Leon County Commission Approves Next Generation 9-1-1 Technology

At the Leon County Commission meeting on February 11, 2025, the commission approved the awarding of a contract to NGA911 to implement their Next Generation 9-1-1 system. The total cost of this software comes out to just under $2 million.

When NGA911 released their system a few years ago, it was hailed as a game changer in emergency response technology. Their system connects to the terminal police stations use and allows dispatchers to access callers’ location, as well as receive texts, photos, and videos from the caller. This new system is also more resilient to power outages making it effective during most natural disasters. NGA911 uses the Amazon Web Service’s cloud to house their data.

During the commission’s discussion of NGA911’s technology, Commissioner Bill Proctor raised questions about the future of emergency response since the Trump Administration has decided to review the effectiveness of FEMA. Kevin Peters, the Director of Emergency Management, responded to his questions about FEMA by pointing out that all emergencies are inherently local and Leon County holds most of the responsibility for managing disaster response. When it comes to requesting federal aid, that power lies with the state governors.

Commissioner Proctor concluded his concerns over the future of FEMA by saying, “We ought to, at some point, look at our emergency services as if we had to go at it alone.” The motion to award NGA911 the contract passed unanimously. NGA911 will implement and maintain their Next Generation technology for the next five years.