Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1255991
July/August/September 2020 I 49 However, the FirstNet transition has its growing pains as more jurisdictions opt into the service and the infra- structure is implemented nationally. ANSI/BICSI 006-2020, Distributed Antenna System (DAS) Design and Implementa- tion Best Practices standard, states that "Within jurisdic- tions utilizing FirstNet, DASs supporting FirstNet shall meet the requirements for both the contracted [wireless service provider] (WSP) and as an emergency services communication system. Where requirements are in con- flict, the stricter of the two shall be met unless otherwise stated by the [authority having jurisdiction] (AHJ)." ALERTING FIRST RESPONDERS Beyond first responder intercommunication, 80 percent of 911 calls today are generated from a cell phone and 60 percent from a cell phone within a building, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). 6 This places the public safety sector in the prime position to create syner- gies between public safety and commercial connectivity. In-building wireless networking solutions, such as DAS and repeaters, provide public safety frequencies for first responders, but students, faculty, and staff also rely on the commercial frequency bands to contact 911 during emergencies. In this instance, they can be considered first responders as well, since they are likely the ones to wit- ness incidents first. When a crisis occurs and hundreds of students call the police or loved ones, it can cause a bandwidth surge and negatively impact the network via congestion. By implementing a robust network that has greater capacity, the school can bolster the safety of school attendees and first responders with the proper communication methods and reliable signal. The U.S. government is beginning to migrate the nation's emergency call centers from analog to digital with Next Generation 911 (NG911) as the 5G rollout begins to support additional data requirements. 7 It calls for the standardization of a nationwide, all-IP emergency communications infrastructure that enables voice and multimedia communications between a caller, the 911 center, and responders in the field. This transition will provide a new method for the public to communicate with 911 services through text, video, photos and voice. As a result, first responders can better assess a situa- tion and be ready prior to arriving on a scene. However, like many other services that rely on video and photo sharing on a large scale, they can create significant mobile network congestion that will be exacerbated by the vol- ume of simultaneous calls to 911 during an emergency. To power this demanding service, proper network infra- structure using DAS, repeaters or small cells must be in place to maintain optimal function of the service. Separate from public enablement for emergency responses, Enhanced 911 (E911) is a continually updated mandate from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that seeks to improve the effectiveness and reliabil- ity of wireless 911 services. 8 This service provides phone numbers and caller locations to local public safety answer- ing points (PSAPs), as well as precise geolocation of the caller anywhere in the building. It uses the Z-axis location metric for vertical localization. 9 As part of E911, governments can turn toward invest- ments in in-building geolocation services. Schools can also opt into the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) for a private LTE network that grants access to a wide vari- ety of internet of things (IoT) services, including geolo- cation. 10 Once law enforcement, EMTs and other first responders show up on site, they can use an IoT service platform that shows a visual representation of students and where an active shooter may be located. These new 911 technologies may be similar in many ways, but the main focus is to respond to the increasing numbers of tragedies in a fast tracked motion by eliminat- ing many pain points that today's 911 service experiences. Separate from public enablement for emergency responses, Enhanced 911 (E911) is a continually updated mandate from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that seeks to improve the effectiveness and reliability of wireless 911 services.