Nationwide, United States
Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) System Initiative: Final Analysis of Cost, Value, and Risk
Summary Information
The cost, value, and risk of implementing a Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) system has been evaluated by the U.S. DOT on a national scale and published in a series of reports. Final conclusions and findings from this research are presented in the report entitled Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) System Initiative: Final Analysis of Cost, Value, and Risk.
In general, NG9-1-1 has been designed to work with Internet connectivity to increase functionality and provide broader coverage. The proposed system will support the transmission of voice, text, data, photo, and video information between callers (e.g., crash victims) and 9-1-1 public safety answering points (PSAP) and enable emergency responders and medical facilities to have more detailed and reliable information regarding specific emergencies.
The U.S. DOT explored a concept of operations and then assessed the value, cost, and risk of migrating to a national NG9-1-1 framework. Preliminary analysis used a Value Measuring Methodology (VMM). This methodology was designed to capture a wide range of project cost and value estimates for specific alternatives and account for project risks that could increase cost or decrease value. Weights were assigned to values based on representative data collected from questionnaires distributed to a variety of stakeholders and subject matter experts (SMEs). Cost estimates were developed using build data collected from the current 9-1-1 environment and other existing data sources. Once potential risks were identified, a risk structure was developed to identify risk tolerance and provide a foundation for comparing benefits and costs.
The value analysis considered multiple stakeholder perspectives in an attempt to leverage expectations to identify the key performance indicators for 9-1-1 and the potential performance of an NG9-1-1 environment. To better model the relative importance of the value factors and measures, each of the value factors and measures was assigned a weight or level of importance. The weighting was determined through the aggregation of stakeholder input. To arrive at a score for each value measure, the team evaluated whether NG9-1-1 (Uniform) and NG9-1-1 (Hybrid) scenarios would be expected to provide more or less value than the Baseline.
FINDINGS
Overall, researchers found that NG9-1-1 would likely cost about the same as the current 9-1-1 system, but deliver significantly more value. The table below excerpted from the source report summarizes the cost and value potential of four different deployment scenarios. The NG9-1-1 Uniform and Hybrid scenarios represent the highest ratio of risk adjusted value to cost. The overall value analysis results were—
- 9-1-1 Baseline: 50.0
- NG9-1-1 Uniform: 90.2
- NG9-1-1 Hybrid: 86.6
