SACRAMENTO – The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) today announced an important step forward in making the state better prepared to assist those in need during emergencies and natural disasters.
Cal OES has selected four contractors (Atos, CenturyLink, NGA 911, and Synergem Technologies) to partner with Cal OES in upgrading California’s outdated 9-1-1 system to a Next Generation 9-1-1 platform. The effort to modernize the 9-1-1 system across the state will introduce proven state-of-the-art technology to ensure California is better prepared to assist those in need during emergencies and natural disasters.
“In a smartphone-connected world, it’s essential that our public safety capabilities keep pace with the technology people are using every day,” said Cal OES Director Mark Ghilarducci. “Today marks a significant milestone in updating our 911 network to better support dispatchers, emergency responders and to ultimately save lives.”
The 2019 budget act invested nearly $1 billion in funding for emergency preparedness and response – which included a new, permanent funding source to transform the state’s 9-1-1 system to better interface with digital information systems and cell phones.
In addition to transforming the state’s 9-1-1 system to better interface with digital information systems and cell phones, Next Generation 9-1-1 will:
- Increase resiliency by hardening the system to withstand natural and human-caused disasters;
- Allow agencies to re-route 9-1-1 calls to each other during disasters;
- Reduce 9-1-1 system outages and downtime;
- Allow a statewide common delivery system for alerts and warnings;
- Ensure emergency calls are quickly and accurately delivered;
- Support text to 9-1-1;
- Deliver increased location accuracy for wireless calls.
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