Ebensburg, Pa – July 29, 2011 Don’t miss your opportunity to provide live feedback on the new National 9-1-1 Assessment Guidelines (Guidelines) to the workgroup that developed them. Join members and staff of the National 9-1-1 Assessment Guidelines Workgroup (NAGWG) and Laurie Flaherty of USDOT in the panel discussion, “Guidelines for Statewide 9-1-1 System Assessments: Coming to a State Near You,” at the APCO International 77th Annual Conference & Expo in Philadelphia, PA on Monday, August 8 at 2:30pm in Room 109AB.

Not only will attendees learn about the process and progress of this effort to advance 9-1-1 across the country, but they will have the unique opportunity to share their thoughts, first impressions and concerns with the panel. The panel presentation coincides with the release of the Guidelines for public comment. The feedback received at the session will be considered by NAGWG before the final Guidelines are released for use in statewide 9-1-1 system assessments. Attendees will also learn how to submit additional feedback.

Sara Lowry, panel moderator, and project staff member expressed how she is looking forward to receiving first-hand feedback from the 9-1-1 community, “This NAGWG group has worked extremely hard over the past year to develop these Guidelines and we want to get a lot of feedback from the 9-1-1 community at the APCO Conference.”

While the 9-1-1 industry has made significant progress in the advancement of technology for the betterment of 9-1-1 across the country, there is no comprehensive benchmark for State 9-1-1 authorities to measure the progress and status of a state’s 9-1-1 system. It is the NAGWG’s mission to establish that benchmark.

The Guidelines are the result of a project of The 9-1-1 Resource Center, sponsored by the United States Department of Transportation, National 911 Program to develop consensus-based universal guidelines to serve as the basis for a 9-1-1 statewide program assessment process.

The 9-1-1 Resource Center is celebrating its first year of providing free technical assistance and an online information clearinghouse to the 9-1-1 community. Visit 9-1-1 Resource Center staff at Booth 302 in the APCO Conference Exhibit Hall for demonstrations of the features that are available, free of charge, to the 9-1-1 community through the 9-1-1 Resource Center. Copies of the recently released Guidelines will be available for review at the booth.

The 911 Resource Center serves the 9-1-1 community through three key initiatives, an information clearinghouse, a technical and operational assistance center for state and local 9-1-1 authorities and a national 9-1-1 profile database for compiling information that can be used to measure and report on the progress of 9-1-1. The 911 Resource Center, produced in partnership with 911.gov, is operated by L.R. Kimball, a CDI Company under cooperative agreement DTNH22-08-H-00224 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and supported by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA).

L. R. Kimball is among the nation’s leading professional service companies offering its clients architectural and structural design services, civil and environmental engineering expertise, communications technology solutions and consulting. L.R. Kimball is a CDI Company (NYSE:CDI), a leading provider of engineering and information technology outsourcing solutions and professional staffing. Visit www.lrkimball.com.

NENA serves the public safety community as the only professional organization solely focused on 9-1-1 policy, technology, operations, and education issues. With more than 7,000 members in 48 chapters across the United States and around the globe, NENA promotes the implementation and awareness of 9-1-1 and international three-digit emergency communications systems. Find out more at www.nena.org.