AWS for NG911: Achieving Greater Resiliency for 911 Services in the Cloud
Posted in All, NGA911 on Jan 16, 2023
Today, many public safety organizations are adopting cloud-based solutions to deliver more reliable 9-1-1 services and strengthen emergency response resiliency during unprecedented situations. By leveraging the power of the cloud with revolutionary systems like NG9-1-1, public safety agencies can improve the speed and accuracy of emergency response across the nation.
But how does one go about harnessing this power? The answer is Amazon Web Services (AWS), a powerful cloud computing platform designed specifically for 9-1-1 agencies looking to take advantage of cloud-based solutions.
In this blog post from trusted our NG9-1-1 providers at NGA, we'll explore:
- What AWS is
- What the Next Generation 9-1-1 system is
- Why scalability matters for 9-1-1
- Ways AWS can help improve 9-1-1 resiliency
Table of Contents:
- What is AWS?
- What is NG9-1-1?
- Why Use AWS for NG9-1-1?
- Understanding Why Scalability Matters for 9-1-1 Technology
- 3 Ways AWS Can Help Improve 9-1-1 Resiliency
- 1. AWS Availability Zones & Regional Resiliency
- 2. Security & Compliance
- 3. Cost Savings & Scalability
- Conclusion
People Also Ask:
What exactly does AWS do?
With AWS, your infrastructure is handled from top to bottom—starting at the hypervisor level. You are accountable for managing the guest operating system, MySQL engine, and related data storage.
What does AWS stand for?
AWS stands for Amazon Web Services. AWS is a platform that provides over 200 featured services from data centers located across the globe. Amazon Web Services is also the world's most comprehensive cloud-based fully online platform, providing cost-effective and scalable cloud computing solutions.
What Is AWS? Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a comprehensive cloud computing platform.
AWS provides businesses and other organizations, like Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) and emergency call centers, access to a wide range of services, including:
- Storage
- Networking
- Database Management
- Analytics
- Machine learning tools
With AWS, many organizations can quickly and easily deploy applications in the cloud without worrying about infrastructure or hardware setup.
What is NG9-1-1? NG9-1-1 stands for Next-Generation 9-1-1, and it refers to a system that uses Internet Protocol (IP) and cloud-based networks to deliver fast, accurate, and effective 9-1-1 services.
This telecommunications system gives PSAPs and other first responders the technology needed to receive digital information from citizens in need, such as real-time:
- Text Messages
- Photos
- Videos
- Voice Messages
- Voice-to-Text Messages
Why Use AWS for NG9-1-1? AWS offers a variety of tools that can help public safety organizations build a reliable and secure infrastructure for their NG9-1-1 systems. The platform offers advanced security measures such as rest and transit encryption along with firewalls that enable access only from approved IP addresses or ranges. AWS also includes solutions to ensure systems are up and running during peak usage and disaster recovery scenarios.
Amazon Web Services provides analytics tools that enable public safety professionals to gain insight into their 9-1-1 operations for more informed decision-making and how best to prioritize resources. AWS’s scalability options allow 9-1-1 organizations to supply additional capacity when needed without downtime or service disruption.
Understanding Why Scalability Matters for 9-1-1 Technology As the number of callers and data users continues to increase, scalability is essential when evaluating any technology solution. When it comes to NG9-1-1, scalability—the ability of a system to handle a growing amount of work—is even more critical given the sensitivity of emergency service-related data.
Scalability is crucial to ensure that 9-1-1 systems can withstand high call volumes without interruption or disruption. The right solution should provide a reliable platform that allows you to scale up or down as needed without compromising performance or reliability.
3 Ways AWS Can Help Improve 9-1-1 Resiliency AWS for NG9-1-1 can provide invaluable support for 9-1-1 resiliency. AWS does not just support emergency response but also offers various cloud-based solutions that are essential to help ensure 9-1-1 services remain reliable during times of emergency.
The three most notable ways include:
- AWS Availability Zones & Regional Resiliency
AWS eliminates single points of failure by providing multiple Availability Zones within each Region. Each Availability Zone is designed as an isolated data center, so if one zone becomes unavailable, another can instantly pick up the load.
This means that 9-1-1 call centers will have increased reliability and uptime, even during emergencies or natural disasters. In addition, AWS Regions are connected through low-latency private links, meaning PSAPs and emergency call centers won’t have to worry about service disruption due to latency or bandwidth issues.
- Security & Compliance
With AWS CloudTrail logging capability, PSAPs will have comprehensive visibility into user activity to quickly and easily detect malicious or unauthorized actions. AWS offers an extensive range of ISO-, PCI-, HIPAA-, SOC 1/2/3-, and FedRAMP-certified services that provide end-to-end protection for 9-1-1 infrastructure data and applications.
This means that confidential 9-1-1 data remains secure and compliant with all relevant regulations, giving emergency response professionals peace of mind that their 9-1-1 services are safe.
- Cost Savings & Scalability
Hosting on the cloud also means cost savings as compared to traditional on-premise systems—and when it comes to scalability, there’s no comparison. With cloud computing solutions such as AWS EC2 instances, 9-1-1 agencies can quickly scale up or down depending on their current needs while keeping costs down—without sacrificing performance or reliability.
And with many pay-as-you-go pricing models, organizations only pay for what they use—meaning no more unnecessary investments in resources!
Conclusion As public safety organizations turn to cloud technologies to provide more reliable NG9-1-1 services, Amazon Web Services stands out as a top option thanks to its unmatched features, such as robust security measures, cost savings opportunities, and scalable infrastructure capabilities.
Harnessing the power of AWS can help ensure greater resiliency for 9-1-1 services nationwide while keeping costs under control.
Would you like to know more about AWS for NG9-1-1?