New York City Will Welcome State-of-the-Art Emergency Communications Services

Verizon Business has begun work on implementing a new Enhanced 911 system designed to provide New York City's police, fire, and emergency medical personnel with state-of-the-art technology to help them locate and communicate with 911 callers.

Verizon Business will provide the new system under a seven-year contract valued at as much as $195 million. The agreement with the city has an option for two, two-year extensions, including upgrades in network and equipment technology to ensure that the system remains state of the art.

A key feature will enable New York City's Police Department (NYPD) and Fire Department (FDNY), and the FDNY's Emergency Medical Services division for the first time to share redundant, dual-dedicated switches to receive and process E-911 calls.

"Building on our experience in providing mission-critical communications services, Verizon Business is committed to assisting the city in protecting and serving the residents and visitors of the Big Apple," said Alex Coleman, group president for Verizon Business' government and education organization. "Once the city migrates to the new system, New Yorkers will know that their call for help will be handled by one of the most sophisticated, resilient, and reliable E-911 systems available today."

Verizon Business is overseeing implementation of a turnkey, fully managed E-911 service for the city that includes a new fiber-optic network, dedicated switches, routers, Centrex voice services, and Ethernet Private Line data network services.

Implementation of the first phase of the new E-911 system has begun and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. All operations are currently planned to be migrated to the new system in 2008.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) from PRNewswire (05/22/07).