SPRINGFIELD, IL. – Illinois State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly and Statewide 911 Administrator Cindy Barbera-Brelle announce that a Notice of Intent to Award (Award) was issued to AT&T for development and implementation of a statewide Next Generation 911 (NG911) network.
This new NG911 Network will be Internet-based to be more reliable, reduce response times, and provide greater accuracy in delivering calls to the proper responding agency. It will also provide more functionality, eventually allowing residents to text 911, send pictures or video to telecommunicators.
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“This critical mission was given to the Illinois State Police because it is vital to public safety and we are getting it done. A whole generation of people grew up learning the three numbers that would bring help. With NG911, we’ll have expanded functionality to provide emergency response for the generation who grew up with the Internet,” said ISP Director Kelly.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the State, the first responder communities, and the citizens of Illinois,” said Administrator Barbera-Brelle. “NG911 will improve the public’s access to emergency response services by allowing 911 centers to exchange additional data and information with responders, improve call processing times, enhance situational awareness, and increase responder safety.”
The award to AT&T was issued after an extensive competitive procurement process which elicited responses from numerous interested vendors. The initial price of the project is estimated at approximately $109 million dollars over a span of ten years.
In 2015, a major legislative rewrite of the Emergency Telephone System Act was completed to revamp 911 services in Illinois which included requirements to provide enhanced 911 service to previously unserved counties, oversee consolidation of municipal and county Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), centralize 911 surcharge collection at the state level, equalize the surcharge fee statewide, and create the Office of the Statewide 911 Administrator. As part of this major legislative push to improve 911 service for citizens and visitors to the State of Illinois, Barbera-Brelle was appointed as the inaugural Statewide 911 Administrator and tasked with the procurement of a vendor to develop and deploy a NG911 network within the State of Illinois.
The State’s goal is to achieve interconnectivity and interoperability throughout the state by implementing state-of-the art network and services that will serve all county, municipal, and regional PSAPs. The transition from the old telephone 911 services to an Internet-based NG911 offers options to resolve challenges to bringing new and emerging technologies to citizens of Illinois. Of paramount importance is the delivery of a universal, robust, and reliable 911 service and to provide each 911 caller with the same level of service for all residents and visitors of the state, regardless of location or device. NG911 offers great promise in accomplishing each of these goals while providing a platform to grow and expand as environmental factors change over time.
Work on the project is expected to begin in the last quarter of FY21.
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