TiPS Today in Public Safety with Fletch

When is 911 really down? This episode explains why the percentage of unavailable trunks may not equal the percentage of lost service in a hybrid or NG911 design. It separates continuity, capacity, capability, and component availability; distinguishes call origin from delivery path; and identifies the end-to-end measurements that matter.

Educational content only. FCC outage-reporting decisions are fact-specific and depend on current rules, provider role, affected facility, duration, service effect, rerouting, and other circumstances. Consult the responsible provider and qualified regulatory counsel.

TiPS Today in Public Safety with Mark J. Fletcher.

  REMEMBER  : NEW EPISODES are published each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning - usually around 8AM on"Fletch's LinkedIn page [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletch911/ ]

For Fletch's Blogs, see his Wordpress Site at [ http://Fletch.TV ]
and you can follow him on Social Media (such as X) @Fletch911 
 
For NG911 Consulting Services - you can reach Fletch through Fletch 911, LLC at http://Fletch911.com

Emergency call volume has quieter periods, but 911 has no hour with guaranteed zero demand.

This episode explains how to use real traffic data, transition deliberately to an alternate ECC, distinguish preserved capacity from reduced capability, and add staffing or procedures to manage the difference during planned maintenance.

The recent project is an excellent example, but does not represent or disclose any actual customer, location, vendor, or configuration.

TiPS Today in Public Safety with Mark J. Fletcher.

  REMEMBER  : NEW EPISODES are published each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning - usually around 8AM on"Fletch's LinkedIn page [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletch911/ ]

For Fletch's Blogs, see his Wordpress Site at [ http://Fletch.TV ]
and you can follow him on Social Media (such as X) @Fletch911 
 
For NG911 Consulting Services - you can reach Fletch through Fletch 911, LLC at http://Fletch911.com

Enterprise communications maintenance works best when nobody notices it happened. This episode shows how to select the lowest-risk window, build a genuinely independent alternative, protect emergency-calling capability, set rollback criteria, and prove that normal service has returned.

Any live 911 test must be coordinated in advance with the appropriate 911 center and follow local procedure.

TiPS Today in Public Safety with Mark J. Fletcher.

  REMEMBER  : NEW EPISODES are published each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning - usually around 8AM on"Fletch's LinkedIn page [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletch911/ ]

For Fletch's Blogs, see his Wordpress Site at [ http://Fletch.TV ]
and you can follow him on Social Media (such as X) @Fletch911 
 
For NG911 Consulting Services - you can reach Fletch through Fletch 911, LLC at http://Fletch911.com

A TERT team becomes mutual aid only when a defined capability moves through the authorized request, offer, deployment, demobilization, and documentation process. This episode follows that chain and provides a 45-minute request-to-reimbursement tabletop.

References:

NENA/APCO Standard   **Revised**
https://www.apcointl.org/standards/sta-050-3-2026-nena-apco-standard-for-telecommunicator-emergency-response-taskforce-tert-deployment-2/

Emergency Management Assistance Compact

https://www.emacweb.org/

FEMA

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/a-z/nims/mutual-aid.html

Read the latest blogs at Fletch.TV.
Explore more than 200 past episodes at 911TiPS.com.
Find all of Fletch’s contact information at fletch911.com.

  REMEMBER  : NEW EPISODES are published each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning - usually around 8AM on"Fletch's LinkedIn page [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletch911/ ]

For Fletch's Blogs, see his Wordpress Site at [ http://Fletch.TV ]
and you can follow him on Social Media (such as X) @Fletch911 
 
For NG911 Consulting Services - you can reach Fletch through Fletch 911, LLC at http://Fletch911.com

A TERT deployment is a human mission supported by credentials, secure access, transportation, lodging, food, equipment, fatigue controls, family communication, wellness resources, demobilization, and reintegration. This episode follows those responsibilities from check-in through return home.

References:

NENA/APCO TERT Standard (New 2026 Version)
https://www.apcointl.org/standards/sta-050-3-2026-nena-apco-standard-for-telecommunicator-emergency-response-taskforce-tert-deployment-2/

FEMA TERT Team Leader Training
https://emilms.fema.gov/is_1200/groups/2.html

Read the latest blogs at http://Fletch.TV 
Explore nearly 300 past episodes at http://911TiPS.com
Find all of Fletch’s contact information at http://fletch911.com

  REMEMBER  : NEW EPISODES are published each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning - usually around 8AM on"Fletch's LinkedIn page [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletch911/ ]

For Fletch's Blogs, see his Wordpress Site at [ http://Fletch.TV ]
and you can follow him on Social Media (such as X) @Fletch911 
 
For NG911 Consulting Services - you can reach Fletch through Fletch 911, LLC at http://Fletch911.com

A willing telecommunicator is not automatically a deployable mutual-aid resource. This episode defines the difference among availability, qualification, certification, credentialing, adaptability, agency authorization, and personal readiness.

References:

NENA/APCO Standard

https://www.apcointl.org/standards/sta-050-3-2026-nena-apco-standard-for-telecommunicator-emergency-response-taskforce-tert-deployment-2/

FEMA Training
https://training.fema.gov/programs/independent-study/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-144.a&lang=

 

Read the latest blogs at Fletch.TV.
Explore more than 200 past episodes at 911TiPS.com.
Find all of Fletch’s contact information at fletch911.com.

  REMEMBER  : NEW EPISODES are published each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning - usually around 8AM on"Fletch's LinkedIn page [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletch911/ ]

For Fletch's Blogs, see his Wordpress Site at [ http://Fletch.TV ]
and you can follow him on Social Media (such as X) @Fletch911 
 
For NG911 Consulting Services - you can reach Fletch through Fletch 911, LLC at http://Fletch911.com

Preparedness is proven through exercise. This episode shows how to build capability-based scenarios, move beyond the happy path, add a second failure, measure operational impact, protect a no-blame learning environment, and close every priority finding through assigned corrective action and retest.

Keywords: National Preparedness Month, 911 exercise, HSEEP, tabletop exercise, cascading failure, after-action report, corrective action, ECC resilience

Read the latest blogs at Fletch.TV.
Explore the full archive of more than 200 past episodes at 911TiPS.com.
Find all of Fletch’s contact information at fletch911.com.

  REMEMBER  : NEW EPISODES are published each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning - usually around 8AM on"Fletch's LinkedIn page [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletch911/ ]

For Fletch's Blogs, see his Wordpress Site at [ http://Fletch.TV ]
and you can follow him on Social Media (such as X) @Fletch911 
 
For NG911 Consulting Services - you can reach Fletch through Fletch 911, LLC at http://Fletch911.com

What happens when the ECC itself becomes the incident? This episode defines essential functions, the first actions under degraded operations, offline continuity tools, activation authority, alternate ECC coordination, mission transfer, and safe reconstitution.

Keywords: 911 continuity of operations, ECC outage, alternate PSAP, degraded operations, COOP, emergency communications, mutual aid, cyber disruption

Read the latest blogs at Fletch.TV.
Explore the full archive of more than 200 past episodes at 911TiPS.com.
Find all of Fletch’s contact information at fletch911.com.

  REMEMBER  : NEW EPISODES are published each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning - usually around 8AM on"Fletch's LinkedIn page [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletch911/ ]

For Fletch's Blogs, see his Wordpress Site at [ http://Fletch.TV ]
and you can follow him on Social Media (such as X) @Fletch911 
 
For NG911 Consulting Services - you can reach Fletch through Fletch 911, LLC at http://Fletch911.com