The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) and Nlets announced ASAP at APCO’s 77th Annual Conference and Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) will now be used for outreach and promotional purposes in place of the formal name, APCO/CSAA Alarm Monitoring Company to Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Computer-aided Dispatch (CAD) External Alarm Interface Exchange (EAIE) APCO/CSAA 2.101.1.2008 ANSI Standard.
This new name is the result of APCO, CSAA and Nlets collaboration in advancing the public safety industry to the most up-to-date technology and the City of Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the U.S., becoming the latest municipal agency to take advantage of this standard.
Houston’s implementation of ASAP was conducted in concert with the CSAA being approved as an Nlets Strategic Partner Organization (SPO). Nlets, the International Justice & Public Safety Network, links the majority of the nation’s 6,500 PSAPs to international, federal and state criminal justice and public safety related databases.
Nlets’ role in ASAP is to provide the secure transport facility for cooperative data exchanges. ASAP is expected to save the city of Houston $1-2 million annually.
CSAA President Ed Bonifas said, “The Houston implementation of ASAP is the new standard in fostering the public-private partnership between alarm monitoring companies and 9-1-1 PSAPs.”
Staff from APCO, CSAA and Nlets confirmed the full ASAP implementation during the education presentation, “Critical Link: The Delivery of Alarm Transmissions Between Alarm Monitoring Companies and 9-1-1 PSAPS.”
As alarm monitoring central stations process alarm calls through ASAP, it is estimated that PSAPs will experience significant reductions in calls traditionally handled by phone lines. This decrease is expected to result in First Responder response time reductions, increasing the likelihood of law enforcement apprehensions made, fires more quickly extinguished, and lives saved.
Bill Carrow, president of APCO International said, “By allowing the swift delivery of alarm data direct from the monitoring station to the PSAP, you not only accelerate the process, but you remove the chance for human error in mis-keying critical information, thus reducing possible loss of life and property.”
The development of the ASAP ANSI-approved standard was made possible in part by funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program for the Public Safety Data Interoperability Project co-managed by the IJIS Institute and APCO.
