1. Meeting the Challenges
APCO, International
Meeting the Challenges
Public Safety Communications is clearly a full partner in the effort to resolve every emergency…we are truly, the First, First Responders!
Greetings and Thanks You – It is always a honor to be among the finest folks in public safety – those that take the calls for help and turn almost all of them into a rightful resolution.

2. APCO Faces the Challenges…
Despite the overwhelming public trust and support for Services across the Nation, we face challenges everyday to our system integrity, operational stability and funding sources while being assigned new tasks, often without consideration of the impact on daily operations.
Public Safety Communication Centers today are charged with being ever ready to move from what we call routine to the absurd – amidst disasters of all types – the public expects every call to be answered and every call to have a happy and prompt ending…
Our customer agencies continue to expand their activities and while in many instances the growth is good – it often lacks appreciation of the impact upon the PS Comm Ctr.
The assumption that already stressed systems can do more without failure is dangerous and puts the most critical link in every operation – communications – at true risk.
Many Centers are still without diverse and redundant routing of trunks, secondary lines and support systems; even if survivability is possible, the sustainability of services had to be considered and quite frankly, re-defined during the disaster.
Funding of systems finds its history in a time when caller ID and call forwarding were options – when the funding formulae were first considered , there was not a wireless call issue nor Voice over IP, or satellite phones or a challenge summed up by any device, anywhere, anytime…..; nor was there the need to share event specific information in real time through the exchange of data packets, the relationship between the center and its Local Exchange Carrier has changed also – Lies, CLECs, LECs etc now dot the landscape.
APCO sees these challenges and on your behalf takes action to inform, persuade, clarify, debate and even argue that the role of public safety communications in such areas is not fully understood, supported and sadly even listened too….
We accept this less than accurate assessment of how it really works -

3. Challenge : Citizen Access to Timely, Accurate Information
“Be Ready”
Lack of accurate and timely information

4. Timely, Accurate Information
Public Safety Communications Center as an information source
Some have used for such inquiries
Let us look at some of these early observations --

5. Timely, Accurate Information
Demands by the public for such information
Early minutes of the chaos
Let us look at some of these early observations --

6. Timely, Accurate Information
“Stock” emergency messages
“reverse 9-1-1”
Let us look at some of these early observations --

7. Survivability and Sustainability
Public Safety Communications must first survive the incident
Redundant and diverse routing
TSP
Let us look at some of these early observations --

8. Staffing Amidst Disaster
Adequate staffing levels
Voluntarily arrive for duty
“Lock down”
Let us look at some of these early observations --

9. Staff Readiness and Family Issues
APCO Homeland Security Symposium Series
Safety and continued security
Let us look at some of these early observations --

10. Emergency Planning and Operations
Mutual aid
Customer expectations
Radio infrastructure
Let us look at some of these early observations --

11. Data Transfer Capacity
Central Station Alarm Companies
Telematic Service Call Centers
CAD Service Providers
Let us look at some of these early observations --

12. Challenges to New Technologies
The citizen’s access:
Expanded duty
Revenue base
Technical standards
Let us look at some of these early observations --

13. APCO leads Public Safety
The leadership role of APCO
Public Safety Communications role
Let us look at some of these early observations --

14. For more information, contact:
APCO Leads …
APCO will always work with interested parties to enhance the level of service provided by any of the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) and/or Public Safety Communication Centers across the United States and beyond…
For more information, contact:
9-1-1 Services and Communication Center Operations Office of APCO, International
Daytona Beach, FL.