DeKalb 911 Center Completes Upgrades to Meet NENA Standards

The DeKalb County 911 center recently underwent some major changes and upgrades in order to meet National Emergency Number Association NG-911 standards, according to Director Brad Mullinax
“In October of this year, I applied for grant money in the amount of $75,646.00 to upgrade our current 911 system to the NENA (National Emergency Number Association) NG-911 standards,” said Mullinax. “The State of Tennessee began planning for a statewide NG-911 system in 2005. The planning is finally becoming a reality. DeKalb County 911 is (1 of 2) 911 centers within the 14 county Upper Cumberland region to become completely NG-911 compliant,” he said.
NG-911 brings many new features and redundancy to our 911 center, according to Mullinax. “First, NG-911 enables all 911 centers in Tennessee to be interconnected over an advanced IP based network. Once all 911 centers have completed their upgrades, local 911 operators will have the capability to transfer misrouted 911 callers from cell phones to their correct county without sacrificing important caller data,” said Mullinax. “In addition, this connectivity will allow for added security, reliability, and redundancy with other 911 centers in case of local natural or man-made disaster. For example, if DeKalb County 911 goes off-line for any reason, your local 911 call will be routed to another 911 center capable of handling the call. Finally, the NG-911 network will eventually provide our callers with the ability to send SMS text and video messages to the 911 operators which will make our 911 center one of the first in the country to offer this service,” said Mullinax
“We are excited about these new upgrades, but most importantly we are pleased that these upgrades did not cost the taxpayers of DeKalb County any local money,” he said. ” The upgrades were 100% funded with TECB grant money with no local match. Additionally, the upgrades have actually decreased our monthly recurring costs associated with 911 making the NG-911 project easier to sustain than traditional 911,” added Mullinax.