(The Center Square) – The root cause of the firewall operating system error that disrupted 911 call centers across the state on Friday is still under investigation.
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency told The Center Square on Monday that Comtech, the company that runs the state’s Next Generation 911 system, resolved the issue within hours.
“Since the intermittent outage was resolved Friday evening, the NG911 system successfully processed over 47,000 emergency calls over the weekend across the Commonwealth,” said Jeff Jumper, the department’s deputy communications director.
The use of nextGen 911 service is relatively new for Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. The transition was made possible by an increase in the 911 surcharge tacked onto monthly wireless bills. The cost is raised 30 cents through January of next year, making the total fee $1.95. The surcharge is submitted to the state by phone providers quarterly.
Next Generation 911 is essential for routing calls from cell phones. It uses Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, to route cell phone calls to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point, or PSAP. In doing so, it also connects centers across the state, allowing them to coordinate the appropriate services and helping to prevent call overload.
The Next Generation system has been in development for 25 years across both the United States and Canada since it became clear that a new infrastructure would need to replace the existing analog systems to keep up with communications technology. While states are at different phases of implementation, the shift is ultimately expected to be universal.
