Smartphone in the hand (image via istockphoto)
Owen Sound Police are launching an updated 911 service.
Police Chief Craig Ambrose says the new Next Generation 911 (NG911) at the Owen Sound Emergency Communications Centre will improve how emergency services respond to calls.
“Next Generation really moves forward to a modernized 911 system,” says Ambrose. “When the last system was designed, everybody had home phones and there were not any cellular phones and this is basically a way to adapt to the changes in technology over the years.”
Owen Sound answers calls for six police services (including Saugeen Shores, Hanover and West Grey) and fourteen fire departments. It’s the Central Emergency Response Bureau (CERB) for Grey and Bruce Counties as well two First Nations communities, and Port hope and Cobourg.
One of the biggest features of NG911 is allowing emergency services to have a more clear location of where someone using a cell phone is calling from.
“Instead of having an approximate location from a direction of a tower, it now gives us a more accurate GPS location to where the caller is coming from,” says Ambrose.
He adds NG911 also includes safety features, as well as improving cyber security.
“In the future, it will allow for real time texting to 911 and video to 911,” says Ambrose.
Ambrose says the updates are more on the emergency service’s end and people can still call 911 for assistance.
This new services comes after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission mandated all service providers and Primary Public Safety Answering points must transition to NG911 by March 2027.
Over the last five years, Owen Sound Police devoted time and resources into NG911, including participating in voice trials, identifying potential engineering issues with networks, and developing a host solution for other agencies across Ontario.
“This transition to NG911 allows us to continue evolving and improving services for our Communicators, Police Officers and other Emergency Responders and most importantly, to the people we serve in Owen Sound and in communities all across Ontario,” says Ambrose.
He adds other police services will be adopting NG911 at their own pace.