FCC seeks to modernize emergency assistance system

The Federal Communications Commission is looking for information on how the Next Generation 911 system can enable the public to seek emergency assistance beyond traditional voice-centric services, according to a notice of inquiry released Tuesday.

The current 911 system, first established by AT&T in 1968, is not capable of accommodating the technologies embedded in many phones today, such as those that enable the transmission and receipt of photos, text messages and videos. As a result, the FCC notice, "seek[s] to gain a better understanding of how the gap between the capabilities of modern networks and devices and today's 911 system can be bridged."

The current 911 system "creates a gulf between consumer assumptions about the system's robust capabilities and its actual limitations," the notice said. "Indeed, there is widespread concurrence among academics, industry experts and politicians that 'the current communications landscape is a far cry from the one [for] which the current [911] system was engineered [and] . . . our emergency communications networks are unable to accommodate what is increasingly viewed as basic functionality inherent in many of today's technologies.' "

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in prepared remarks accompanying the notice that modernizing the 911 system is critical. "The benefits are clear," he said.

Yet, "the reality is that modernizing [911] raises complex challenges that will take not only time, but also significant coordination." Noting that FCC will need help from federal, state and local partners, as well as broadband providers, Genachowski said, "This initial [notice] starts an important process to ensure that there is a consistent regulatory framework for states and local governments as this new technology is deployed."

He cited the 2007 mass shooting on the Virginia Tech campus as an example of the technological challenges of the current 911 system. "Some students and witnesses tried to text [911] during that emergency, but these messages never went through; they were never received by local [911] dispatchers," Genachowski said.

FCC is seeking to understand how implementing Next Generation 911 will affect the current architecture, structure and costs of today's system, as well as how it will interface with the general public and first responder organizations.

The deployment of Next Generation 911 presents numerous opportunities for both public safety and homeland security, the notice said. Among them, are flexibility and the ability to provide more detailed information to first responders.

For example, with Next Generation 911, a vehicle's electronic collision notification system could automatically call for help while relaying information about its location and severity of the crash. The system also could route calls to the most appropriate resources. If the caller were deaf, the call might be routed not to the closest center but to one fluent in American Sign Language. Furthermore, calls would be taken from any location, which FCC said would be useful during disasters and high call volume situations.