Program Manager Update

With spring just around the corner, thoughts turn to…911 implementation?? The equipment was installed at several of our 911 call centers, configuration meetings were held, and we continue to work through integration issues with the State 911 provider.

Unlike many of today’s mobile applications, “good enough” simply isn’t good enough when it comes to emergency services. The team continues to check and re-check the extensive test plans, uncovering and correcting issues, and checking again. Our scheduled progress has slipped a little, however that is a small price to ensure solid system performance. As mentioned previously, this is a first-of-a-kind implementation in Washington, and challenges are inevitable. As verified by our external Quality Assurance vendor, the project continues to perform at a high level and I’m confident that once live 911 calls traverse the system, we can rest assure callers receive the performance they expect and deserve.

It's an exciting time for the 911 community. Features and functions we have been talking about for a decade have started to see the light of day. The team recently held an all-day meeting with our solution provider to get a “peek under the hood” of coming system capabilities. Very soon, we will be seeing features such as real-time text-to-911 language translation, the ability to create temporary PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) boundaries, and, amazingly, video availability to first responders. Additionally, many of you may have heard of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) application designed to aid in written creativity. Well, similar capability will soon exist in the PSAP, with AI available to aid the call taker in recognizing and diagnosing caller emergencies and states of mind faster and easier. The future is indeed upon us!

Financial 

The 2021/2022 biennium has come to an end and the Program Office’s financial position remains strong. In 2022, revenues exceeded budget by $1.88M and $0.32M better than prior year. The operating expenses faired very well coming in at $1.58M under budget. This included fully funding the Platform Project. Now that the year has closed, attention is redirected to updating the ten-year forecast. Which, preliminarily, looks very healthy.

Changes are coming for the County budget cycle. It was recently announced there will be a new County election cycle implemented. In order to give elected officials more time to focus on budget decisions it was important to also change the timing of the start of budgeting. The start of the budget biennium is shifting from odd to even years. In 2024, a one-year transitional budget will be developed for 2025 and the following year, the 2026-2027 budget will be developed. This shift will ensure the budget development will continue to occur outside of the election cycle.

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. - John F. Kennedy

Public Education & Outreach

And so the outreach season begins! The Public Education and Outreach team have numerous events on the calendar for this year. Kicking off the season with the Ballard Farmers’ Market on March 26, Melissa from the Program Office and Sarah and Katelyn, Crime Prevention Coordinators with Seattle Police, contacted approximately 200 community members. Next up is El Dia Del Nino (International Children’s Day) on April 30 in Renton. This event is usually well attended and provides an opportunity for the team to connect with hundreds of children and families.

The Outreach team will be all over the County participating in Farmers’ Markets, Fairs and National Night Out, as well as pop-up events with local fire and police agencies. This year's focus is to continue to stress the importance of knowing your address in case of an emergency, proper and improper use of 911, and text to 911. 

For a list of events, please reach out to KCE911Outreach@kingcounty.gov. As always, the team looks forward to being out and about in the community and connecting with people!

Testing is the Name of the Game

Testing was a struggle in the early going but has smoothed out and excitement around the 911 Platform Modernization Project is growing!

When the last article was published at the end of 2022, the hope in this edition was to report the imminent cutover of the first live PSAP. Instead, the integration testing between the King County system and the State 911 network is nearing completion.

This is the first deployment in Washington state using a true Next Generation 911 connection and that meant there was more trial and error in aligning the configuration and discovering code that needed to be updated to accommodate the new protocol. Both vendors have been working hard to identify the issues and then work on solutions in parallel with continued testing. This strategy has allowed the discovery of the next sticking point without waiting on a fix for the previous problem. There is now only one error awaiting the implementation of updated code. Once that fix is in place, testing of that connection can be completed.

That’s when the project team can turn its attention to the testing of the King County network components, security, and Call Handling capabilities. Before there is live traffic, every feature and function will be tested to the maximum extent.

The Tech Team delivered the equipment to the PSAPs as scheduled. Two of the systems are installed, powered up, and connected to the hosts at the Data Centers.  This process will continue since the test results won’t change the equipment used or the basic configuration. Once Customer Configuration training with the vendor has been completed, each PSAP is issued a VPN laptop which allows them to work on their new system. This allows the PSAP to continue to refine their configuration, make updates to match the current system, and gain confidence in navigating the new user interface.

Legislation and 911

The 105-day Washington State Legislative session ends April 23, 2023, and the King County Program Office is closely monitoring two bills related to 911.

The first bill HB1055 (currently in the Senate Rules committee) seeks to change 911 Telecommunicators' retirement system from the current PERS (Public Employees’ Retirement System) into PSERS (Public Safety Employees’ Retirement System) which would allow Telecommunicators and Supervisors to retire at 60 years old with full 100% benefits and at 55 years old with 85% benefits.  

The second bill HB1134 provides updates to HB1477 to establish liability protection for 911 Telecommunicators (and other entities) for activities related to the dispatching decisions of 988 crisis hotline staff and the transfer of calls between 911 and the 988 crisis hotline. In addition, it seeks to establish crisis training strategies. This bill is currently in the Senate Ways & Means committee. 

Jami Hoppen, Government Relations Manager for the Program Office, attended NENA's (National Emergency Number Association) 911 Goes to Washington DC conference in February. Hundreds of 911 professionals convened at the nation's capital to learn of any policy changes coming to 911 and engage in dialogue with officials to advocate for 911.  Jami joined three other 911 professionals from Washington State at the conference where the focus was on securing funding for Next Generation 911 and reclassifying 911 professionals as "Protective Service."