Annual Update Includes 2014 Standards The National 911 Program recently released its third annual update to the report; “Next Generation 911 (NG911) Standards Identification and Review: A compilation of existing and planned standards for NG911 systems.” The 911 community has leveraged this document as a source of information during the development of NG911 system design, implementation and operations and the document was also used as the NG911 standards reference in the 2015 SAFECOM grant guidance.

The development and adoption of standards is key in the transition to Next Generation 911 (NG911) nationwide. With a number of standards development organizations (SDOs) addressing NG911 issues, understanding and tracking the evolving standards can be a daunting task. Since 2011, the National 911 Program has assisted the 911 community’s effort by compiling and sharing all of the current standards information in one complete report.

The standards document is a compendium of all of the NG911 standards, including those for products, interfaces, data, tests, performance, and operations.

“All of the information compiled in the document has been vetted by the standards development organizations whose standards are included,” said Laurie Flaherty, coordinator of the National 911 Program, which is housed in the Office of EMS within the U.S. DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The National 911 Program does not develop standards for NG911, but is committed to updating this report annually to provide the most current status of NG911 standards.

This snapshot of the current NG911 standards development process is just one of the tools the National 911 Program provides in its effort to collect and disseminate information to help the 911 community assess and plan for the transition to improved emergency communication services for the public.