TiPS Today in Public Safety with Fletch

TiPS Episode 26 0318 - ASAP Digital Alarm Protocol Wrap-Up w/Morgan Hertel

What happens when alarm data stops crawling through the system and starts moving the way modern emergency communications should?

In this episode of TiPS: Today in Public Safety, Fletch takes a closer look at the ASAP Digital Alarm Protocol and why it matters far more than most people realize.

Joining the conversation is special guest Morgan Hertel, CTO of Rapid Response Alarm Monitoring, bringing firsthand insight into how alarm monitoring, automation, and richer data are reshaping the connection between the monitoring center and Public Safety.

This is not just another back-room tech upgrade for alarm companies. This is about speed, accuracy, automation, and getting critical information from the monitoring center to the ECC without the old routine of voice relay, repeated callbacks, human transcription errors, and wasted time. In other words, fewer opportunities for the message to get mangled before help is even on the way.

Fletch and Morgan break down how ASAP helps move alarm notifications directly into Public Safety workflows, why that improves accuracy, and how richer data can support better decision-making when seconds count. They also dig into the bigger picture: why modernization in alarm handling is not just a convenience issue, but a Public Safety issue.

If you work in alarms, ECC operations, NG911, monitoring centers, CAD integration, or Public Safety technology, this episode connects the dots between automation and real-world response.

This episode explores the promise of the ASAP Digital Alarm Protocol, the operational value of cleaner and faster alarm delivery, and why the future of emergency communications depends on systems talking to each other without sounding like a bad game of telephone.

TiPS: Today in Public Safety is hosted by Fletch, a NENA-certified ENP, bringing you the latest, most informative, and sometimes controversial takes on emergency communications.

For more updates and insights, follow @Fletch911 on social media, visit 911tips.com for the full archive, read the blogs at Fletch.tv, and learn more 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

TiPS Episode 26 0316 - Dispatchable Location Myths

How many businesses still think a red sticker on the wall counts as a dispatchable location strategy?

In this episode of TiPS: Today in Public Safety, Fletch takes aim at one of the most persistent myths in emergency communications: the idea that telling people what to say to 9-1-1 is somehow the same thing as delivering real, usable location data.

 

From office towers and hospitals to campuses, warehouses, and multi-tenant buildings, this episode breaks down why a street address alone is often not enough, why legacy PBX thinking still causes problems, and why dispatchable location has to be something the system delivers, not something a panicked caller is expected to remember and read off a sticker. 

 

Fletch also digs into the real-world operational gap between “help is here” and “help is still circling the building,” especially in environments with multiple entrances, locked access points, badge-only elevators, movable devices, softphones, and constantly changing floorplans. If your location strategy falls apart the minute someone is stressed, nomadic, remote, or unable to speak, then it is not a strategy. It is wishful thinking with adhesive. 

 

This episode covers:

• Why signage is not the same as engineering

• The myth that “our address is good enough”

• Why static location records fail in dynamic work environments

• What “enough” actually looks like for usable dispatchable location

• Why responders need more than a property line and a prayer 

 

If you work in Public Safety, enterprise communications, NG911, facilities, compliance, or emergency planning, this one hits right where technology, operations, and reality collide.

 

TiPS: Today in Public Safety is hosted by Fletch, a NENA-certified ENP, bringing you the latest, most informative, and sometimes controversial takes on emergency communications.

 

For more updates and insights, follow @Fletch911 on social media, visit 911tips.com for the full archive, read the blogs at Fletch.tv, and learn more 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

TiPS Episode 26 0313, Friday the 13th Special: The Curse of the Phantom Transfer

What happens when a 911 call appears to transfer successfully, but the receiving ECC never gets the full story?

In this Friday the 13th special edition of TiPS: Today in Public Safety, Fletch takes on one of the more frustrating and dangerous modern horror stories in emergency communications, the phantom transfer.

This episode digs into the hidden failures that happen when calls move between networks, agencies, and systems, but critical information like location, callback data, and call context does not make the trip intact. It is not always a hard failure with alarms and flashing lights. Sometimes the call looks connected upstream while the receiving PSAP is left with missing data, broken workflows, or a caller forced to repeat everything all over again.

Fletch breaks down why phantom transfers happen in hybrid legacy and NG911 environments, where audio, signaling, routing logic, policy decisions, and validation all have to work together under pressure. He walks through the real-world causes behind these failures, the operational risk they create, and why “it connected on my end” is not the standard public safety can accept.

If your agency touches transferred calls, interconnects with other systems, or operates in a mixed legacy and NG911 environment, this episode is your reminder that successful call handling is about far more than audio. It is about preserving identity, context, and trust from start to finish.

 

#NG911 #911 #PublicSafety #EmergencyCommunications #PSAP #ECC #NextGeneration911 #Telecom #CallRouting #PublicSafetyTechnology #Fletch911 #TiPS

  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

TiPS Episode 26 0311 - Cell Phones Banned in Schools

Are cellphone bans in schools a smart way to reduce distractions, or are we creating a bigger problem when it comes to safety and emergency communications?

Grab the important information at: https://sbcfastlink.org/Cell-phone-bans

Then listen as dig into one of the hottest school policy debates out there right now: whether We'll cover:

• Why have cellphones become such a major issue in schools

• The real classroom distraction problem

• Why parents are concerned about losing contact during emergencies

• How emergency communications change the debate

• Why both sides have legitimate concerns

• How School Mode and geo-fenced controls may offer a smarter path forward

If this topic hits home for you, be sure to like, comment, and share the episode. And if you have a topic you want covered in a future TiPS episode, reach out to Fletch.

