U.S. regulators say as many as 10,000 lives could be saved every year if 911 call response times were reduced by just one minute.
Especially during natural disasters, like the ongoing wildfires in Maui, the reliability of emergency communications can mean the difference between life and death. But Brian Fontes, CEO of the National Emergency Number Association, tells KNX News that some 911 centers are still struggling to modernize their infrastructure.
“A lot of these civic leaders, state leaders, federal leaders are not aware of the state of 911,” he said. “Equally important, and in some cases probably more important, is the availability of funding to fund the transition to Next Generation 911.”
Next Generation 911 (NG911) is a digital system that’s in the process of replacing analog 911 communications. The current system, which has been in place for decades, isn’t designed to handle calls and data from wireless phones, which currently account for 80% to 85% of 911 calls, Fontes says.
NG911 is able to process communications from any internet-enabled device, including via text, photos, or video. It also allows calls to be transferred or rerouted from one 911 center to another much more quickly, without any loss of the associated data.
Last week, power and cell service outages shut down 911 services in Maui during the wildfires. Fontes said NG911 capabilities would allow 911 centers in Maui to more quickly reroute calls to other parts of the Hawaiian islands as soon as cell service returned.
“Now, because Hawaii is not Next Generation 911 in a full-scale effort, there would have to be some coordination between the centers in Maui and also possibly the centers in Oahu,” he said.
But NG911 isn’t available in about half the country, largely due to a lack of funding, Fontes says.
“Some states like California have been able to implement the full Next Generation 911 service, and other states simply will not have the funds available to do that,” he said.
The House of Representatives is currently considering a bill to provide nearly $15 billion in funding for a national transition to NG911. A similar bill passed the House in 2022, but died in the Senate.
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