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Public Safety communications are certainly coming of age with their advancements of technology to include multimodal multimedia communications functionality that will allow text messages, pictures and video to become part of the communication chain connecting citizens who need help with public safety first responders that can provide that help.
A little more than a week ago, in his February 7, 2014 remarks to the congressional NG 911 Caucus, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai stated,
"At the FCC, we are currently working on several proceedings designed to make Next Generation 911 a reality. Just last week, for example, we adopted a Policy Statement and made some proposals that I hope will bring us one step closer to text-to-911 functionality. This is an exciting development—one that holds the potential to save many lives. But as we move forward with cutting-edge technologies, we can’t afford to neglect the basics.”
The "basics" that he is referring to, are the estimated 300 million calls to 911 that occur each and every year from citizens in desperate need of assistance. What we consider to be a basic functionality and service that exists ubiquitously in our lives, can be traced back 46 years to a small town in Alabama. Each and every year, on February 16, I get the privilege and honor to recant the story of where 9-1-1 began in this humble little town in Northern Alabama, with about 6,000 people in the community, and according to the Haleyville Fire Department website, a mere 35 fire calls so far this year at the time of this writing.
So why is this town so important? What is their great claim to infamy? In addition to sharing a name with my favorite daughter, this sleepy little town deep in the land of good BBQ, happens to be the birthplace of the 9-1-1 network in the US, and home of the undisputed very first 9-1-1 call ever made in the country. That happened at 2 PM in the afternoon, 46 years ago, on February 16th, 1968.
In recognition of that historic event, permission has graciously been provided by Roger D. Wilson of Walker County 9-1-1 and past President of the Alabama Chapter of NENA located at http://www.al911org to reprint the history of 9-1-1 here as well as in my weekly E911 Talk Podcast.
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Before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, (June 2, 1875) public safety was served by town criers. A town crier would walk the streets of a town and cry out for help in emergency situations. In the 1950′s, independent telephone companies were very common in the United States. If you wanted the police, you dialed the police station. If you had a fire, you called the fire department. If you needed any emergency help, you dialed the individual you needed, or you could dial ” 0″ and get the operator. Then he or she would ring the persons you were calling for.
In 1958, Congress called for an universal emergency number. At this time, the President’s Commission of Law Enforcement and the F.C.C. started arguing over a single easy to remember number. This was due to the large volume of emergency calls going to telephone company operators. A person may be calling for emergency help while the operator was giving information on the number of Aunt Betsy in Louisiana or Uncle Charles in Oklahoma, which lead to delays in emergency responses. Telephone companies were facing the problem of how to separate emergencies from general business. For over ten years the idea was discussed and argued about among the different agencies who wanted to receive the calls. Police said they should answer all calls, the Fire Department felt they were the better choice, some even felt the local hospital was the best answer.
According to a report in the Fayette, Alabama Times Record commemorating the 25th anniversary of the historic event, B.W. Gallagher, President of Alabama Telephone Company, said he was inspired by an article in the Wall Street Journal. He read that the president of AT&T and the FCC had announced that 911 would be the nationwide emergency number. Being a bit offended by the fact that the views of the independent telephone industry had been overlooked in this decision, Gallagher decided to make the Alabama Telephone Company the first to implement 9-1-1.
Gallagher consulted with Robert Fitzgerald, inside plant manager for the Alabama Telephone Company, who examined schematics of the company’s 27 exchanges. Fitzgerald chose Haleyville because its existing equipment was best suited to be quickly converted to receive 9-1-1 calls. Fitzgerald then designed the circuitry and installed the first 911 system in less than a week. Working with Fitzgerald to achieve this goal were technicians Pete Gosa, Jimmy White, Al Bush and Glenn Johnston.
In the early stages, the city fathers were skeptical of 9-1-1 calls being answered at the police station. They, like persons in Congress, were afraid that the city might not have the personnel qualified to answer “all out emergency calls”.
Haleyville, Alabama introduced the nation’s first 9-1-1 system which was located at the police station. Alabama Speaker of the House, Rankin Fite, made the first call from another city hall room. It was answered by Congressman Tom Bevill on a bright red telephone located in the police department. Also on hand was Haleyville Mayor James Whitt, Public Service Commission President Eugene (Bull) Connor, and B. W. Gallagher.
So on February 16, 1968, the first 9-1-1 call was made. Happy Birthday 9-1-1! You’ve save countless lives every single day; including mine.
Thanks for stopping by and reading the Avaya CONNECTED Blog on E9-1-1, I value your opinions, so please feel free to comment below or if you prefer, you can email me privately.
Public comments, suggestions, corrections and loose change is all graciously accepted!
Until next week. . . dial carefully.
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