Blogs

How AI Is Changing 911 Centers: From Non-Emergency Overload to Smarter Emergency Response

Jul 15, 2026

Every day, over 240 million calls are placed to 911 centers across the United States each year. But here’s a number that might surprise you: a significant portion of those calls are not true emergencies. Storm damage reports, graffiti complaints, t...
Every day, over 240 million calls are placed to 911 centers across the United States each year. But here’s a number that might surprise you: a significant portion of those calls are not true emergencies. Storm damage reports, graffiti complaints, towing inquiries, noise complaints, and general information requests flood Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), pulling trained telecommunicators away from the calls that truly require their expertise and urgency.   At the same time, Ameri...
Connected Vehicles and NG911: How Automatic Crash Data Is Saving Lives Before Anyone Dials 911

Jul 15, 2026

Picture this: a single-car accident on a rural highway late at night. The driver is unconscious. There are no witnesses. No bystanders to call 911. In a legacy emergency system, help would not arrive until someone happened to drive past the scene,...
Picture this: a single-car accident on a rural highway late at night. The driver is unconscious. There are no witnesses. No bystanders to call 911. In a legacy emergency system, help would not arrive until someone happened to drive past the scene, sometimes minutes or even hours Later.   Now imagine the same scenario with a connected vehicle. The moment of impact, the car's onboard sensors detect the crash. Within seconds, the vehicle automatically transmits data to a 911 center: the...
NG911 Resources for 2026: The Complete Guide for Public Safety Professionals

Jul 15, 2026

The transition to Next Generation 911 (NG911) is moving faster in 2026 than at any point in the history of emergency communications. The FCC's NG911 rules are driving carriers through Phase 1 SIP connections, state programs are accelerating their dep...
The transition to Next Generation 911 (NG911) is moving faster in 2026 than at any point in the history of emergency communications. The FCC's NG911 rules are driving carriers through Phase 1 SIP connections, state programs are accelerating their deployment timelines, and the industry is tackling complex challenges around GIS data quality, cybersecurity, and workforce development.   At NGA, our mission is to support public safety professionals with trusted guidance and tools for implemen...
Why 911 Dispatchers Deserve 'Protective Service' Status: The Fight to Reclassify Telecommunicators

Jul 15, 2026

When a 911 call comes in, the person on the other end of the line makes split-second decisions that can mean the difference between life and death. They talk panicking callers through CPR, guide parents through choking emergencies, coordinate multi-...
When a 911 call comes in, the person on the other end of the line makes split-second decisions that can mean the difference between life and death. They talk panicking callers through CPR, guide parents through choking emergencies, coordinate multi-agency responses to active threats, and relay critical information to officers, firefighters, and paramedics racing to the scene.   Yet according to the federal government, these professionals are classified the same way as data entry clerks...
The New FCC NG911 Rules: What PSAPs and 911 Authorities Need to Know in 2026

Jun 02, 2026

For years, the transition from legacy 911 systems to Next Generation 911 has been a goal on the horizon, something the public safety community knew was coming but lacked a clear, enforceable timeline for. That changed in 2024 when the Federal Communi...
For years, the transition from legacy 911 systems to Next Generation 911 has been a goal on the horizon, something the public safety community knew was coming but lacked a clear, enforceable timeline for. That changed in 2024 when the Federal Communications Commission  adopted its first-ever nationwide NG911 transition rules, and 2026 is the year those rules are starting to take effect.   Whether you manage a PSAP, serve as a 911 Authority, or work with an originating service provider,...
NG911 and the Telecommunicator Staffing Crisis: How Technology Is Part of the Solution

Jun 01, 2026

Every day, thousands of 911 telecommunicators across the country answer calls that range from routine to life-threatening. They are the first point of contact in an emergency, the calm voice that guides someone through the worst moments of their life...
Every day, thousands of 911 telecommunicators across the country answer calls that range from routine to life-threatening. They are the first point of contact in an emergency, the calm voice that guides someone through the worst moments of their life, and the critical link between a person in crisis and the help that is on its way. And they are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. The 2025 Pulse of 9-1-1 Report, released by Carbyne and NENA: The 9-1-1 Association, paints a clear picture...
AI Can Now Find and Exploit Vulnerabilities in Hours. Legacy 911 Systems Aren't Ready.

May 06, 2026

Anthropic just dropped one of the most important cybersecurity disclosures in recent memory, and most businesses haven't heard about it yet. Their latest AI model, Claude Mythos Preview, can find and exploit zero-day vulnerabilities (previously unkn...
Anthropic just dropped one of the most important cybersecurity disclosures in recent memory, and most businesses haven't heard about it yet. Their latest AI model, Claude Mythos Preview, can find and exploit zero-day vulnerabilities (previously unknown security flaws) in every major operating system and every major web browser. Not theoretically. Not in a lab. In real, fully patched production software. This isn't a future threat. It's happening now. What Anthropic Found In a detailed report p...
How NG911 Uses AI and Data Analytics to Improve Emergency Response

Apr 13, 2026

The transition from legacy 911 systems to Next Generation 911 (NG911) is bringing a flood of new data into Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Text messages, photos, videos, sensor data from connected devices; the volume and variety of informatio...
The transition from legacy 911 systems to Next Generation 911 (NG911) is bringing a flood of new data into Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Text messages, photos, videos, sensor data from connected devices; the volume and variety of information flowing into 911 centers is growing rapidly.   That's a tremendous opportunity. But it also creates a challenge: how do telecommunicators process all of this information quickly enough to make life-saving decisions?   This is where ar...
The Technology Behind NG911 Caller Location Data: How 911 Locates Your Phone

Mar 26, 2026

When someone dials 911 during an emergency, every second matters. First responders need to know where help is needed as quickly and accurately as possible. But how does a dispatcher actually know where a caller is located, especially when the call co...
When someone dials 911 during an emergency, every second matters. First responders need to know where help is needed as quickly and accurately as possible. But how does a dispatcher actually know where a caller is located, especially when the call comes from a mobile phone? For decades, traditional 911 systems were built around landline phones, where the caller’s address was already tied to a physical phone number. Today, however, most emergency calls come from mobile or smart devices. This shi...
How NG911 and 911 Services Work Together to Improve Emergency Response

Mar 16, 2026

When someone dials 911, every second matters. Emergency communication systems must connect people to help as quickly and accurately as possible. For decades, traditional 911 services have served as the backbone of emergency response in the United Sta...
When someone dials 911, every second matters. Emergency communication systems must connect people to help as quickly and accurately as possible. For decades, traditional 911 services have served as the backbone of emergency response in the United States. However, the way people communicate has changed dramatically. Today, smartphones, data networks, and digital communication tools play a major role in everyday life. To keep pace with these changes, public safety agencies are modernizing how eme...