The National Telecommunications and Information Administration https://www.ntia.doc.gov within the Department of Commerce along with the Department of Transportation will provide up to $110 million in grants. The funding will go to 34 states and two tribal nations as part of the 911 Grant Program https://www.911.gov to enable Next Generation 911 (NG911) capabilities. The largest amount for state grant funding went to California ($11,399,076) and Texas for ($10,926,740).
The funding will enable improvements such as providing digital and IP network capabilities to 911 emergency call centers to help implement advanced mapping systems that will make it easier to identify a 911 caller’s location.
In addition, NG911 will help 911 call centers manage call overload, since call-takers will be able to transfer calls and send messages and data between public safety answering points (PSAP) by being interconnected to the IP network. The 911 Grant Program will also provide funding for training costs that are directly related to NG911 implementation.
For example, almost $4 million was awarded to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency’s Georgia Emergency Communications Authority (GECA) https://gema.ga.gov to aid in the state’s transition to NG911 services throughout the state.
NG911 grant funding in Georgia will fund statewide technology and operations assessments, provide Geographic Information Systems data readiness analyses, and enable NG911 training. GECA will also work with the board, advisory panel, and other stakeholders to develop statewide strategies for implementing NG911 technology plus the NG911 GIS data model.