Statewide mandate advised for upgrade of 911 systems

FORREST CITY -- Updates to emergency communication centers to allow for 911 texting will likely limit information-sharing among jurisdictions unless Arkansas requires statewide compliance, the chairman of the state's Emergency Telecommunications Service Board said Wednesday.

Gary Gray, who also is the 911 operations manager in Little Rock, testified during the Legislative Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Local 911 Systems meeting at East Arkansas Community College.

The committee was formed in 2013 and given the job of funding, updating and monitoring county and city emergency communication systems.

Gray said if agencies upgrade to Next Generation 911, a wireless telephone service that allows dispatchers to receive emergency communications by text message, information such as video and photographs may not be transferable to neighboring jurisdictions.

Wireless carriers said communication centers could begin using the new texting service on May 15, but there is no state-mandated compliance. Gray said several states, including neighboring Tennessee, have statewide mandates in place for joining Next Generation 911.

So far, no communication center in Arkansas has added the service, Gray said. However, officials in several Arkansas towns have already indicated that they are interested in Next Generation 911.

Gray called the issue "critical," saying that 35.2 percent of Arkansans do not have landline telephones and use only cellular phones -- the highest percentage in the United States.

Eighty percent of 911 calls in Arkansas are made by cellphones, he added.

"If we wanted to transfer [911 text] files from North Little Rock to Little Rock, we're not sure it would work," he told committee members. "We need to ensure all 911 centers have the exact same technology. We need to tell them not to proceed with Next now. If we don't, there will be some 911 calls that will fail."

Gray said cities and counties can choose from multiple options when implementing Next Generation 911. If two emergency centers try to communicate but are not using the same options, they cannot exchange texting information, Gray said.

"These are very hard decisions to be made," he said.

Shelby Johnson, the director of the state's Geographic Information Office -- which oversees the updating of mapping systems used by 911 centers -- said the Next Generation 911 system also is very "data dependent" and noted that constant upgrades of roads and other landmarks would be needed.

State Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, who is chairman of the legislative 911 committee, said she wanted the committee to develop solutions quickly.

"Instead of talking about all the shortcomings, let's talk about what we're going to do," she said. "We can't continue to hear what's wrong. We need to move forward. We know we have the shortcomings. Let's talk about what's suggested to get us from Point A to Point B."

After a two-hour hearing Wednesday, committee members toured communications centers at the Forrest City Police Department and the St. Francis County sheriff's office. They will meet again this morning at the Lon Mann Cotton Research Station on Arkansas 1 in Marianna.

State Desk on 07/17/2014

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