Legacy technology for Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) is struggling to keep pace with the evolving needs of today’s communities, creating challenges that could affect the speed and accuracy of emergency responses. When seconds make all the difference, these delays can put lives at risk.
Emergencies are becoming more complex, requiring PSAPs to simultaneously manage multiple incidents, coordinate across diverse regions, and handle a growing number of communication channels. Yet, outdated technology with limited interoperability and frequent system downtime hinders their ability to respond effectively when it matters most.
To protect lives and meet rising demands, it’s essential for PSAPs to adopt solutions that empower responders to act quickly, precisely, and collaboratively. By modernizing their technology, teams can ensure they’re ready to face the challenges of an increasingly connected and dynamic world.
Each year, PSAPs respond to approximately 240 million 911 calls across the U.S. These are more than just numbers; they’re lives in need, moments of urgency, and communities relying on fast, dependable support. Modernizing systems to meet this demand isn’t just important, it’s essential. Lives depend on it.
Next Generation 911 outshines legacy systems
Legacy systems, rooted in analog telephony, have long been the backbone of emergency response but fall short in meeting today’s demands. Limited location accuracy and the inability to process non-voice communication hinder their effectiveness in our increasingly connected world. NG911 changes the game completely. By utilizing advanced IP-based communication, NG911 empowers public safety teams to respond faster, smarter, and with unparalleled accuracy.
Challenges of Outdated 911 Systems
Outdated 911 systems face challenges that hinder their ability to provide efficient and effective emergency services. From technological limitations to communication bottlenecks, these legacy systems struggle to meet the demands of modern public safety, often placing lives at unnecessary risk.
- Vulnerability to cyber threats
Older 911 call centers, built on outdated analog technology, are increasingly susceptible to sophisticated cyber attacks. These vulnerabilities compromise the safety and reliability of emergency communications, putting critical response efforts at risk. - Struggles with increased call volumes
Legacy systems cannot efficiently manage the growing number of emergency calls. This creates bottlenecks that slow emergency response times and hinder the delivery of life-saving services. - Recurring downtime and high maintenance costs
Frequent outages and costly maintenance plague traditional 911 systems, straining resources and reducing system reliability when every second counts. - Limited integration of vital systems
Traditional systems often fail to seamlessly integrate key functions like CAD, GIS, VoIP, and multimedia messaging. This limits situational awareness and prevents dispatchers from providing precise, real-time information to first responders. - Staffing shortages and operational challenges
A 2024 study found that 82% of PSAPs face staffing shortages due to job stress, long hours, and low pay. These challenges strain human resources and highlight the urgent need for technology to reduce administrative burdens through automation and intelligent assistance.
These challenges are pushing legacy 911 systems to their breaking point. Upgrading to NG911 is not merely a technological enhancement; it’s a vital step toward building safer communities. NG911 offers faster, smarter, and more resilient emergency response solutions, ensuring that every call for help is met with efficient and effective support.
Transforming Emergency Response with Technology
Next Gen 911 (NG911) modernizes emergency communications by replacing legacy analog systems with digital, IP-based networks. Modern emergency response solutions seamlessly combine voice, text, images, and video into one cohesive platform, empowering dispatchers and responders with real-time, actionable insights. By integrating CAD and GIS data with communication channels, it enhances situational awareness and enables faster, more precise responses. NG911’s resilience adds another critical layer of support, allowing PSAPs to manage vast amounts of data with ease, resulting in greater accuracy and improved efficiency.
Upgrading to NG911 solutions empowers PSAPs to process emergency calls with greater speed and precision, ensuring first responders arrive at critical situations more quickly. PSAPs are also able to:
- Seamlessly support text, photos, and video, to ensure critical details are delivered in real time, fostering clarity, faster decision-making, and stronger connections when it matters most.
- Adhere to National Emergency Number Association (NENA) standards, like the 15-second call answering benchmark, to ensure faster responses during critical moments when every second counts. Prioritizing compliance not only safeguards against state fines and penalties but, more importantly, enhances public safety and builds trust with the communities you serve.
- Enhanced call routing and real-time location tracking are transforming how PSAPs respond to emergencies. With geospatial and location-based routing, calls are efficiently directed to the right PSAP while providing precise, real-time caller locations. This ensures faster dispatch, more accurate emergency responses, leading to better outcomes.
- Handle evolving cyber threats with precision and care, with seamless cybersecurity protection. Allowing agencies to remain secure and stay focused on safeguarding communities
- Manage critical networks with IP-based infrastructure. With centralized control; monitor, configure, and optimize network resources with unmatched ease. This flexibility strengthens network reliability and ensures quick, agile responses during emergencies, providing the resilience needed to save lives faster.
Every Call Matters: How Wyoming Highway Patrol Leveraged Technology to Save Lives
When the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) faced a pivotal challenge during an unexpected bomb threat, it became clear that their existing communication systems needed a major upgrade. Recognizing the critical role of fast and reliable communication in public safety, WHP’s team sought innovative solutions to better serve Wyoming’s vast and diverse communities.
