Some Federal government agency efforts to implement next-generation 911 (NG911) systems and services have been inconsistent or stuck in neutral, and would benefit from dedicated funding sources and renewed attention from leadership, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finds.
While some agency-run call centers are working to upgrade to NG911 systems – which can receive text messages, audio files, videos and images in addition to traditional phone calls – seven of the 11 Federal agencies operating call centers have made relatively little progress on NG911, GAO said.
“Each year, millions of Americans call 911 for help during emergencies. However, the nation’s 911 systems rely on aging infrastructure that is not designed to accommodate modern communications technologies,” the watchdog agency said.
Following up on an ask from Congress to review Federal agencies’ progress in implementing NG911, GAO found that four agencies hadn’t taken any steps toward NG911 implementation, five agencies were in the planning stage, and two had acquired and implemented system elements.
The agencies that have begun implementation and acquisition are housed within the Department of Defense.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Park Service said they didn’t plan to implement NG911 and “had no immediate plans to request funding” for system upgrades, according to GAO.
At least two agencies – the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration – discontinued steps toward implementing NG911 due to the “lapse in their authority over general 911 issues in 2022.”
“With no federal requirement to implement NG911, officials from the four other agencies said they had not taken any steps to upgrade their systems,” the report says. “Officials from the 11 agencies cited challenges associated with implementing NG911, including funding priorities, maintaining interoperability with state and local call centers, cybersecurity risks, and increased data management responsibilities.”
Federal officials said that while dedicated funding for NG911 and making the tech upgrade an agency priority would be helpful, but agencies differed on whether more Federal leadership would be helpful.
GAO said that “were Congress to decide to enhance federal leadership on NG911 implementation, our prior work could provide a framework for assigning roles to federal agencies.”
There are a total of 233 911 call centers in the U.S. including on military installations and across national parks. Agencies overseeing call centers include the Air Force; Army; Defense Logistics Agency; Marine Corps; Navy; Pentagon Force Protection Agency; Space Force; and the National Institutes of Health.
