Home Connected

Posts by Blogger: Mark J. Fletcher, ENP

Subscribe to Blogger's posts

Mark Fletcher is Product Manager for Public Safety Solutions at Avaya. He is responsible for ensuring the roadmap and strategy of Next Generation Emergency Services in both the public and private sectors. With nearly 3 decades of experience in telecom, he has built and managed several of the world’s largest private networks. Mark is regularly called upon to provide insights to legislators and the industry to drive forward both legislation and compliance.

  • Federal E911 MLTS Legislation - Is it Time?

    QUESTION: What single question to 50 people has 17 different answers and 33 "What was the question again?" ANSWER: "What is your state legislation for......more

  • |

    US School E911 VoIP Call Routed to Canada

    The immediate question was "How could this happen?" The initial suspect being the new VoIP system installed last December by Broadvox. or the VPC provider providing E911 connectivity. As usual, the press sees "E911 failure" and "Voice over IP" in the same sentence, and they immediately draw the conclusion that the two technologies are related and at fault of the problem. Even Manhattan Police Chief Howard Martin responded, "it had nothing to do with us, it was a problem at the school." ...more

  • This is why the 911 trials are limited. 911 is a pointer to a five digit short code that terminates at a specific PSAP. Location isn't sent, and there are questions as to if call back is even possible. They are typically restricted to a single PSAP, and a single carrier. So although I applaud the industry for trying to move the stake forward, at the same time I fear a false sense of security could be instilled in the general public who doesn't have the technical background to digest what's actually happening. ...more

  • |

    A state or condition of worldwide relevance

    This is going to change the face and format of emergency communications as we know it today. We live in a world where the App is King. One of the main problems with 911, and 112, and 999 and whatever other number might be in use, is the number itself. Society has come too far for those numbers to change....more

  • |

    NG Emergency Services Goes Global

    This past week EENA released the first public version of the Next Generation 112 Long-Term Definition standard which is also known as the NG112 LTD. One of the key initiatives of EENA, to ensure global interoperability, was to reuse existing standards as much as possible. Particularly, the NG 911 work from NENA was adapted to be applicable to European Public Safety Answer Points, and to find a long-term architecture for European Emergency Services. Voluntarily, this document remains very close to the NENA i3 standard....more

  • While legal obligations for reporting in multiline telephone systems vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, internal granularity--that is, having someone inside the company know from precisely where the call to 911 was made is both easy to manage and cost effective to implement. This is a marked contrast to keeping the same information current with the local carrier or another third party on the "outside" who needs to be in the loop every time a new employee starts or moves workspaces from one office location to another....more

  • |

    9-1-1 and We . . . The People

    Many experts in the industry have been predicting that 2012 will be a banner year for 9-1-1 and the evolution to NG 9-1-1, as we continue to raise the awareness of this desperately needed technological refresh. Enabling this fundamental shift in the way we deal with calls for assistance, is going to require support from many levels, including regulatory and legislative reinforcement. Getting our legislators to understand the problem, is as much of an issue as the problem itself, and left up to industry lobbyists, will only ensure that the one with the most cash will be the dominant player....more

  • |

    Certified E911 Consultants - Do we need them?

    911 is not a difficult topic, but it is one that is often misunderstood. Based on my readers input, my presentations that list the common 911 myths seem to be at the top of the popular list. But you have to stop and think, why do these myths even exist? The answer, is simple. It stems from the lack of education within the industry. Now, let me be clear, I'm not saying that the education is missing, I'm saying that there is a lack of people taking advantage of the education, and certifications, that exist. ...more

  • |

    New Michigan Law Takes Aim on SWATTERS

    Every few weeks it seems that a new swatting incident shows up in the news. The FBI reports that between 2002 and 2006, five specific swatter's made over 100 calls to 60 different agencies nationwide. In addition to disrupting emergency services, those incidents resulted in up to $250,000 in losses in manpower for the agencies. With today's agencies scraping to save every dollar they can, the financial impact of being swatted affects public safety as well as the public they are trying to protect....more

  • |

    Avaya Announces E911 Select Product Partners

    Purchasing a complete Avaya based communications solution has been made simpler by eliminating the need for numerous vendor relationships and transactions, as well as streamlining the ordering process for both our valued customers and Avaya DevConnect channel partners....more