MADISON, WI (Submitted to OnFocus) – The Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs, Office of Emergency Communications has selected AT&T to implement AT&T ESInet™, including Next Generation 9-1-1 (NextGen 9-1-1) call routing and emergency call statistic reporting, to improve emergency communications across the state. This new contract between AT&T and the state of Wisconsin is valued at up to $84 million over the next 10 years. Services provided by AT&T under the contract will help improve public safety and support 9-1-1 telecommunicators, dispatchers and first responders to help keep Wisconsin communities safe.
“Helping to ensure everyone in the state has access to NextGen 9-1-1 services is an essential step in keeping people safe and making first responders aware of ongoing threats to public safety,” said Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, Wisconsin’s adjutant general. “Through this collaboration with AT&T, Wisconsin is working to modernize a system that is a critical part of protecting the public.”
Transforming the legacy 9-1-1 call platforms located throughout Wisconsin to a NextGen 9-1-1 IP-based solution will enable public safety answering points (PSAPs) to have more reliable services. AT&T ESInet will assist in improving response times through more accurate call routing based on a caller’s location, offer additional levels of redundancy not achievable with legacy call routing solutions, and allow new applications for this modern infrastructure. Together this will create an environment for improved public safety outcomes within the state of Wisconsin.
Since 1989, AT&T has been providing 9-1-1 solutions, including legacy 9-1-1 call routing, 9-1-1 database services and call handling 9-1-1 services, throughout portions of the state and remains committed to providing the state with innovative technology.
“AT&T is continuously providing customers with advanced and reliable public safety solutions needed to be resilient, flexible and responsive during an emergency. We’ve been providing public safety services to the state of Wisconsin for over 30 years and we’re honored to continue our work with them to help keep their communities safer,” said Stacy Schwartz, Vice President, Public Safety, FirstNet & Education, AT&T.
An Emergency Services IP-based Network is the backbone network of a NextGen 9-1-1 system, which upgrades the prior 9-1-1 call routing technology at a PSAP. Once fully implemented, NextGen 9-1-1 will realize a number of benefits to the PSAPs and citizens of Wisconsin by providing:
- Additional levels of redundancy and resiliency with a highly redundant core routing platform
- Redundant and diverse connections from the NextGen 9-1-1 system to the PSAP where available
- Increased interoperability among agencies via the NextGen 9-1-1 system to handle call overflow and provide disaster recovery scenarios
- Advanced reporting solutions that help increase PSAP operational effectiveness by creating actionable reports benefiting the PSAP Directors
- Multilayered, highly secure network with VPN encryption to help prevent cyber attacks
- Text-to-9-1-1 capabilities, including photos, IP-based multimedia and other advanced services in the future as technical and operational standards evolve
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