Next Generation 911 Cost Study Addresses National Progress & Goals in First Year of Effort
Working team makes progress in developing resources to figure nationwide cost of NG911
Work is well underway to answer a request by Congress to create a report that analyzes among other things: the current state of NG911 readiness among PSAPs; the cost of implementing NG911; the impact of geography and architectural characteristics on costs; and an analysis of the needs for NG911 services of persons with disabilities.
Work on the two-year project, which began in 2015, is organized into four phases to answer the following fundamental questions:
Where are we now?
Where are we going?
What will it cost?
What are the impacts?
The team, comprised of emergency communications, technology and economic theory consulting experts, is currently addressing those first two questions. To do so, they have developed a draft NG911 Maturity Model to help determine and quantify what progress has been made toward NG911 nationwide, and identify cost elements. The model addresses the technical and nontechnical components of deploying NG911 architecture and applies five maturity stages to gauge progress. It also allows flexibility, and does not restrict or specify the methods used by these authorities to implement NG911 solutions.
The model will assess what resources and costs are needed to fully implement NG911, which may be useful to states as they budget and plan for implementation.
“We are collecting important information requested by our nation’s legislators to serve as a resource as Congress considers creating a coordinated, long-term funding mechanism for the future of 911 across the nation,” says National 911 Program coordinator Laurie Flaherty. “It’s a very complicated process and the input we’ve received from the 911 community both before this effort began and recently to vet the NG911 Maturity Model has been very helpful in moving this project ahead.”
As the team prepares to tackle the next question, “What will it cost?” they are looking to the 911 community for any examples of contracts, price lists or proposals that can be shared. These resources will aid in developing accurate estimates of the costs to implement and sustain NG911 throughout the country.
Please provide any materials to the cost study team through the National 911 Program (NHTSA.National911@dot.gov). The cost study team will deliver the final report in September of 2017.