Celebrating 50 Years of 9-1-1
Today the 9-1-1 industry celebrates a very important day in history. On February 16, 1968, Senator Rankin Fite made the first 9-1-1 call in the United States in Haleyville, Alabama. Several years later, 9-1-1 became the nationally recognized number for accessing emergency services and today hundreds of millions of 9-1-1 calls are made across the country each year. Charlotte County alone, receives over 85,000 9-1-1 calls.
Over the past 50 years, significant strides have been made to improve 9-1-1 service but keeping up with the rapidly changing technology can be quite a struggle in the public sector. Members of the 9-1-1 industry are continuously working towards development of 9-1-1 technology and standards that will meet the needs of the system users. Keeping up with the technology, is not the only challenge. One of the biggest challenges in bringing these technologies to the table is funding. Industry representatives are working hard to bring awareness to the new technologies and the challenges that are being faced every day regarding 9-1-1.
This week, 9-1-1 industry representatives are attending an annual event “9-1-1 Goes to Washington” This event is designed to educate attendees about the legislative and regulatory issues surrounding 9-1-1 and allow the attendees opportunities to share their knowledge and experiences with congressional leaders in an effort to advancing the future of 9-1-1.
For more information regarding on the history of 9-1-1 and modernizing what is currently in place, click on the hyperlinks.