Announcements

May 19  |  1-2 p.m. ET
Free to members and worth one CDE
This webinar explores ways to apply a cybersecurity framework to the Next Generation 9-1-1 world.

Sponsored by Comtech

We can't wait to see everyone in sunny San Antonio this August. It's been way too long since we've been together and APCO 2021 is the perfect way to reconnect. 

Register by July 16 to get the early bird rate.

And be sure to check out the health and safety measures we're taking to keep everyone safe.

Save $100 on conference registration on April 5!  APCO 2021 is taking place August 15-18 in San Antonio, Texas.

Members can save up tp $300 on registration. Not yet a member? Join today to save.

April 22  |  1 p.m. ET
Free for members and worth one CDE

For 9-1-1 center managers, the past year has been more challenging than most. In addition to the every-day concerns of hiring, training, scheduling, retaining, monitoring quality and performance of employees, and budgeting for lean times, managers are now dealing with the after-effects of COVID and navigating new challenges around how to best manage and motivate multi-generational staffs.

Join 9-1-1 leaders for this Q&A roundtable as they discuss these and other top challenges and steps they’re taking to mitigate the potential outcomes from these challenges.

Have questions? Email them in advance to Karen.Carlson@nice.com.

Sponsored by NICE

March 31  |  1 p.m. ET  |  Free for everyone

The recipients of the prestigious 2021 Public Safety Communications Leadership in Policy Awards will be honored virtually this year during an online awards celebration taking place May 26.

The awards celebration commemorates leaders who have made outstanding contributions to public safety communications.

All can attend the virtual awards celebration.

APCO International is working with a graduate student from Texas Tech University to evaluate the interest level in an APCO mobile app among association members and others. Please take a few minutes to complete this six-question survey to help in this effort. Participation is voluntary and anonymous. 

A major infrastructure proposal - the LIFT America Act - has been introduced in Congress that includes $15 billion to support the deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1 throughout the country. Use APCO’s advocacy portal to send a letter asking for support to get this bill through the U.S. House of Representatives.

Join us virtually on May 26-27, 2021, for an interactive walk-through of diverse scenarios handled as they will be in the future. Members get major discount on registration.

What is Nexus?

Experience the emergency communications center of the future from the moment a 9-1-1 call comes in. Nexus takes real-life scenarios from mass casualty incidents to combined cyber/physical attacks and focuses on the communications between dispatchers and responders.

APCO is asking you to create our next conference shirt. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

Produce an original design that incorporates the host city San Antonio and/or the state of Texas, and the spirit of APCO International and emergency communications. Designs will be voted on and the winner’s artwork will be printed on the back of the next APCO conference shirt in San Antonio.

April 28  |  1 p.m. ET
Free to members and worth one CDE

Dispatch and emergency communications professionals face serious health risks. Common themes include traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, burnout, cardiovascular disease, obesity, vicarious trauma, and others. These often-overlooked professionals experience critical incident stress like many of their public safety colleagues. However, they do not always have the same tools needed to deal with what they witness from their end of the phone line. That’s why it’s critical to use the digital world and identify tools and resources for these professionals to have available wherever they are, whenever they need it. In this panel presentation, we will provide examples of dispatch and emergency communications professional distress and discuss two applications available in the FirstNet Catalog to help address some of these common risk factors.

We need volunteers to assist in the development of APCO American National Standards and in particular we need producers of public safety communications equipment, products, processes, systems and services. You do not need to be an expert or an APCO member to participate. Deadline to express interest is March 26.

Please anticipate a brief downtime between 11PM and 3AM ET while infrastructure maintenance is performed on PSConnect Friday, February 19, 2020. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate your patience.

February 17  |  1-2 p.m. ET
Free for members and worth one CEU

Learn about how you can join public safety agencies from all over the country who use Ring’s Neighbors Public Safety Service to enhance your community outreach efforts and help make neighborhoods safer.

Learn how to best handle calls on hostage situations, barricaded subject incidents and suicidal callers with the course Crisis Negotiations for Telecommunicators. Earn 8 CDEs for this one-day course which begins February 1. A discounted rate of $259 is available to APCO members to attend – all others $299.

