Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Next Generation 911
Next Generation 911 (abbreviated as NG911) is an initiative aimed at updating the 911 service infrastructure in the United States and Canada to improve public emergency communications services. NG911 requires carriers to implement emergency text messaging services (also known as "text-to-911") through which users can send messages, images, video, and location data to the 911 call center (referred to as a public safety answering point, or PSAP). The initiative also outlines future evolutions of emergency communications and data transfer. NG911 infrastructure is intended to replace the current generation Enhanced 911 infrastructure over time. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) first identified the need for NG911 in 2000, with development starting in 2003. Since 2006, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) in the United States and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in Canada have been leading their respective initiatives, which include research and development projects aimed at advancing NG911. On January 24, 2013, the CRTC announced the first step toward a Canadian implementation of NG911 and, in March 2016, began a consultation with the public to discuss what services should be offered, who will play a role in offering these services and how these services should be paid for.
In 2019 California passed SB 96 increasing fees on California telephone lines to fund deployment of Next Generation 911, which the state began to collect on all phone bills. In 2025, after spending $450 million, all work was scrapped and California planned to start from scratch.
Planning for NG911 started in 2000 and was published in NENA's Future Path Plan in 2001. NENA's NG911 Project began in 2003 and continues to an ultimate goal of establishing national NG911 architecture and operations standards, and implementation plans to accomplish advanced 911 systems and services. Public safety communications experts recognized that the nation's current 911 system was not capable of handling the text, data, images and video that are increasingly common in personal communications. The stated goal of a related USDOT project is: "To enable the general public to make a 911 “call” (any real-time communication – voice, text, or video) from any wired, wireless, or IP-based device, and allow the emergency services community to take advantage of advanced call delivery and other functions through new internetworking technologies based on open standards." The project is aimed at supporting establishment of a national architecture for an NG911 system that would meet these goals, and to create a transition plan for NG911.
The "Proof of Concept" phase of the DOT project, using the architecture designed by NENA, was completed in 2008, and a report was issued on the results of a proof of concept demonstration conducted over the course of that year. That report has served as a basic blueprint for planning and implementation of these capabilities. Actual implementation of these capabilities is expected to take several years, and will require changes to existing communications infrastructure, as well as changes to the way PSAPs operate.
In 2000, Palm Beach County, Florida implemented the first ESInet in the US. AT&T connecting multiple PSAPs utilizing the SIP protocol. In 2012, the State of Washington completed the first Statewide ESInet implementation in the US.
In 2015 the FCC initiated a nationwide task force. The FCC Task Force on Optimal Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Architecture (Task Force or TFOPA) has been directed to study and report findings and recommendations on structure and architecture in order to determine whether additional consolidation of PSAP infrastructure and architecture improvements would promote greater efficiency of operations, safety of life, and cost containment, while retaining needed integration with local first responder dispatch and support.
The NG911 vision relies on 911 specific application functionality on an Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) to deliver voice, video, text and data "calls" to the PSAP. The protocol used for delivering these "calls" will be the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), or IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS, which incorporates SIP). The functional and interface standards developed by NENA describe general SIP and IMS-based architectures that allow responsible 911 Authorities flexibility in developing an infrastructure to support the envisioned features of NG911.
The 911 Improvement Act of 2008 requires IP-enabled voice service providers to provide 911 service, allows state and tribal fees to pay for such services, and directs the Federal Communications Commission to gather information to facilitate these services. The Act also provides for grants to public agencies, and requires the 911 Implementation Coordination Office to develop a national plan for migrating to a national IP-enabled emergency network.
Hub AI
Next Generation 911 AI simulator
(@Next Generation 911_simulator)
Next Generation 911
Next Generation 911 (abbreviated as NG911) is an initiative aimed at updating the 911 service infrastructure in the United States and Canada to improve public emergency communications services. NG911 requires carriers to implement emergency text messaging services (also known as "text-to-911") through which users can send messages, images, video, and location data to the 911 call center (referred to as a public safety answering point, or PSAP). The initiative also outlines future evolutions of emergency communications and data transfer. NG911 infrastructure is intended to replace the current generation Enhanced 911 infrastructure over time. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) first identified the need for NG911 in 2000, with development starting in 2003. Since 2006, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) in the United States and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in Canada have been leading their respective initiatives, which include research and development projects aimed at advancing NG911. On January 24, 2013, the CRTC announced the first step toward a Canadian implementation of NG911 and, in March 2016, began a consultation with the public to discuss what services should be offered, who will play a role in offering these services and how these services should be paid for.
In 2019 California passed SB 96 increasing fees on California telephone lines to fund deployment of Next Generation 911, which the state began to collect on all phone bills. In 2025, after spending $450 million, all work was scrapped and California planned to start from scratch.
Planning for NG911 started in 2000 and was published in NENA's Future Path Plan in 2001. NENA's NG911 Project began in 2003 and continues to an ultimate goal of establishing national NG911 architecture and operations standards, and implementation plans to accomplish advanced 911 systems and services. Public safety communications experts recognized that the nation's current 911 system was not capable of handling the text, data, images and video that are increasingly common in personal communications. The stated goal of a related USDOT project is: "To enable the general public to make a 911 “call” (any real-time communication – voice, text, or video) from any wired, wireless, or IP-based device, and allow the emergency services community to take advantage of advanced call delivery and other functions through new internetworking technologies based on open standards." The project is aimed at supporting establishment of a national architecture for an NG911 system that would meet these goals, and to create a transition plan for NG911.
The "Proof of Concept" phase of the DOT project, using the architecture designed by NENA, was completed in 2008, and a report was issued on the results of a proof of concept demonstration conducted over the course of that year. That report has served as a basic blueprint for planning and implementation of these capabilities. Actual implementation of these capabilities is expected to take several years, and will require changes to existing communications infrastructure, as well as changes to the way PSAPs operate.
In 2000, Palm Beach County, Florida implemented the first ESInet in the US. AT&T connecting multiple PSAPs utilizing the SIP protocol. In 2012, the State of Washington completed the first Statewide ESInet implementation in the US.
In 2015 the FCC initiated a nationwide task force. The FCC Task Force on Optimal Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Architecture (Task Force or TFOPA) has been directed to study and report findings and recommendations on structure and architecture in order to determine whether additional consolidation of PSAP infrastructure and architecture improvements would promote greater efficiency of operations, safety of life, and cost containment, while retaining needed integration with local first responder dispatch and support.
The NG911 vision relies on 911 specific application functionality on an Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) to deliver voice, video, text and data "calls" to the PSAP. The protocol used for delivering these "calls" will be the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), or IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS, which incorporates SIP). The functional and interface standards developed by NENA describe general SIP and IMS-based architectures that allow responsible 911 Authorities flexibility in developing an infrastructure to support the envisioned features of NG911.
The 911 Improvement Act of 2008 requires IP-enabled voice service providers to provide 911 service, allows state and tribal fees to pay for such services, and directs the Federal Communications Commission to gather information to facilitate these services. The Act also provides for grants to public agencies, and requires the 911 Implementation Coordination Office to develop a national plan for migrating to a national IP-enabled emergency network.