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Welcome To The Industry Council's Website on 9-1-1 Overload

Increasingly, during routine emergencies, major weather events, natural disasters, mass shootings and other incidents, people calling 9-1-1 for help are experiencing busy signals, unanswered calls, or long hold times. The evolution of our telephone network to accommodate newer technologies with increased call volume has made 9-1-1 increasingly susceptible to overloaded conditions and public expectations are not matching the realities of 9-1-1 in these situations.

With the current government budget, staffing shortages and technology limitations the problems of 9-1-1 Overload will continue to grow. The U.S. has a policy challenge in order to accommodate the realities of 9-1-1 centers throughout our country:

• Too many people with too many devices are placing more and more 9-1-1 calls
• Communities have differing standards on when 9-1-1 should be called thereby overloading some 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP)
• 9-1-1 Public Education programs long ago supported by phone companies and government are no longer in place and public expectations are no longer being managed
• Technology advancement are blurring the lines between phones and computers
• Citizens are becoming more and more reliant on government to become involved in personal situations placing an increased demand on the system

On Oct. 4-5, 2011 iCERT hosted a National Workshop on 9-1-1 Overload where senior level policy makers and ranking government officials participated in a discussion on 9-1-1 Overload with the desired objective to develop policy models that could included:

• Measurement and Reporting of Overload Problems (metrics)
• Recommendations For Public Education Programs
• Recommendations For Building 9-1-1 PSAP Management Awareness
• Policy Responses to Overload Scenarios
• Technology Adjuncts To Mitigate Overload Situations