Emergency Services Regulation
NG911 compliance and testing guide for PSAPs and OSPs
Everything you need to know about NG911 regulations from the FCC and CRTC
What is Next Generation 911 (NG911)?
Next Generation 911 (NG911) is a modern, IP-based emergency communications infrastructure, required by governmental mandate in both the US and Canada. NG911 replaces the outdated analog 911 infrastructure, which has been in place for decades. This transition, also known as Enhanced 911 (E911), is a significant technological advancement for emergency services. It expands support beyond just voice and teletype calls to voice, chat, and video while also providing Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) with precise geo location data and advanced routing capabilities.
The goal of these advancements is to make emergency services faster, more resilient, and more accessible to the needs of the public. To accelerate the adoption of NG911, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US and the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) have mandated that all organizations handling emergency calls need to transition to NG911 or face NG911 non-compliance investigation and potentially millions of dollars in fines.
NG911 compliance: connectivity, performance, and monitoring requirements
Achieving NG911 compliance requires the successful implementation of NG911 components and the completion of performance testing, connectivity testing, and ongoing monitoring to prove that they meet the requirements laid out in the FCC’s original order and the National Emergency Number Association’s (NENA) best practices guide. According to the FCC, these tests need to be performed in two phases:
- Originating Service Providers (OSPs) must perform connectivity tests to ensure the 911 Authority receives 911 traffic in the required IP-based SIP format.
- OSPs deliver 911 traffic for PSAPs to the relevant NG911 Delivery Points in the proper format with accurate location data embedded, ensuring accuracy of emergency response
As a result, it’s critical for not just OSPs, but next generation core ESInet providers and PSAPs to coordinate and collaborate when it comes to end-to-end testing and monitoring to ensure NG911 readiness. Hammer helps all of these organizations meet these compliance requirements and ensure NG911 compliance.
The importance of NG911
Ensuring NG911 compliance with Hammer
An essential part of achieving NG911 compliance is testing the performance of all new components and connections within the NG911 infrastructure to meet the relevant regional standards. Hammer testing and monitoring solutions enable emergency service organizations to achieve NG911 compliance testing to emulate 911 calls from the perspective of both the caller and responder – offering valuable insights into connectivity, routing, voice quality, and geodata validation as required by the NG911 mandate.
NG911 replaces decades old technology to save more lives
Learn how to ensure NG911 compliance, avoid penalties, and safeguard millions with our guide to NG911 testing requirements.
Hammer NG911 testing and monitoring solutions
Hammer NG911 testing and monitoring solutions
Perform the crucial vulnerability assessments and end-to-end performance testing needed when transitioning to an NG911 infrastructure
Hammer On-Demand Performance Testing empowers your team to rapidly create and execute on-demand performance tests and vulnerability assessments to ensure that issues can be fixed before they impact operations and the stability, efficiency, and reliability of caller experiences.
Hammer NG911 testing and monitoring solutions
Proactively monitor end-to-end call routing, voice quality, and delivery of NG911 mandated geodata and SIP headers
By offering continuous monitoring and proactive alerts, VoiceWatch helps emergency service operators proactively address issues, reducing the likelihood of disruptions or compliance breaches.
Hammer NG911 testing and monitoring solutions
Measure PSAP emergency responder communications stability, quality, and connectivity through active test measurement
Hammer Edge offers complete transparency into responder experiences and system performance with a multi-perspective test measurement approach that provides visibility into network, application, and system health.