A Florida county thinks ahead as it rolls out new 911 network.

Summary: Brevard County, Fla., is taking a leading position in the move to next-generation (NG) 911 services,which will allow citizens to send text messages, images and videos to emergency call takers when industry standards are in place. The county is replacing its aging 911 public safety communications network with an Emergency Services IP network (ESInet) from AT&T, an Internet protocol (IP)-based network for routing and delivery of 911 calls. It will be more reliable and redundant than the existing network, with no single point of failure. And because it’s IP-based, the system will be able to handle data files, such as text and images, as well as traditional voice communications — capabilities that don’t exist today for 911 services.

To ensure that the system is ready for the future, the county chose to make the network compatible with i3 standards, even before those standards are finalized. The i3 standards, defined by the National Emergency Number Association, dictate the basis for NG 911 and will ensure that 911 systems across the country will be able to accept text messages, photos, video and more. Incorporating i3 standards now will allow the network to evolve faster as standards are ratified.

“The technology is growing and changing so quickly,” said Deborah Sands, 911 Coordinator for Brevard County. “As the technology develops and the ability to do things like texting 911 occurs, we will be ready to accept it and handle it properly.”