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Last Wednesday a 3-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th District ruled in a case brought by the state of Minnesota in 2003, saying the FCC's regulation of VoIP at the federal level is proper. The ruling means that states cannot collect 911 surcharge fees from VoIP providers, or apply other fees or regulations to the service. The state had used the FCC's VoIP 911 regulations as its main proof that the state and federal components of VoIP could be separated, but the court was not convinced. Download (pdf) the court's decision at:
http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/07/03/051069P.pdf
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A Garrett County (Md.) grand jury agrees that staffing should be increased at the county's Emergency Management comm center, to help staff two dispatchers at all times. Now there are just 8 employees to cover all shifts, meaning that on some shifts there is a lone dispatcher. The grand jury recommended to the county commissioners that staffing be a priority consideration during future budget debates, but they also said money problems will probably mean staffing won't be increased.
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A nice story in The Messenger about the Webster County (Iowa) public safety comm center, and 911 coordinator Sue Hess. She told the reporter, "It's probably one of the most thankless jobs out there," adding, "If you can't handle stress and multi-task, this is not the job for you." Read more at:
http://www.messengernews.net/news/articles.asp?articleID=8152
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General Motors Corp.'s OnStar division will collaborate with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop guidelines for the use of real-time crash data when handling vehicle accidents and dispatching first-responders. The partnership was developed through a $250,000 grant from the General Motors Foundation, GM officials said. During the study period, the CDC will review real-time crash data from OnStar to develop baseline data of crash severity and other indicators, and relate that to what emergency response to dispatch. Results could be released in 2008.
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Dispatchers at the Knox County (Tenn.) E-911 Center get to watch TV. Well, actually it's the live feed from he state Department of Transportation's "SmartWay" network of highway cameras that they're watching. Bob Coker, executive director of the center, said it's taken about a year to install a fiber-optic link to the center to obtain the feed of 70 cameras. The DOT controls the cameras, but Coker said if dispatchers want to see a particular view, they can telephone the DOT center and an operator would pan/zoom the camera.
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The St. Clair County (Mich.) Central Dispatch is no longer a free call for residents calling their local police department after-hours. Previously the center had a toll-free 800 number that citizens could call for non-emergency incidents when their police department closed at 5 p.m. But the center just moved to a new facility, and county administrator Shaun Groden said they disconnected the toll-free number to save money, possibly requiring callers to pay long-distance charges.
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Zetron, Inc. announced the release of its new VoIP Radio Dispatch System, Version 1.5, which is built upon the SIP open-standard to link to other communications gear. According to a Zetron press release, the system, "allows users to share a common voice communications IP network with SIP-based telephony and full-featured radio dispatch." The system accommodates up to 6 PC positions and one or more Series 6000 SIP Radio Gateways Each position uses a Windows-based application and may simultaneously monitor up to 20 or more radios. For more info, surf: