“[T]here are clear benefits to consolidation,” states a new report to the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. “The sharing of resources allows for the elimination of duplicate costs, supports coordinated responses, provides greater interoperability, and ultimately leads to more effective and efficient service.”

The final report on best practices for PSAP consolidation, prepared by Working Group 1A of The Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council, was released in October. APCO member Martha Carter, Caddo Parish (La.) Communications, chaired the working group with co-chair Mike Alagna of Motorola.

To develop the recommendations, working group participants identified agencies representing the various categories of consolidation (e.g., 9-1-1 network or infrastructure only; full consolidation of 9-1-1 and dispatch, communications systems and related technology) and developed a set of interview questions. After collecting data on each of the consolidation projects, working group members analyzed each survey result according to the political, economic or service-related consolidation drivers. The group also reviewed recent reports, standards, previous recommendations and best practices developed by public safety practitioners, industry and past advisory committees.

The group found that:

• Successful consolidations require a trusted and secure governance structure, a champion to lead the project and the political leadership in place to support the effort.
• Securing agency buy-in is a big challenge. Partner agencies must overcome the fear of loss of control and shared responsibility.
• Legislation may be necessary to create a sustainable funding mechanism or codify relationships between the parties.
• The arrangement needs to be formalized with a legal agreement and defined responsibilities, expectations and dispute resolutions procedures.
• Personnel issues are difficult and troubling and require a great deal of thought at the policy level early on.
• Well-defined communications channels among stakeholders and the governing body are critical to alleviate perceived threats and problems.
• The capability of interoperating across technologies is critical to success.
• “SOPs must be developed, reviewed and vetted by operations personnel prior to consolidation to ensure they are consistent.”
• Uniform training is required.

Comm centers should be aware that although consolidation can produce long-term cost efficiencies by reducing operations and technology duplication, not all consolidations result in cost savings. Also, savings may not be realized for several years due to capital and other start-up costs.

—FYI: The full report can be found at www.fcc.gov/pshs/advisory/csric.

Author’s note: APCO offers consolidation assistance through its Member Assistance Advisory Program (MAAP) program. For more information, go to https://www.apcointl.org/resources/911-info/apco-consulting-services-overview/

About the Author

Keri Losavio is the editor of APCO’s Public Safety Communications. Contact her at [email protected].