RICHMOND – The Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) is closing out the 2024 calendar year with the rollout of next-generation 911 services to its 114th local public safety answering point — the 911 Center which serves Bath County.
The Virginia 911 Services Board has been working since 2018 to convert local legacy analog 911 systems to a statewide next-generation 911 system.
The technology upgrade involves 124 local government 911 systems. The remaining 10 deployments will be completed early in calendar year 2025.
“Next-generation 911 technology is a paradigm shift taking Virginia 911 centers from the stone age to the space age in order to handle multimedia communications such as texts, photos and videos,” said Dorothy Spears-Dean, Ph.D., VDEM deputy state coordinator, 911 & Geospatial Services Bureau.
The system uses a secure emergency services Internet Protocol (IP) network to:
- Enhance routing of emergency calls
- Facilitate seamless call and data transfer
- Integrate with other public safety systems and databases
- Improve the ability of telecommunicators to receive 911 calls from mobile phones and devices, as well as receive text messages, and faster, more accurate caller location data
- Support faster network communication and call-load sharing between emergency communication centers. In mass casualty incidents or natural disasters, when the center becomes overwhelmed by calls, next-generation 911 allows for calls to be automatically transferred and processed by another available 911 center.
“Enhancing 911 technology will improve first responder response times, enhance public safety, and ultimately will save lives,” said Spears-Dean.
