About Us

The Oklahoma 9-1-1 Management Authority Act was enacted by House Bill 3126 that was approved and adopted into law in 2016 and can be found in State Statute Title O.5 § 63-2861 et seq. Oklahoma Statue Title 0.5 § 63-2864 outlines the duties of the Authority. The 9-1-1 Management Authority works with the Department of Oklahoma Emergency Management (OEM) to improve 9-1-1 in the State. In order to carry out the mission of the Statute, a 9-1-1 division was created within OEM and houses the State 9-1-1 Coordinator.

The 9-1-1 division is funded by a portion of the Wireless, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VolP) and Prepaid wireless fee. $0.05 cents of the assessed $0.75 cents is held in a revolving account within OEM. A yearly budget is created and agreed upon by both the Authority and OEM. This funding is used to fund the needs of the 9-1-1 division, assignments outlined in Statute and a Grant program for local 9-1-1 answering points.

Local funding for 9-1-1 comes from two sources, wireless and wireline (63-2801 et seq). Wireless funding is collected by the Oklahoma Tax Commission and a net of $.067 - $0.68.5 ($0.75 minus fees and revolving fund) is delivered back to the 9-1-1 answering points based on a yearly population estimate for their answering area.

Wireline funds are collected at the local level and are based on a local election. The fee amount allowed by the collection is 3% to 15% of the baseline telephone bill. Of all fees collected, local 9-1-1 answering points receive 99% of the fees collected either directly or via the grant program. Based on initial assessments the 9-1-1 fee pays for about 27% of the total cost of 9-1-1 service in Oklahoma. The remaining costs are funded by local dollars.

The 9-1-1 Management Authority provides oversite of the 9-1-1 fees. The Authority has established a required yearly report that is completed by each local 9-1-1 answering point that receives funding by the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Additional oversite through audits are also being established to not only audit local agencies but also audit companies that collect the 9-1-1 fees.

9-1-1 Systems in the United States are based on analog "1968" technology. Wireless, VolP and other evolving technologies have been adapted to work with the old platform. Next Generation 9-1-1 (NexGen 9-1-1) standards have been established and deployments are on-going across the Nation. Since Oklahoma did not have State oversite there has been very little planning for an Oklahoma NexGen 9-1-1 solution. NexGen 9-1-1 is an Internet Protocol (IP) based solution that will be costly to deploy and maintain. The Federal 9-1-1 office released a National Estimate to deploy NexGen 9-1-1. The Estimate to build the NexGen 9-1-1 network is 9-12 billion. They anticipate it will take ten years to deploy. Dozens of States have written plans to migrate to a NexGen 9-1-1 platform.

The Authority is working on a NeGen 9-1-1 Feasibility study that will help guide the State to a successful deployment. A system of this magnitude and importance will take time to deploy and will be very costly without a coordinated effort. The NexGen 9-1-1 scope of work has been approved by the Authority and procurement options to secure a qualified firm are currently being considered.

9-1-1 operators do not have a State guideline, standard or certification program. We always joke that you have to have a certification to cut hair but not give CPR over the phone. HB3126 recognized this and tasked the Authority to "develop training program standards for 9-1-1 call takers". This work is also underway with the goal of delivering a standard in 2019. The standard is just a recommendation to the local 9-1-1 answering points and is not mandated by Statute.

Internationally 9-1-1 turnover rates are among the highest of any profession. It is estimated that retention is less than 70% in Oklahoma. The Authority recognizes this critical problem and feels that adequate training is needed. The Authority has established a training initiative to improve all aspects of 9-1-1 in the State. This initiative is starting with Leadership training. Nationally recognized leadership training is being delivered to line level supervisors and managers across the State. 9-1-1 training to executives in both City and County governments is also underway. The training initiative also acludes Management training and line level call taker and dispatcher training.

The statute calls for the Authority to encourage the sharing of technical resources and also make recommendations for consolidation when requested. This is one of the primary focus of the 9-1-1 division.

Funding, Technology, Staffing, and Overall Operations can be more efficient when resources are shared.

Resource sharing is being discussed all over the State and the Authority believes this effort will position us for success.