May 2004 Newsletter

Alabama Chapter of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, Inc.

May 2004 Newsletter

Hello Everyone!

I hope this letter finds everyone doing well. I am looking forward to serving as your state president this year. I very much appreciate all the support and advice I have been given over the past several years and I can only hope to do as good a job as all the past Presidents.

I hope every one can find their way to all the quarterly meetings and training sessions this year. We are also looking for some area representatives to serve during this next year. Please find a way to make sure all Communications Centers in your area are aware of the opportunities our organization offers telecommunicators. Alabama APCO will be better if we can get more people involved to share Communications information and opportunities with our peers.

The website was a major project over the last year and everyone seems to be very happy with the way it has been done. Through the web site you can keep informed about the training available within our chapter, in your area, statewide and in the surrounding states. If anyone has any training or information they would like to see on the website you can e-mail it to me at super911@charter.net and I will make sure it gets posted ASAP.

The State Conference at the Perdido Beach Resort was great. Everyone appeared to have a great time. I hope you have had a chance to see some of the pictures Greg has been putting on the website. The “Live Response” was interesting and informative; it was great to have them be a part of our State Conference.

Plans are already underway for our next State Conference so please volunteer for committees. We want to make it the best one yet! We are planning to go back to the Perdido Beach Resort again in 2005. So everyone mark your calendars now for April 10 -13, 2005.

If you haven’t heard, Cedora Wright from Clarke County is our Telecommunicator of the year. Congratulations Cedora! Cedora received a plaque and a gift packet from Jo Tranter at the Business Meeting during the Conference. We will again be honoring a Telecommunicator of the Year at the conference, so look for information on the web page about how you can nominate an Outstanding Telecommunicator from your agency.

Our next Quarterly Meeting will be at 10 am, Tuesday, April 18, 2004 @ Helen’s Place in Clanton. We will have the business meeting, a guest speaker and lunch. If anyone would be interested in hosting an APCO Quarterly Meeting in your area, please let me know. Some people have expressed interest in having the meeting in different locations to get more involvement from around the state.

Please contact me if I can be of assistance to you this year. I will help you in the best way possible.

Thanks for all you do each day to keep us safe.

God Bless!

Gina Bowman

President

334-241-2423

Those of you that missed the VoIP seminar hosted by NENA missed a very informative day. The course was hosted by NENA at the Holiday Inn East in Montgomery on Tuesday April 27 and presented by James P. Cavanagh from The Consultant Registry. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is going to change 911 forever if we, as APCO supporters don’t learn more about it and speak out against this almost inevitable change. As much as we all love to see technology move quickly forward some things are not always going to be what is best.

This new technology will have a detrimental impact on all Communications Centers as well as the very people we serve. From a phone customer standpoint the internet phone seems like a great idea because the providers claim it is cheaper and faster.   They offer packages as low as $19.99 a month unlimited long distance and claim they’re service is faster and of a higher quality. Don’t be fooled by these claims. Most of the time the “low $19.99 monthly fee” only includes calls to people also using the same phone provider. It is an additional cost for fees outside of the “circle”. In addition the service is definitely not necessarily faster due to the time you make your calls. Midnight or 3:00 am when the internet isn’t very busy seems to be a great time to use your phone. The quality of your phone calls also may be compromised. Voices on the other line may sound worbled or fuzzy.

That was the good news! The bad news is that these VoIP providers do not support 911 right now in any way, shape, or form. There are 5 top VoIp issues for all 911 agencies. These 5 are printed in the book from the class. They are:

                        5.                  “Shifting Sands” of regulatory guidance/oversight.

(Courts have been inconsistent with their rulings)

                        4.                  Silence Suppression/VAD doesn’t send background noise, whispers or soft sounds. (How many 911 calls do we get soft whispers or background noise?)

                        3.                  VoIP may not support 911 ESN, ANI and/or ALI.

(That kind of puts a damper on Enhanced 911 service doesn’t it?

2.                  VoIP may not support 911 at all!

(To the providers 911 is too costly, complex.)

1.                  VoIP providers may avoid, or try to avoid, payment of 911 fees altogether.

(I guess now we can get people to work for us for free)

These are only the top 5 reasons that we, as Public Safety Personnel, should at least learn more about this subject and fight to have VoIP regulated at least to some extent! They have come quietly in the night and slipped in the back door. If we don’t so something to stop them more will continue to invade. Don’t sit back and let others fight this fight for you. Get involved and do what you need to do to save lives! The life you save may be your own!

Becky Neugent, Clarke County 911

This job...

Some call them dispatchers

Others are called operator or clerk

Or telecommunicator or aide

Some are police officers; most are not

The name is not important

but they are.

Dispatchers serve many masters

Yet they are masters themselves

Some serve the police, or fire

Others service the EMS, or sheriffs

Some serve the highway patrol

Many serve all of these

Yet that's not important

But they are.

Dispatchers perform many functions

They command the radio channels

That no one else understands

They make sense of the unsensible

Hear the unhearable

Remember everything, forget nothing

Yet that's not important

But they are.

Emergency phone calls never-ending

Problems to make a priest blush

Crisis that defy resolution

Complexities to confound a lawyer

With the clock running

Someone is watching

Are they performing up to speed?

Yet that's not important

but they are.

Some deal with problems at the counter

Is the computer up?

The officer needs the information NOW!

Doesn't anyone realize that lives are at stake here?

Isn't that important?

Expectations are high

Pay too often in low

Hours are usually long

shiftwork and overtime Christmas and Easter

Complaints are of no avail

There is no one to listen

Yet that's not important.

Dispatchers are expected to know

What a police officer knows without the same training

For who does the officer look to for questions about the law

Resources that are needed for help...Of course

That's not important either.

Dispatchers are the hub

We know they are the center of the universe

We know this even if no one else does

And that IS important.

Dispatching is an outrageous career

But most won't make it a career

Few people can take it

Few people would want it

Few people have the stamina

Few people can afford it

And that IS important

And So Are They.

By Alan Burton