WASHINGTON — The Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions (ATIS) Network Reliability Steering Committee (NRSC), in conjunction with the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA), and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) today announced the first deliverable from a joint initiative to improve Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) notification in the event of a service outage. Service Providers: Outage Reporting Structure and Potential Types of 9-1-1 Outages provides recommendations for standardized content and delivery which will help reduce confusion associated with notifications independent of the service provider type. The report will be available in early June.
“This resource presents consensus-driven expert insight to help service providers and Public Safety organizations communicate critical information in the rare event that an outage occurs,” said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. “The template and definitions contained within are the product of a working group that includes representation from carriers, third party providers, 9-1-1 industry associations, and the PSAP community.”
“APCO is pleased to have collaborated with industry representatives and colleagues in public safety to achieve a consensus-based resource for wireless service outage notifications,” said APCO Executive Director and CEO, Derek Poarch. “This effort will standardize the content and presentation of outage reports in a manner that will greatly benefit PSAPs. Public safety telecommunicators will receive timely, easily understood, and actionable information to assist them with carrying out their life-saving missions.”
“NASNA is pleased to have had the opportunity to work alongside APCO, NENA and the members of the ATIS Network Reliability Steering Committee to help improve the outage notification process,” said NASNA Executive Director Evelyn Bailey. “The new process standardizes the format of outage notifications and gives 9-1-1 authorities and PSAPs clear information so that they know what, if anything, they need to do.”
“NENA is enthused at these significant improvements to the wireless service outage notification process and at the collaborative spirit of the public safety and industry organizations involved,” said NENA CEO Brian Fontes. “This effort gives PSAPs and telecommunicators access to clear, standardized information on service outages; a result that will undoubtedly save lives and improve 9-1-1.”
The document is specifically intended to guide providers of all types that report service impacting outages to the PSAP community. In addition, this effort is intended to educate the public safety community on the types of outages that may occur and the information that may be available from the provider. The goal was to create a template to deliver the necessary information that is consistent in nature to ease consumption by the PSAP while providing information that is pertinent and actionable.
A separate work effort will include Best Practices for collecting, managing, and utilizing PSAP and carrier contact information to ensure timely delivery of outage-related information.
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About ATIS
As a leading technology and solutions development organization, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) brings together the top global ICT companies to advance the industry’s business priorities. ATIS’ 150 member companies are currently working to address 5G, cyber security, robocall mitigation, IoT, artificial intelligence-enabled networks, the all-IP transition, network functions virtualization, smart cities, emergency services, network evolution, quality of service, billing support, operations, and much more. These priorities follow a fast-track development lifecycle – from design and innovation through standards, specifications, requirements, business use cases, software toolkits, open source solutions, and interoperability testing.
ATIS is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a founding Partner of the oneM2M global initiative, a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). For more information, visit www.atis.org.
About APCO International®
APCO International® (https://www.apcointl.org) is the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.
About NASNA
The National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) represents state 911 programs in the field of emergency communications. NASNA believes that state 911 leaders’ expertise can assist industry associations, policymakers, the private sector, and emergency communications professionals at all levels of government as they address complex issues surrounding the evolution of emergency communications.
About NENA: The 9-1-1 Association
The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) improves 9-1-1 through research, standards development, training, education, outreach, and advocacy. Our vision is a public made safer and more secure through universally-available state-of-the-art 9-1-1 systems and better-trained 9-1-1 professionals. Learn more at nena.org.
