History:

Great Britain first conceived of a nationwide emergency telephone number in 1937. In the United States, 9-1-1 began in 1967.  The nation’s first 9-1-1 system was implemented in Haleyville, Alabama February 16, 1968 by the Alabama Telephone Company.   Just a few days later, March 1, 1968, Basic 9-1-1 was implemented in Huntington, Indiana by AT&T.

The use of cellular technology increased dramatically and the changes in consumer calling habits posed serious challenges for public safety because the current 9-1-1 systems did not have the modern capability of providing information for cellular callers.   According to NENA(National Emergency Number Association), the first wireless call in the United States was made in Allen County, Indiana on March 31, 1998. By mid 2009, there were 276.6 million wireless customers. Many counties are seeing 70% of all E9-1-1 calls from wireless phones.

In 2004, INdigital Telecom was selected by the Indiana Wireless  9-1-1 Advisory Board to build a new E9-1-1 network.  INdigital, a telecom company based in Fort Wayne, IN won the contract because of innovative problem solving techniques.  Because of the company’s ingenious thinking, Indiana’s statewide broadband network protocol is so advanced and cost effective, it has attracted attention from other states, the federal government, and other countries.  It is an IP based software driven platform that can be easily upgraded or modified to adapt to emerging technologies and government criterion.   The company has built a private, high speed computer network which is the first of its kind in the United States.  For example, a wireless phone with a digital camera could take a photo of a crash scene and send it in seconds to a dispatcher who could forward it to emergency responders.  The responders would know exactly how bad the wreck is.  The system would have the capacity to handle digital video as well as photos and could work with an automatic reporting system, such as OnStar.

INdigital has built an advanced self-healing next generation 9-1-1 network.   The E9-1-1 network has IP connectivity for all of Indiana’s emergency service providers with an innovative platform for new types of emergency services.  And, this has all been done without the use of tax dollars.   “This is why,” stated Indiana’s State Treasurer Richard Murdock (Chairman of IN Wireless 911 board), “Indiana’s network is an international model for wireless emergency communications.”