Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of 9-1-1, Recognizing the Dedication of 9-1-1 Professionals

Today we recognize the historical significance of the United States 3-digit emergency dialing number, note the changes our nation’s 9-1-1 system has gone through the last 50 years, and applaud our dedicated 9-1-1 public safety servants.

When that first 9-1-1 call was placed in 1968, it was the first-time callers had access to police, fire, and ambulance services by calling a single number. The use of 9-1-1 continued to increase throughout the United States and was officially established as the nation’s emergency calling number with the Public Safety Act of 1999.

The number of 9-1-1 calls placed each year, along with the technology used to make and answer those calls has greatly evolved. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) estimates that today America’s 9-1-1 centers answer more than 650,000 emergency calls each day equaling more than 240 million calls per year. NENA also estimates that more than 80% of those emergency calls are placed by wireless phones, making wireless phone location accuracy one of today’s hottest 9-1-1 technology topics.

Ever present throughout the 50 years are 9-1-1 call takers who are the first of the first responders at times when help is needed the most. We applaud you for your diligence in providing top of the line service to the communities you service, working tirelessly to help the public. This anniversary presents the ideal time to celebrate the amazing work you perform every day.

Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to 9-1-1 on 50 years of amazing service! From those who work to develop and implement the system, to all of the public safety servants who help in our greatest time of need, we are honored to be part of an amazing industry that effects citizens throughout the United States each day.

About GeoComm: GeoComm was founded in 1995 to provide county governments with turnkey emergency 9-1-1 development services. Over the subsequent 22 years, the company has grown to serve local, regional, statewide, and military agencies in forty-nine states, helping to keep more than 100 million people safe. Today, GeoComm has a national reputation as a leading provider of public safety GIS systems that route emergency calls to the appropriate call center, map the caller’s location on call taker or dispatcher maps, and guide emergency responders to the scene of the accident on mobile displays within police, fire and ambulance vehicles. Our NG9-1-1 GIS solutions provide GIS data quality control, transformation, and aggregation services as well NG9-1-1 system emergency call routing. To learn more about GeoComm, please visit www.geo-comm.com