News

Published on: 5/13/2021

The York County Commissioners on Wednesday approved an agreement with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, PEMA, to provide support in implementing Next Generation 911.

The upgraded service, which comes at no cost to the County, will allow for York County to participate in the statewide initiative of modernizing a critical emergency service that was built on technology from the 1970s.

Next Generation 911, or NG911, will transition Pennsylvania’s current 911 infrastructure to an Internet Protocol-based system. The process will take at least a year before the first region of the state is activated on NG911.

Pennsylvania’s NG911 system will make counties’ 911 operations better equipped to:

• Receive incoming calls faster and with more accurate caller information
• Transfer 911 calls and call information to the correct jurisdiction
• Rely on modern GIS technology to locate a wireless caller’s location
• Securely receive multimedia communications like text messages, photos and videos

Click here to learn more about Text-to-911 service.

Why this matters

“Emergency telecommunications are the backbone of public safety,” said York County Commissioner Ron Smith. “Modernizing the County’s 911 infrastructure with Next Generation 911 will usher in a new era of reliability that York County citizens have come to expect from our department. Partnering with PEMA will give us assistance and resources to implement this effectively.”

“The County has several 24/7 operations, of which 911 is one,” said York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler. “Investing in technology that improves customer service for our residents and stakeholders in vitally important. This Next Generation infrastructure will allow us to do just that.”