Nebraska has chosen Lumen to provide a next-generation 911 platform. The vendor will provide IP-based software, applications and call-routing services.
The contract between Lumen and the State of Nebraska Public Service Commission establishes a statewide Emergency Services Internet Protocol Network (ESInet) serving all 70 public safety answering points (PSAPs). The goal is to connect the seven PSAP regions by the end of next year, according to the press release.
Lumen also will provide features and functionality enabling real-time visibility into government customers’ emergency call management systems. The platform will include the ability to send texts, images and videos to 911 call centers.
“When our NG911 features are implemented, we will provide enhanced routing, monitoring and visibility into our customers’ emergency call systems,” Sonia Ramsey, Lumen’s vice president for the state and local government and education market, said in the press release about Lumen’s next generation 911 win. “These enhanced capabilities will offer state and local governments and military bases yet another incentive to move to a NG911 call handling system managed by Lumen and provide better emergency services to local residents.”
Lumen’s new dedicated next generation 911 network operations center features a customer portal providing access to real time views of four elements: the health of NG911 systems; the call path from origination through delivery to the PSAP; reporting metrics and component-level monitoring, status, inventory and diagnosis.
The press release did not include financial details. It said that the contract has an initial five-year term followed by five one-year options.
On December 27, 2018, Lumen, then known as CenturyLink, experienced a 911 network outage that impacted as many as 22 million customers in 39 states. The “sunny day” outage – so named because it was not related to a weather issue — was caused by a “tech transition” issue, according to an FCC report on the incident. A least 886 calls to 911 were not delivered.