#PublicSafety #NG911 #SchoolSafety #CellPhoneBans #EmergencyCommunications #911 #SaferBuildings #EducationPolicy #TiPSPodcast

  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

TiPS Episode 26 0309 - The NG911 Data Flood: PSAP Poisoning with Bad Data

NG911 is bringing a firehose of context into the PSAP, and that is a good thing right up until the moment one piece of that context is wrong.

 

In this TiPS episode, Fletch digs into the messy reality behind the buzzwords: data flooding (the ocean of new inputs NG911 can deliver) and data poisoning (when bad data, stale data, mis-mapped data, duplicate incidents, or intentionally manipulated inputs slip into the workflow and get treated like truth).

We walk through why “more data” is not automatically “better decisions,” how bad inputs get amplified once they are inside the ecosystem, and why the most dangerous failure mode is confident-looking information that nudges call takers, dispatchers, and responders off course.

You will also hear the practical checklist that matters when the screen is screaming for trust:

• Provenance: do we know the source and what it is allowed to claim?
• Freshness: can you tell what is stale at a glance?
• Validation: automated does not mean verified
• Resilience: one corrupted feed should not contaminate everything
• Training and culture: permission to challenge the screen, trust then verify

Because the goal is not more data. The goal is better outcomes. And sometimes the safest move is to slow down just enough to make sure the data is real before it becomes action.

Copyright ©2026 Fletch911, LLC Media Productions http://Fletch911.com

For the complete archive: 911TiPS.com

Follow: x.com/@Fletch911

Blogs: Fletch.TV

  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

TiPS Episode 26 0306 - Z-AXIS and Other Tales from the Crypt

Somewhere in a conference room, a vendor said the magic words, “We support Z-axis,” and everybody nodded like the problem was solved.

 

In this TiPS episode, Fletch takes you into the haunted parts of vertical location, where a Z value can be present, standards-compliant, and still operationally useless. We talk about why “support” is not the same as “actionable,” how the end-to-end chain (device, network, NG911 elements, call handling, CAD/map, human interpretation, responder action) can break at any link, and why the worst failure mode is when the number looks confident but should not be trusted.

 

You will also hear the uncomfortable truth nobody wants on a slide deck: height is not a floor. “Floor” is a decision, and buildings are chaos by design. Mezzanines, basements labeled “G,” towers that reset numbering, hospitals with “3 North” and “3 South,” all of it turns a simple meter value into a mapping and context problem. If your Z-axis plan ends at “the value exists,” this episode is your haunted house tour.

 

Copyright ©2026 Fletch911, LLC Media Productions http://Fletch911.com

For the complete archive: 911TiPS.com

Follow: x.com/@Fletch911

Blogs: Fletch.TV

  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

TiPS Episode 26 0304 Implementing ASAP in Anoka County MN

In this 4th video of this Special ASAP series podcast, Fletch sits down with Kari Morrissey Anoka County Emergency Communications Director in Minnesota for a real-world, no-fluff conversation about what “better 9-1-1” looks like when the rubber meets the road.

Kari walks through the scale of their operation, a modern center serving about 380,000 residents, dispatching for 11 law agencies and 15 fire departments, and handling roughly 250,000 law calls for service plus about 45,000 fire calls annually.  She also shares what it is like running a 44-seat center with cross-trained staff rotating through positions daily. 

Kari dives into her ASAP implementation with Fletch, including the unglamorous but critical early work of cleaning up bad address data and helping call takers adjust from “one sentence alarm calls” to richer, structured alarm data.  The turning point? The first big storm, when alarm calls flooded in but DID NOT tie up call takers, because they arrived directly in the pending queue, letting the team prioritize true emergencies. 

Kari also explains why ASAP is a game-changer for efficiency: cancellations, keyholder updates, and comments arrive automatically with dashboard notifications, cutting out the extra phone calls and saving minutes across the workflow.  She ties that time savings back to what matters most: giving telecommunicators more breathing room and more time to deliver better service on the calls that truly need it. 

Finally, Kari looks ahead: richer data, indoor maps, and even controlled camera access as future “ASAP-adjacent” possibilities, plus her big wish list item, true PSAP-to-PSAP interoperability that lets centers share status, overflow conditions, and incident visibility across borders in real time.   

 

If you are a PSAP leader, a CAD decision-maker, an alarm industry partner, or just someone who likes hearing how technology actually plays out on the floor, this one is packed with practical lessons and a few very honest laughs along the way. 

  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

TiPS Episode 26 0302 - NG911 and SD-WAN a Great Tool but Dangerous Assumptions

In this episode, Fletch zooms in on a fresh reminder that “the network” is not always just plumbing, it is the backbone of operations.

 

Cisco’s newly disclosed critical Catalyst SD-WAN vulnerability (CVE-2026-20127) is a worst-case example of what happens when the control plane becomes the target. The issue is an authentication bypass affecting Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller (vSmart) and SD-WAN Manager (vManage), and it has been flagged as actively exploited. 

 

We break down, in plain English, what this kind of flaw can mean in the real world:

• How an attacker can pivot from “one exposed management path” into fabric-wide policy and routing manipulation

• Why SD-WAN is both a resiliency win and a blast-radius multiplier when misconfigured

• What “cyber exposure” looks like when your WAN is carrying voice, CAD, radio backhaul, video, and interop traffic that public safety depends on

 

If you run SD-WAN in, near, or adjacent to public safety infrastructure, this is the moment to audit your management exposure, validate your hardening posture, and move patching from “schedule it” to “do it.” 

 

#Cybersecurity #SDWAN #Cisco #PublicSafety #NG911 #CriticalInfrastructure

  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