Earlier this month, the North Carolina 911 Board, a division of the N.C. Department of Information Technology, announced the state has completed a yearslong effort to modernize its aging emergency response system to a next-generation 911 platform.

​​Next-generation 911 provides a faster, more resilient system that allows digital information — including voice, photos, videos and text messages — to flow from the public to first responders.

North Carolina’s project to upgrade to next-generation 911 started nearly a decade ago, when a proof of concept in 2015 outlined the transition away from the state’s decades-old copper-wire system. 

Pokey Harris, executive director of the North Carolina 911 Board spoke to StateScoop about how North Carolina’s 124 emergency call centers that receive funding from the state board are now part of the state’s next-generation 911 network.