On March 2, 2023, The Dallas Police Department, Dallas Fire Rescue and City of Dallas ITS announced today a new technology being used to improve emergency communications across the city.
The city’s 911 communications centers are now utilizing AT&T’s Next Generation 9-1-1 with AT&T ESInet helping to improve public safety. The advanced 9-1-1 services will support 9-1-1 telecommunicators, dispatchers and first responders, and help keep the community safe.
“We know in emergency response, every second counts, to get our officers where they are needed most. Our mission is to make Dallas safer for those who live, work, and visit our great city. This technology and partnership will only help us in serving and protecting the City of Dallas,” said Chief Eddie Garcia, Dallas Police Department.
“First responders and the communities they serve require reliable and resilient connectivity and AT&T is at the forefront of providing industry-leading public safety solutions that modernize and transform emergency response,” said Lisa Sherrod, Assistant Vice President for External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T. “For more than 30 years, we have been providing 9-1-1 and other public safety solutions in Dallas. From FirstNet to NextGen 9-1-1 services, we’ll continue to be there to support the thousands of Dallas first responders who help keep our loved ones safe.”
“We are proud to launch this technology and further modernize our 911 system, improving our emergency response times and communications infrastructure. Public safety is always a top priority in the city of Dallas. We will continue to bring in new and valuable resources to create a stronger and safer Dallas,” said City of Dallas Deputy City Manager Jon Fortune.
“One critical component of our city’s efforts to reduce violent crime is an effective, efficient, and reliable 9-1-1 service. I’m grateful for the opportunity this new emergency technology provides for enhanced communications between Dallas residents in crisis, dispatchers and our first responders, “ Councilmember Adam McGough, Chair of the Public Safety Committee
AT&T ESInet will be used to improve emergency response times and allow new applications for a modern infrastructure.
The benefits include:
Improved location-based services. Using location-based geospatial routing, when a person contacts 9-1-1, their location can be identified quickly and routed to the appropriate PSAP for improved response times.
Ability to handle unexpected call volumes. National Emergency Number Association (NENA) i3 standards to enable interoperability among agencies to handle call overflow and disaster recovery scenarios.
Highly secure solutions. Multilayered secure network with Multiprotocol Label Switching VPN encryption to protect voice and data privacy and to help prevent cyber-attacks.
Enhanced backup capabilities. Through policy-based routing, AT&T ESInet™ can provide PSAPs the ability to set up rules to route 9-1-1 calls and texts to alternate agencies, establish special event routing and prepare for disaster scenarios.
Enablement of data sharing. Calls can be transferred between PSAPs and will include location information and other critical data along with the call allowing telecommunicators to act faster by having pertinent information on hand when the call arrives.
Multilayered, highly secure network VPN encryption to help prevent cyber attacks
Text-to-9-1-1 capabilities Advancements include photos, IP-based multimedia and other advanced services in the future as technical and operational standards evolve.