Brevard County gets IP emergency network

Brevard County, FL

Brevard County, FL, recently signed an agreement with AT&T to roll-out an IP network-based, next-generation 911 services network.

Brevard County and the roughly 540,000 residents in the county will use a variety of AT&T Emergency Services IP network (ESInet) capabilities, according to the company.

The new network completely overhauled and re-built the county’s aging pre-existing 911 network, it said, with three AT&T-managed facilities spread across the state hosting the capabilities.

 New equipment permits call center operators to dispatch first responders faster by giving them the ability to get quick access to caller information and identify location information.

With the system, calls from one public safety answering point (PSAP), or call center, can be automatically re-routed to another in case of natural disaster or other catastrophic event, said AT&T. If one of the county's 11 centers is damaged in a disaster and unable to receive calls the system is designed to automatically re-route those calls to another location for processing.

If a caller is in the middle of a conversation with a 911 operator and a natural disaster or other event happens that would normally cause the call to disconnect, the call is instead automatically re-routed to another PSAP location without being dropped, allowing the caller to maintain a continuous conversation with operators during a critical moment.

As part of the agreement, AT&T offers the county assistance on installation, project management and training on the new system and monitors the network 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

AT&T said ESInet will roll-out in stages, one PSAP at a time, with the entire system scheduled to be up and running by next spring.