The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security (PSHS) Bureau has announced it will hold a workshop on the process for submitting annual certifications required under the FCC’s new 911 reliability rules which were adopted in December 2013. Pursuant to the new requirements, certain entities that provide 911, E911, or Next Generation 911 (NG911) must either certify annually that they have implemented certain industry “best practices” to ensure reliable 911 services or demonstrate that they have taken alternative measures that are reasonably sufficient. The half-day workshop will convene FCC staff, 911 service providers, public safety agencies and organizations, technology vendors, and other stakeholders to talk about the most effective ways to collect the certification information. It will consist primarily of:
- A presentation from PSHS Bureau staff on the proposed development of the certification process;
- An interactive question-and-answer session addressing how each certification should be submitted, how certifying entities will indicate and explain alternative measures or claims of non-applicability, and how the FCC can maintain confidentiality of certification information presumed confidential under the rules; and
- A discussion by PSHS Bureau staff on the role of vendors and third-party service providers where 911 services are delivered over shared or interdependent infrastructure and how covered entities could indicate such relationships as part of their certifications.
The workshop will be free and open to the public, and will be held in the main FCC meeting room at the FCC Headquarters from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on June 2, 2014. Individuals interested in attending the workshop must pre-register online and provide their name, title, organization affiliation, and contact information. The workshop will be shown live at www.fcc.gov/live.
