Roadmap sets course for achieving a dispatchable location for 9-1-1

Alexandria, VA – Today, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the roadmap it developed with NENA and the four major wireless carriers that will lead to substantial improvements in wireless 9-1-1 location accuracy, including for calls made from indoors.  The roadmap was developed in response to an FCC invitation for alternatives to improve location accuracy.

In its comments, APCO explained how the roadmap provides a comprehensive strategy that will yield far greater benefits than what could be achieved under the FCC’s proposal alone.  For example, APCO described how “the roadmap benchmarks represent a qualitative improvement in indoor location accuracy by targeting dispatchable location” – meaning the civic address plus the floor, suite, apartment number or other information needed to find the caller.  APCO also highlighted the new thinking reflected by the roadmap’s creation of a technology-neutral test bed to assess accuracy in realistic environments, aggressive performance benchmarks, and live 9-1-1 call data to “offer a new level of transparency to public safety.”

APCO’s comments can be viewed here, the location accuracy roadmap can be viewed here and a fact sheet describing its key elements can be viewed here.

APCO International® (www.apcointl.org)
APCO International is the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole.