DSS Completes equature® NG 9-1-1 Interoperability Tests at NENA Industry Collaboration Event
PRWeb, November 10, 2009
Southfield, MI – DSS Corporation (www.dispatchimprovement.com) today announced successful completion of interoperability tests of its equature® Next Generation 9-1-1 recording solution at the first NENA (National Emergency Number Association) Industry Collaboration Event (ICE), held at Texas A&M University the first week of November 2009. At the event, 16 leading Public Safety vendors tested interoperability between their NG 9-1-1 solutions in simple and complex emergency call scenarios.
DSS Chief Technologist Michael Smith, who participated on-site at A&M said: “This was very productive for us, both in validating our solution, and in identifying areas where the standards need to be further defined. And the spirit of cooperation among all the vendors was just super.” In addition to providing an equature Logging Server on-site, DSS also provided a remote equature Logging Server to which PSAP and NG Network vendors could connect. Smith added: “The NG architecture supports a virtual PSAP concept, where your major systems can be located anywhere. PSAPs can choose to share Logging Services, and this virtual concept also supports failover capabilities that are simply not possible today. I expect that future events will focus even more on the powerful capabilities offered by this kind of virtualization, and we’re off to an early start.”
The event was sponsored by NENA’s Next Generation Partner Program (NGPP). As an active NGPP member, DSS is working to ensure that its equature® recording platform conforms to NG 9-1-1 standards. Director of Sales Jeff Vezina, who serves as DSS representative to the program, reflected this sentiment: “Actively participating in the NGPP and the interoperability events not only help us to maintain our technological edge, but also allow us to make a contribution to the overall NG effort. I was pleased to hear that our Logging Services were able to provide data that was helpful to other participating vendors during the tests.”
Representatives from several important NENA technical and operational committees participated, including the APCO/NENA NG 9-1-1 PSAP working group on which Smith serves. The lessons learned from the event are expected to provide valuable input to the ongoing standards efforts. On this subject, Smith added: “We’re all taking a few things back to our working groups that need to be clarified or expanded upon in the requirements and standards. There’s nothing like a real test to expose the holes in your thinking.”
Asked whether DSS will participate in future interoperability events, General Manager Joe Mosed said: “Absolutely. We view interoperability as the key to our future, and to the future of Public Safety as a whole. The proprietary recorders of today have no place in that future. We designed equature® to fill both today’s and tomorrow’s needs with standards-based interfaces, and we think we’re unique in that. And participating in these interoperability events is an important part of maintaining that edge.”
Southfield, MI based DSS Corporation has been serving Public Safety for more than 20 years. Its flagship product, equature®, was designed from the ground up to support Next Generation content and functionality. DSS is privately held, and is also active in the private sector with both communications recording and document management solutions.
The official NENA ICE press release: http://www.nena.org/ng9-1-1/ice
KBTX newscast of the event: http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/69176027.html
Business Inquiries: Jeff Vezina (888) 305-3428 jvezina@dss-corp.com
Speaking Inquiries: Jim Tucci (617) 803-3615 jtucci@dss-corp.com
Web site: http://www.dispatchimprovement.com
