Program Manager Update

Ben Breier, 911 Program Manager

When we started the newsletter several years ago, we featured an article highlighting Domino’s being able to find you, but not 911. As the calendar turns, that reality turns as well.

Implementation of our new 911 Call Handling Platform is kicking into high gear, with most of the PSAPs transitioning in 2023. Integrating King County with the State network means we will have the first fully NENA i3 (national 911 standard) compliant deployment in the State and one of the first in the nation.  

This means location information of the caller will be delivered with the call, promising more accurate and timely information. Coupled with greatly enhanced PSAP location-mapping capability, 911 should soon be able to find you just like Domino’s has for years.

We recognize being early adopters can also bring challenges, which we have experienced already. However, the Project Team has done an excellent job of handling these challenges, implementing project controls and they are well positioned to tackle any new challenges that may pop up.

Financial 

Another biennial budget completed and approved!  

The budget for the 2023/2024 biennial is now closed. This was an exciting budget process because the hard work from the past was realized and paid forward. With a strong forecast made possible from previous efforts of streamlining expenses and capturing savings, the Program Office had the great fortune of increasing the annual PSAP escrow distribution by 25%!

The holidays have passed, and the new year is here.  The Finance Team is prepared to have a successful year-end close. Current forecast for year-end is positive and the team looks forward to providing a comprehensive year in review report out early this year.

If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.  - Confucius

Public Education & Outreach

For the Public Education Team, 2022 proved to be incredibly busy with the team participating in over 30 community events!

The team focused on talking with community members and especially children about the importance of always knowing your location to include landmarks or other ways to identify your location in the event 911 is needed. Memorizing your home address or work address is important too and it is recommended to post those addresses in your home or business to reference, in case under stress it is difficult to remember. 

It is estimated the team talked to over 20,000 people during the events that included the King County Fair, numerous Farmers' Markets, pop-up park events with local police and fire agencies, Dia del Nino, and Scout Nights.

An additional 200,000 pieces of educational material were distributed by the Team to local agencies to hand out at their community events.

The team often had children tell them they already knew about Emery the Emergency Penguin, and that they had read his stories or worked on the activity books at home. Numerous connections were made for future partnerships with schools and local agencies.

A big thank you to all of the partners who assisted at events, the local agencies that let the team collaborate with them on events, and the community for engaging with our team, making 2022 our most successful year yet.  

2022: The Year the Platform Modernization Project Took Shape  

At the beginning of the year, the project was still only a concept. In March, Intrado’s Team hosted a “roadshow” presentation which covered all the features and functions available in the new system. By mid-year the Data Centers had power and the link to the Washington ESInet vendor Comtech was established. Over the summer the new GIS Back Office was built and configured.  The fall is where things really came together:  

• The GIS Team successfully transitioned to the new solution
• All PSAP equipment was delivered
• Test PSAP was installed and configured 
• The Program Office staff trained on Test PSAP equipment  
• The call handling equipment was installed at the Data Centers
• The first segment of the new KC ESInet was connected at Test PSAP

The only thing that remains to be done is to make test calls across the Washington ESInet into the Intrado Data Center and deliver to Test PSAP. 

The KCIT quality assurance oversight vendor, ISG (Integrated Solutions Group), recognized the King County Project Management Team for their excellence. The Intrado team has been great to work with and both sides are diligently focused on keeping the project moving forward.  

The King County vendor and the State vendor relationship has had its challenges. The technical standards fall short of the level of detail required and there was a mismatch between the vendors that needed to be resolved. The King County Project Management Team, Intrado’s PM (Project Manager), and the Comtech resources have worked hard to navigate this rocky path.

The collaboration with all the teams involved on the project has been invaluable. The first test call is right around the corner!

Legislation and 911

On Monday, January 9, 2023, the state legislature begins a long session (105 days) that will last until April 23, 2023. 

The King County Program Office is monitoring a draft bill that passed out of the Select Commission on Pension Policy Committee in November 2022, which seeks to move 911 Telecommunicators and Supervisors to the PSERS retirement system from PERS. This would allow 911 personnel to retire at 60 years old with full 100% benefits and at 55 years old with 85% benefits.

Other considerations in the draft bill are to ensure the definition of eligible Telecommunicators is the same as found in SSB5555 and would include personnel from both primary and secondary PSAPs who are currently PERS eligible.

The target date for implementation is June 1, 2024. After this date, there would be an option for PERS 2 or PERS 3 members to become a dual member and move to the PSERS system. All new employees after that date would automatically be enrolled into PSERS. This would not apply to PERS 1 members.