February 17  |  1 p.m. ET
Free for members and worth one CDE

Learn about how you can join public safety agencies from all over the country who use Ring’s Neighbors Public Safety Service to enhance your community outreach efforts and help make neighborhoods safer.

Sponsored by Ring

January 28  |  1 p.m. ET
Free to members and worth one CDE

As a new wave of COVID cases take hold, emergency communication centers are feeling the pressure. Centers that were already experiencing staffing shortages before the outbreak are now dealing with surging call volumes, with even fewer telecommunicators to handle the phones. Join us for this training webinar as we share time-saving tips that will help your PSAP maintain high morale and operate smoothly during these challenging times.

Sponsored by NICE

The course Communications Training Officer (CTO) is now available in the APCO Virtual Classroom. Earn your CTO certification in just three days with this real-time, instructor-led interactive course, which focuses on developing a consistent and efficient new hire training program for emergency communications agencies. The next virtual classroom CTO course begins on January 25. Limited space. Discounted rates for APCO members.

Registration is open for the APCO Illuminations subscription program with new topics added for 2021. The program offers three online tracks to choose from - EMD, CTO or General Illuminations. Students earn CDEs for participation.

Do you have a desire to offer your ideas and expertise to improve the emergency communications industry for 9-1-1 professionals? APCO is currently seeking those with training, technical and operational experience to volunteer for a standards working group to develop an ANSI standard addressing emergency communications career (ECC) progression. This standard will provide guidance for ECCs to provide opportunities for employee advancement or promotional levels, recognizing the changing roles, which include an emphasis on the need to effectively manage resources. Open to all ECC professionals regardless of APCO membership- apply by December 6, 2020.

Effective December 7, all multi-student registrations for APCO Institute courses will undergo an automated prerequisite review process. This new process verifies that each student registered has met all the requirements necessary to be eligible to take a selected course. If any student does not meet all the prerequisites needed, the user-friendly feature will list the requirements needed for that student to be eligible to participate in the selected course. An immediate opportunity to upload the required documentation will allow for continued course registration.

Please anticipate a brief downtime between 11PM and 3AM ET while infrastructure maintenance is performed on PSConnect Friday, November 20, 2020. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate your patience.

Effective December 7, all multi-student registrations for APCO Institute courses will undergo an automated prerequisite review process. This new process verifies that each student registered has met all the requirements necessary to be eligible to take a selected course. If any student does not meet all the prerequisites needed, the user-friendly feature will list the requirements needed for that student to be eligible to participate in the selected course. An immediate opportunity to upload the required documentation will allow for continued course registration.

November 18 | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET
Free for members and worth 1 CDE

In this webinar, Hexagon will share thoughts, ideas and insights on how you and your organization can succeed during difficult times. This presentation will include tips on getting back to basics as a key strategy and information on the latest technology advances for public safety. 

Sponsored by Hexagon

An ECC quality assurance program requires the proper tools and methodologies to make it work. Information provided in this online course include model policies, call taker templates and practical exercises for program implementation. The next class begins November 4.

Participate in the creation of an ANSI standard addressing emergency communications career progression. This standard will provide guidance to ECCs of all types and sizes about opportunities for employee advancement or promotional levels.

Nov. 12  | 1:00 p.m. ET
Free to members and worth 1 CDE

Key talking points include:

• What is enhanced location for NG 9-1-1?
• Data validation for NG 9-1-1 deployment.
• Geospatial routing capabilities

Sponsored by Hamilton NG9-1-1

 

Submit your proposals by Dec. 18 to be considered for a one-hour presentation within our professional development program at APCO's annual conference.

November 5 at 1 p.m. ET
Free for members and worth 1 CDE
There are many factors that play a part in total cost of ownership — transmit power, smaller antennas, simplifying deployments, and lowering OPEX to name a few — but what’s the best combination out there? Attend the webinar to find out.

If you have never been to a Tech Forum, now is your chance to experience this dynamic event where members and industry leaders share their vision of the future of emergency communications.

Join us Dec. 1-3 for this unique event that blends live presentations and a virtual exhibit hall. And because it's now a virtual event, you can attend the 2020 Tech Forum from anywhere!

