Parrott explains how the new system addresses current needs and provides a foundation for future services.

Earlier this year, the Department of Public Safety Communications in the Cayman Islands moved to a Solacom Guardian 9-1-1 Solution to manage all the emergency calls it receives each year. The new NG9-1-1 solution brings advanced, IP-based emergency call handling capabilities to the three islands that make up the British Territory. It’s a full-featured system that, when fully deployed, will enable call takers to process calls faster, receive text-to-911 messages, and locate wireless callers with pinpoint-accurate mapping capabilities. And it’s all part of the Department’s plans to prepare for an NG9-1-1 multimedia future.

When Gwinnett County, Georgia, upgraded to Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) call handling, E911 Center operations immediately improved. Tony Parrott explores the new efficiencies.

Until recently, the team at the Gwinnett County Police Department’s E911 Center in Georgia was using an end-of-life legacy system to manage the one million 9-1-1 calls the Center receives each year. Today, the team is processing calls faster and more efficiently with our Guardian 9-1-1 Call Handling solution. Shortly after the upgrade was complete, we talked to the Gwinnett County team to learn more about the improvements they’ve been able to make.

Tony Parrott explains how Solacom helped Maricopa Region 911 bring lightning-fast NG9-1-1 call routing and delivery to more than four million people in Arizona.

As home to more than half the population of Arizona, including the city of Phoenix, Maricopa County is the fourth-most populous county in the country. That means the team at Maricopa Region 911 has one of the most challenging mandates in the country. It also means everyone involved in upgrading the Maricopa Region 911 network routers knew that a network interruption or failure during the transition could have catastrophic results.

Tony Parrott explains why PSAPs need to look well beyond the initial purchase price when choosing an NG9-1-1 call handling solution.

Like any major purchase, the upfront costs for an NG9-1-1 call handling solution can be daunting, especially in the face of ongoing budget constraints. While cost concerns can make it tempting to pick the solution with the lowest initial purchase price, that’s often a short-sighted decision. To get the best value for your money, you need to look at the long-term total cost of ownership (TCO) for the solution.

There are four main factors to consider when trying to determine TCO for an NG9-1-1 system.