'Next Generation 9-1-1 Preservation Act of 2010' to Reauthorize Key Grants and Programs to Ensure Technology Upgrades
TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (NASDAQ: TSYS) today announced support for the recent introduction of the Next Generation 9-1-1 Preservation Act of 2010 by Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MI), and Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), co-chairs of the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus. This legislation will reauthorize a five-year federal grant program that assists the nation's more than 6,000 9-1-1 centers and programs with funding necessary to upgrade call center technology. To learn more about this legislation, visit: http://www.e911institute.org/pressRoom/prreauthorization31210.html.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, some states have a history of diverting 9-1-1 funds to support other programs, and the Next Generation 9-1-1 Preservation Act of 2010 deters this activity by denying future federal grants to those states. In addition, this legislation introduces improvements to assist the national E9-1-1 Implementation Coordination Office in achieving its mission of helping states upgrade technology and coordinate services among call centers. Such statewide coordination has been instrumental in improving the speed and efficiency of the wireless E9-1-1 deployments over the last decade.
"We applaud the efforts of the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus for their forward thinking and bi-partisan cooperation in making this legislation a reality," said Dan Allen, senior vice president of service bureau operations for TCS. "Discouraging misuse of 9-1-1 funds and encouraging statewide E9-1-1 implementation is critical to promoting the migration to next generation 9-1-1 services and supporting our first responders with innovative technology solutions."
Co-chairs from the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus commented on the legislation in a recent press release. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) stated, "This legislation is about more than reauthorizing grant programs, it's about creating and maintaining a coordinated approach to 9-1-1 response technology on a nationwide level. The Next Generation 9-1-1 technology needs to be fostered and advanced by experts on a national level with the resources to target specific public safety needs." Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MI) added, "Every day, 9-1-1 call centers provide emergency and often life-saving services to Americans. We need to make sure the technology of our 9-1-1 call centers is updated so that emergency personnel have the tools they need to keep people safe and provide assistance to those in need."
TCS has been an innovator in enabling E9-1-1 services for over a decade. Its E9-1-1 system provides cable, VoIP and wireless E9-1-1 service for more than 100 million wireless and IP-enabled devices. TCS technology ensures that consumers' emergency calls are routed to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP,) and automatically pinpoints and delivers the caller's location information to the dispatchers of first responders. TCS pioneered the methods by which PSAPs in the U.S. are able to receive a wireless or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) subscriber's location during calls for emergency assistance. In addition, TCS currently operates the only TL9000-certified wireless and VoIP E9-1-1 Network Operations Center in the world, and supports emergency services for more than 140,000 E9-1-1 calls daily.
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