Getting involved in the APCO standards development process is an excellent way to contribute your knowledge and experiences as well as learn from your peers. You do not need to be an APCO member or an expert to participate; you just need to be willing to use your skills to accomplish a common goal. If you are interested in joining, please complete the Standards Development Committee Continuous Recruitment survey.

Getting your resume exactly right is hard work, and it can be difficult to know what to include about your career and how to say it. Let our years of expertise in resume development and coaching public safety professionals guide you. APCO's Resume Review includes a professional review of your resume with recommended edits followed by a one-on-one coaching session to discuss interview tips, due diligence during your job search and strategy.

October 1  |  1:00 PM ET
Free for members and worth 1 CDE

Learn how emergency communications centers and other first responders are innovating – and working remotely in some cases – to keep themselves and their communities safe. Hear from Renee Gordon, Director of Emergency Communications for the City of Alexandria (VA), about how they are using FirstNet.

Getting your resume exactly right is hard work, and it can be difficult to know what or how to say what you’ve done in your career. Let our years of expertise in resume development and coaching public safety professionals guide you.

APCO is excited to announce APCO Executive Search, a comprehensive service that recruits top-tier leaders to take emergency communications centers to the next level of performance. 

Sept. 17 - 9-1-1's Critical Role in Policing
Sept. 22 - Real-Time Data in the Command Center
Oct. 1 - FirstNet COVID Response

All webinars are free for members and worth 1 CDE.

Wednesday, September 2, 2020 | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Cost: Free for members; $59 for non-members
Worth 1 CDE
This session will share how public safety leaders across the country are utilizing life-saving data from sources such as Apple, Google, Uber, MedicAlert, and more to enhance emergency response and allocate resources more effectively. 9-1-1 professionals will leave with a clearer understanding of how to receive, train for and utilize this life-saving data. NG911 is no longer the next generation, it is now!
Sponsored by RapidSOS

Overcoming Leased Line Challenges at East Shore Radio Network (ESRN)
August 25 at 1-2 p.m. ET
Free for members and worth one CDE
This webinar discusses the challenges and lessons learned by ESRN during their network migration from copper to Ethernet and will be relevant to all radio network users of analog, MPT1327 and P25 Phase 1 technologies.

Please anticipate a brief downtime between 11PM and 3AM ET while infrastructure maintenance is performed on PSConnect Friday, August 21, 2020. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate your patience.

Led by APCO Institute adjunct instructors, the virtual classroom offers all the benefits of the traditional classroom, but with the safety and convenience of online instruction. Registration is now open for Public Safety Telecommunicator (PST) 1, 7th Edition, with the first class taking place August 17-21, 2020. 

Don't forget to for your candidates! Voting closes July 31, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Results will be announced during the second general business session, Friday, July 31, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 

July 15  |  1:00 p.m. ET
Free for members 
In this one-hour seminar, Karen Carlson, an industry expert will discuss the benefits of moving your CAD to the cloud. From controlling agency costs to securing agency CAD data, moving to the cloud offers agencies new opportunities to stay ahead of the curve. This webinar is worth one CEU.

The Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) announced that it is scheduled to reopen July 14 making it among the first convention centers in North America to host an event after the closure due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

As the world is facing unprecedented times due to COVID-19, APCO is working diligently behind the scenes on plans to keep you safe at APCO 2020, APCO’s Annual Conference & Expo, taking place August 2-5, 2020, in Orlando, Florida. With the health and safety of our attendees and our community in mind, we are working closely with the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) and contracted hotels to implement sanitation procedures and other precautionary measures designed to give you the APCO conference experience while keeping you healthy and well in Orlando. 

1 p.m. ET  |  Free for members
During this interactive webinar, we’ll walk you through common scenarios where this new shift in communications and provide a live demonstration of the technology at work.

In our continuing effort to provide updates and help 9-1-1 centers benefit from lessons learned, APCO and NICE are co-hosting another COVID-19 webinar, featuring a Q&A with 9-1-1 leaders from emergency communication centers around the country. They’ll update you on new developments since the last webinar and take questions to help your 9-1-1 center stay ahead of this rapidly evolving situation. Find out how they’re coping in the current crisis, what has worked, what hasn’t, and what they’re planning next.