The National Emergency Number Association launched a new 911 center registration website Thursday, it said (http://xrl.us/bnzto3). The new database will come with “increased functionality and improved performance” and is the result of a partnership with Digital Data Technologies, NENA said. The new website comes with better search functions, easier login, “streamlined” registration, status updates on any 911 center change requests and automated password resets, it said. Users of the registry system will be sent a prompt requesting the creation of a new username and password Thursday, it said.

The National Emergency Number Association seeks submissions of less than 20 pages each on issues related to local, state and federal governance. Sample topics include “effectively conveying issues to decision makers, enabling NG9-1-1 through regulatory review, public safety funding opportunities, and restructuring of local/region/state planning, acquisition, and ongoing management of NG9-1-1 services to better enable economic and operational effectiveness,” NENA said Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bnzotc). Submissions are due Dec. 17, it said, saying they should follow American Psychological Association-backed formatting style and can be submitted electronically.

The National Emergency Number Association released its standard document on “civic location” data for next-generation 911 providers for a second round of comments starting Monday, NENA said Saturday. The standards apply to location data that will be critical for routing, dispatch and mapping services of NG-911, it said. The document, which will define “the civic location data elements that will be used to support the NENA compliant Next Generation systems, databases, call routing, call handling, and related processes,” first received comments starting Sept. 5, but various factors demand more time for response, NENA said (http://xrl.us/bnp6re). “Due to the number of comments previously received and the quantity of edits and clarification that have been made to this document, it is being released for a 2nd round of public review and comments with only the edits shown being subject to review,” NENA said when releasing the new document. The new comment period ends Oct. 5. The document’s intended to be an “information source for the designers, manufacturers, administrators and operators of systems to be utilized for the purpose of processing emergency calls,” the standard document draft said (http://xrl.us/bnp6rp). It’s part of a larger series of NG-911 standards in development, the organization said.

Next-generation 911 is moving forward as text-to-911 trials continue and authorities reconsider old regulation, panelists at an FCBA emergency communications session said Wednesday night. They looked at the virtues and shortfalls of text-to-911 and considered the broader regulatory challenges 911 providers face, such as in interconnection agreements.

Verizon is completing power audits of all facilities, a review expected to conclude in the Washington region by the end of October and nationwide by March, Senior Vice President Kyle Malady told House lawmakers Wednesday. The telco will have better monitoring equipment in place by 2013, he said. Verizon understands the need to communicate better with public safety answering points and the public during disasters, he said. The Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications held the hearing on the challenges and future of resilient communications, which emphasized the problems of Verizon as well as the new technologies emergency responders are facing. Its prime focus was Verizon’s June 29 failure to maintain power in Northern Virginia during the derecho wind storms and subsequent 911 outages.

Hurricane Isaac-related calls overloaded a Louisiana public safety answering point (PSAP) Aug. 30, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) said Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bnoiic), identifying the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office PSAP. “The center had been overloaded with requests for service and all the telecommunicators, who were also victims of the storm, had been working non-stop,” NENA said. An eight-member Louisiana Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce attempted to aid the PSAP, which had staff “who were pushing 40 hours on-duty without relief,” according to NENA. The PSAP had requested the task force’s aid.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nineteen months after a national wireless network for first responders was proposed in the 2011 State of the Union address, the FirstNet’s board of directors was named Monday at the opening session of the Association of Public Communications Officials annual conference. After commending President Barack Obama for calling for the creation of the national wireless network for first responders, Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank revealed the dozen selections. Most were pleased with the selections, though the National Governors Association said it was “disappointed” by the lack of representation by current state officials.

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) is “actively monitoring" the investigations of Verizon’s 911 outages during the June 29 derecho storm in northern Virginia, the association said Thursday (http://xrl.us/bnk4xc). NENA “will issue a full, formal statement when more information is available,” it said. Investigations are under way by the FCC, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the Maryland Public Service Commission and the Virginia governor’s office. NENA spotlighted the recent Verizon report (CD Aug 15 p1) and press coverage on its site. In a Friday editorial, The Roanoke Times of Virginia noted the “1,603 calls flooding E-911 in the first 12 hours,” underscoring 911’s importance during the derecho (http://xrl.us/bnk4x5).

It’s feasible for Multi-Line Telephone System manufacturers to provide precise 911 location information, but groups that commented Friday differed on the proper role of the FCC in encouraging that capability. Some thought the FCC should pass rules explicitly extending location service requirements to MLTS manufacturers and operators, while others said the FCC was better positioned as an agency to guide the development of voluntary industry standards.

The National Emergency Number Association views the transition to next-generation 911 as a critical next step for public safety, said new NENA President Barbara Jaeger. “At NENA, we must do whatever we can to educate policy makers and legislators on the importance of NG911 and the national commitment that will be required to build and maintain these networks,” said Jaeger, also Arizona’s 911 administrator. “Our job is to make sure both Congress and the President … are committed to funding and deploying NG911,” she said. “We will work with our nation’s leaders to achieve what is in the best interest of all Americans -- especially the nearly 1 million people that reach out to 911 every day."