By partnering with C1 and implementing Carbyne’s APEX cloud-native emergency contact system, WHP embraced cutting-edge technology. Features like real-time language translation and advanced geolocation now allow dispatchers to overcome language barriers, pinpoint precise locations—even in remote areas—and provide more efficient, life-saving support.
“Fast and reliable communication is the backbone of public safety,” said Chuck Trimble, Dispatch Program Manager at WHP. “With AI-powered translation tools, we’ll be able to better serve our diverse communities and respond quickly in situations where every second counts.”
Learn how technology and innovation are transforming public safety.
Harnessing AI to Elevate Emergency Response
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing emergency response by making critical tasks more precise, efficient, and manageable. By intelligently analyzing vast amounts of data, automating routine workflows, and improving decision-making, AI empowers emergency teams to act swiftly and accurately under pressure.
AI-driven tools like real-time translation, call triaging, and seamless media integration allow telecommunicators to handle calls with exceptional clarity—even during high-demand situations. These innovations ensure that critical information is delivered accurately and promptly, transforming how emergencies are managed.
Behind the scenes, AI systems process immense volumes of data from sources like video feeds, IoT devices, and sensors. This capability enables dispatchers and responders to access actionable insights in real time, ensuring they are equipped with the timely and accurate information they need to act decisively.
By streamlining workflows, AI reduces dispatcher workloads, helping to alleviate stress and prevent burnout in one of the most high-pressure jobs. For example, automated processes significantly decrease the likelihood of errors, ensuring that the right information reaches the right people at the right time—even in life-or-death moments.
Additionally, AI solutions prioritize cybersecurity, using advanced measures to secure sensitive information, even in public cloud environments. These systems are designed with accuracy and security in mind, safeguarding the trust placed in them by both responders and the communities they serve.
AI isn’t just about improving technology; it’s about supporting the people who dedicate their lives to keeping others safe. By delivering tools that enhance precision, reduce stress, and foster trust, AI enables emergency responders and public safety officials to focus on what matters most: saving lives and protecting communities.
Overcoming Barriers: Upgrade PSAP to Next Gen
Modernizing PSAPs requires shifting to digital technology, streamlining processes and ensuring change management programs.
- Platforms for growing with scale
Modern emergency response demands solutions that grow with the community. NG911 compatible platforms offer the scalability needed to adapt effortlessly to rising call volumes and evolving technologies, ensuring first responders are always equipped to meet demand. Protecting sensitive data is critical in today’s connected world. Advanced cybersecurity measures, provide the robust defenses public safety systems need to maintain compliance and safeguard against evolving threats. Technology built for today’s emergency response goes beyond meeting current demands; it paves the way for future-ready solutions that support and strengthen communities. - AI for supporting operations
What sets AI apart is its ability to deliver remarkable operational efficiency at a cost comparable to hiring part-time staff. By automating these repetitive processes, dispatchers can devote their attention to managing complex emergencies, ensuring faster and more focused responses when it truly matters. With AI, teams can work more efficiently, saving valuable time and resources while improving the quality of service for their communities. - Advisory services for designing the blueprint
Tailored advisory services provide critical evaluations and strategic guidance to uncover opportunities within existing systems. By crafting forward-thinking plans designed to integrate future technologies and delivering customized solutions, these services meet the unique demands of public safety agencies. Through expert assessments, they identify vulnerabilities, strengthen defenses against cyber threats, and ensure operations align with essential APCO and NENA compliance standards. - Professional services for integrating the components
Modernizing 911 call handling systems is about more than just deploying new technologies; it’s about creating solutions that empower emergency responders and ensure public safety. By seamlessly integrating CAD, GIS, and VoIP technologies, professional services make the transition from legacy systems not only smoother but also more effective. These services prioritize preserving critical historical data and implementing human-centered change management strategies to support operational shifts. It’s a collaborative, purpose-driven approach designed to strengthen emergency response capabilities while keeping people at the heart of every decision. - Managed services for driving operational excellence
Managed services play a critical role in ensuring operational excellence for public safety teams. By providing 24/7 proactive monitoring, robust cybersecurity management, comprehensive disaster recovery planning, and tailored training programs, these services are designed to support the unique and demanding needs of emergency response operations. With experts dedicated to safeguarding your critical 911 infrastructure, you can trust that your systems remain resilient and reliable, empowering you to focus on protecting lives and serving your community.
Conclusion
Modernizing emergency response infrastructure through AI-powered NG911 solutions significantly enhances response speed, accuracy, and reliability.
C1, AI-powered 911 solutions provide fully managed NG911-compliant solutions offering:
- Integrated multimedia communications (voice, text, video, images)
- Real-time CAD and GIS mapping for pinpoint location accuracy
- Robust cybersecurity with proactive MDR to safeguard sensitive information
- Tailored advisory and professional services to streamline transitions from legacy systems to state-of-the-art infrastructure
- Managed services driving operational excellence with a dedicated public safety team with over a combined 145 years of experience.
Modernizing PSAP infrastructure through scalable, secure, digital-based technologies positions organizations to better handle emergencies today and into the future.
