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Thursday, June 8, 2023

The BVCOG Regional 911 program oversees the planning, implementation and financial responsibilities of 911 service is 6 rural counties, including Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Robertson and Washington.

Regional 9-1-1 Program Staff

The BVCOG Regional 9-1-1 program oversees the planning, implementation and financial responsibilities of 9-1-1 service in six rural counties. The 9-1-1 service includes all the network, database, and equipment necessary for the proper routing of 9-1-1 calls and text messages in Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Robertson and Washington counties.

[NOTE: Brazos County is a 9-1-1 District and not included in the BVCOG 9-1-1 Regional Program. All activities, stats and facts excludes Brazos County 9-1-1 District.]

BVCOG 9-1-1 Geographic Information System (GIS) also serves as an integral resource for the county addressing in the six regional counties. BVCOG GIS assist with address, database maintenance and mapping services.

The BVCOG Regional 9-1-1 Program consists of seven Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) that answer over 120,000 calls for 9-1-1 service each year. The 7 PSAPs answer 9-1-1 calls from a geographically designed service area and are located at the Burleson County Sheriff’s Office, Grimes County Sheriff’s Office, Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Navasota Police Department, Robertson County Sheriff’s Office and Washington County 9-1-1.

In 1987, the 70th Texas Legislature created the Commission on State Emergency Communications (CSEC) to administer state 9-1-1 service in those areas where service is provided by Regional Planning Commissions (RPC). CSEC oversees the 9-1-1 activities and allocated funds to the RPCs. For more information about funding of the regional 9-1-1 program and applicable rules see the CSEC website.

Text-to-9-1-1 is now available in the BVCOG region. Sending a text message to 9-1-1 should be used when making a voice call is not possible or would be unsafe. You should only text 9-1-1 in an emergency. DO NOT TEXT and DRIVE. Pull over to a safe location before sending a text to 9-1-1. Call if you can, text if you can’t.

On March 1, 2016 CSEC adopted Rule 251.16 (Direct Access to 9-1-1 Service) to implement Kari’s Law. The law states: For a multi-line telephone system that provides outbound dialing, Kari’s Law requires direct access to 9-1-1 service without the caller having to first dial an initial number, digit, prefix or other access number of code before dialing 9-1-1.

To learn more about Kari’s Law, please refer to the following resources:

Next Generation 9-1-1

As we continue to hear about future transitions in technology to adopt new standards and capabilities for 9-1-1, the term “Next Generation 9-1-1” or NG9-1-1 becomes more commonly known and used. In simple terms, NG9-1-1 is an IP-based system that allows digital information to flow from the 9-1-1 caller, through the 9-1-1 call-taker and eventually onto emergency responders. The new system will provide for a capable, more resilient system that will allow 9-1-1 to keep pace with advancements in consumer communications technologies and trends.

In September of 2019, BVCOG signed a contract with Vesta Solutions, Inc. for NG9-1-1 services for the 7 regional PSAPs. This contract will allow for IP-based and geospatial (map based) routing as opposed to the traditional tabular routing that we have today. Plans are to deploy the NG9-1-1 services by March 2021.

Public Awareness Videos:

For educational videos about 9-1-1, please click on the following links:

Text-to-9-1-1 PSA by the Texas School for the Deaf

Texas School for the Deaf Text to 9-1-1 PSA

9-1-1 for Emergencies only

Greater Harris County 9-1-1 PSA

9-1-1: Getting Help is Easy – English and Spanish (Cell Phone Sally from CSEC)

CSEC Cell Phone Sally

Text-to-9-1-1 PSA by Ark-Tex Council of Governments

Text-to-9-1-1 Facebook PSA

Statistics & Facts:

The BVCOG regional 9-1-1 system consists of seven Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP’s) in six rural counties – Burleson, Grimes, Navasota PD, Leon, Madison, Robertson and Washington.
Annually, the seven PSAP’s have collectively answered more than 120,000 9-1-1 calls for service with more than 82% originating from a wireless telephone.
Over $2 million in 9-1-1 funds were expended at the six county level for 9-1-1 equipment, network, database, equipment maintenance, wireless services and county database maintenance projects in FY 2017 - 2018.
Maintain addresses and 9-1-1 call routing of over 250 wireless towers.
Maintain up-to-date digital maps for six counties of over 20,000 roads (state, county, and private), over 92,000 structure driveways points, and numerous emergency service and PSAP boundary layers.
FY 2020-2021 9-1-1 budget is approved for $2,499,050