JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — AT&T is in the process of building out a new 911 communications system in Tennessee. It is meant to help prevent outages, and the state will be the first in the nation to use it.
It's part of a nationwide rollout of what's called "NextGen 911." The idea replaces standard analog telephone lines with fiber optic lines based on internet technology. Eventually, that will mean the ability to send texts, pictures and videos to 911 dispatchers.
But Tennessee is now the first in the nation to also include a cellular backup.
“You think about a fiber connection into a 911 call center, that fiber connection could be cut off by a backhoe that's doing some construction,” said Matt Walsh, AVP of Product Management & Development for AT&T FirstNet.
Here's how it will work: 911 call centers would primarily use underground fiber optic lines to connect with callers, but a wireless cellular system will run at the same time. If the fiber line goes down, they'll switch to wireless automatically.
“Those callers, even those active callers, remain connected,” Walsh said of the system.
AT&T proposed the idea using its FirstNet system. It can be a lifesaver in an emergency by giving first responders priority access to cell phone networks with improved coverage.
“It's really important when you're talking about public safety, that you think about redundancy in public safety,” Walsh said. “You think about not just one point of failure, but if you have a failure, you have a system, another method of connectivity.”
AT&T said the buildout is already complete at about 75% of 911 call centers in the Tri-Cities. It's expected to be finished by the third quarter of this year.
