Statewide NG911 Call Handling System

August 26, 2016 marked the one year anniversary of the first PSAP migration to the 911 Coordinating Council’s call handling solution. Participation in the program is voluntary and at the discretion of the PSAP or jurisdiction. The call handling solution includes AT&T and their partners, Airbus and ECaTS. The Kansas Data Access and Support Center (DASC) continues to provide GIS and web portal support. See the Statewide NG911 Value Statement below for more information on the call handling solution.

Council Statements

History

Kansas NG911 PSAP Launch (Print Version)

Status Maps

Kansas NG911 Status Map (Print Version)
Status Map/Lat Line (Print Version)

Technical & Security

Security Policy

This NG911 Security Policy reviews with each Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) the essential aspects of security that ensure that the Kansas Statewide Call Handling System is not compromised either accidentally or intentionally.

Security Audit

The Council reserves the right to audit NG911 systems and procedures on a periodic basis to ensure compliance with the security policy.  From time to time, a random security audit may be conducted to ensure the integrity of our NG911 system and compliance with the PSAP security program.

Following the security audit, a compliance report will be submitted to the PSAP and the NG911 security subcommittee.  If necessary, the NG911 Liaison will assist the LASO to remediate any areas of concern.

Vesta Agent Accounts

Vesta Account Documents

Agent Accounts for the 911 Call Handling System

ESInet

The i3 solution supports end-to-end IP connectivity; gateways are used to accommodate legacy wireline and wireless origination networks that are non-IP (NENA, 2016).”

The 911 Coordinating Council and partners are working to deliver an Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) to Kansas PSAPs.

AT&T and Kansas Collaborate to Deliver New NextGen 911 Services Statewide

AT&T and the Kansas 9-1-1 Coordinating Council continue to improve the 9-1-1 experience in the state. Kansas will be the first statewide deployment of AT&T ESInet™.

AT&T ESInet is a new NextGen 9-1-1 solution that provides IP-based call routing services to emergency response centers. It will help Kansas boost 9-1-1 reliability, speed emergency responsiveness and improve disaster recovery. For Kansans, this means a faster, more reliable 9-1-1 experience. This builds on Kansas’ previous investment to modernize its outdated public safety technology with a NextGen 9-1-1 hosted call handling solution from AT&T.

“Updating our 9-1-1 infrastructure is key to keeping our people safe, and selecting AT&T was an obvious choice,” said Dick Heitschmidt, chairman of the Kansas 9-1-1 Coordinating Council and Hutchinson chief of police. “AT&T provides our public safety community with a comprehensive NextGen 9-1-1 solution, delivering the value, expertise, and teamwork needed to create the current and future experiences our residents expect. It’s our goal to stay on the cutting edge of public safety, and AT&T ESInet will help to make that a reality.”

AT&T1 and the Kansas 9-1-1 Coordinating Council continue to improve the 9-1-1 experience in the state. Kansas will be the first statewide deployment of AT&T ESInet™. AT&T ESInet is a new NextGen 9-1-1 solution that provides IP-based call routing services to emergency response centers. It will help Kansas boost 9-1-1 reliability, speed emergency responsiveness and improve disaster recovery. For Kansans, this means a faster, more reliable 9-1-1 experience. This builds on Kansas’ previous investment to modernize its outdated public safety technology with a NextGen 9-1-1 hosted call handling solution from AT&T. “Updating our 9-1-1 infrastructure is key to keeping our people safe, and selecting AT&T was an obvious choice,” said Dick Heitschmidt, chairman of the Kansas 9-1-1 Coordinating Council and Hutchinson chief of police. “AT&T provides our public safety community with a comprehensive NextGen 9-1-1 solution, delivering the value, expertise, and teamwork needed to create the current and future experiences our residents expect. It’s our goal to stay on the cutting edge of public safety, and AT&T ESInet will help to make that a reality.” Read More

Operations

Training Standards

Emergency Communications is an evolving industry with the primary focus on next generation technology.  As an industry we are responding to that technologic evolution but, for the large part, we have thus far ignored a large factor of the emergency communications industry – the dispatcher.

The role an emergency telecommunicator plays in a public safety incident is just as critical as the role of any other first responder, therefore we need to do all we can to ensure that the public safety telecommunicators are prepared for that role.

Text-to-911

Text to 911 is coming soon to Kansas PSAPs on the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council’s Call Handling System.  Updates will be posted on this page.

911 call if you can text if you can't

Text-to-911 FAQ’s

Look for the message icon on your cell phone. Put 911 in the number field of your text message screen. Then, put the location and type of emergency in the message field.

Texting is intended to benefit people that may not be able to speak due to an emergency such as a home invasion or abusive partner, as well as individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have limited speech capabilities.

You can see the map of which 911 agencies this initiative covers above.

Texting should ONLY be used when you are unable to make a voice call to 911. If you are able to place a voice call, we are able to gather information more quickly from you about the emergency, your location and what hazards responders may encounter. If, however, you are unable to place a voice call, Text-to-911 is an option you can use to share this same information.

The key thing to remember is Call if You Can, Text if You Can’t.

The 911 Call Center cannot identify the person’s exact location. In fact, location accuracy is worse with text messages than when you call into 9-1-1. Additionally, it can take more time for a call taker to respond to a written text messages or we may receive gaps if messages don’t come through.

Anywhere 911 text services are not available, callers should receive a “bounceback” message that says text-to-911 is NOT available in that area.

For the moment, 911 can only accept written words. Accepting pictures and video will be coming in the future; however, many of the carriers cannot transmit multi-media messaging (MMS) at this time.

No, most phones turn emoticons into multi-media messages (MMS) which are currently blocked by the phone carriers. This means your whole message to 911 may be garbled or simply won’t come through at all to 911.

No. If your phone is in roaming mode or you add 911 to a group text, we will not receive your message.

There is no cost to the person texting 911. You must have a text or data plan with your wireless provider to text 911.

The FCC required the wireless carriers to offer Text-to-911 service.

At this time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has only placed a regulation on the wireless carriers to make text available. Currently, 911 centers are not required to accept text messages.

Statutory Requirement

K.S.A. 12-5380 requires that:

“The governing body of each city and county shall provide or contract for the 24-hour receipt of wireless emergency calls for all wireless service areas within the jurisdiction of the city or county.”

Given the nature of SMS Text-To-911 calls and the statutory mandate to provide answering of wireless emergency calls, it is apparent to the Council that participation in receiving SMS Text-To-911 is not optional, but is rather a statutory duty. It is therefore, the opinion of the Council that all Kansas PSAPs must either provide or contract for the 24-hour receipt of SMS Text-To-911 messages for all wireless service areas within their jurisdictional boundaries.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Applicability

Title II of the ADA covers telephone emergency service providers and other State and local government entities and instrumentalities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all PSAPs to provide direct, equal access to their services for people with disabilities. There is a current pending lawsuit, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, which specifies that in Maricopa County, and the City of Surprise, a person who is deaf or hard of hearing cannot contact 911 via text and as a result is in many circumstances wholly unable to access 911 services that are “critically necessary and available to individuals without disabilities. The failure to make 911 accessible to individuals with disabilities violates both Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (emphasis added).

Text-to-911 (Print Version)

Standard Operating Procedures

“These sample policies represent the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council’s recommendation for agency policy surrounding the issue addressed.  The Council makes no representation that the policy is sufficient in form or content nor as to its defensibility in any legal action.  The Kansas 911 Coordinating Council will not be liable for any damages, losses or causes of action of any nature arising from any use of this policy.”

Sample Policy

  • Kansas NG911 Text-to-911 Sample Policy