Limited economic resources and Next Generation 911 (NG911) technology continue to drive many state and local public safety officials to consider Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) interoperability as a way to improve services, share technology, and reduce costs. The reality is that interoperability takes extensive planning and management, public advocacy and support, and government and budget approval.
Management Considerations
When working together to plan, implement, operate, and maintain joint systems, partner agencies experience many benefits, including access to cutting-edge technologies, new operational and technical synergies, and reduced costs and efficient services.
In order to prepare for the challenges of PSAP interoperability, consider these seven things:
- Do you have the participation and support of city and/or county administrators and chiefs?
- Have you identified initial funding sources?
- Are administrators educated on the ongoing costs?
- Are employees from all areas of your department involved in the process?
- Have you considered written agreements between the agencies that are crafted to identify each agency’s responsibilities and remedies if an agency needs to leave the configuration?
- Is there a designated hub agency to act as the central lead?
- Is there a willingness and ability to partner and collaborate with other agencies to accommodate all needs?
Successes to Consider
If you are considering working with other agencies or counties for a regionalized or interoperable incident management and response solution, check out our case studies. You’ll learn about the challenges these agencies were having as well as how they found the right regionalization solution for their agency – and community.
To learn more about PSAP Interoperability, sign up for the APCO International webinar, “PSAP Interoperability: Lessons Learned and Best Practices from Industry Experts,” on Wednesday, May 10, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
