On August 28, 2011—amid the chaos, devastation and destruction of Hurricane Irene—Vermont’s 911 emergency communications service stood steadfast with help from its next-generation 911 emergency services network deployed by Intrado.

With the hard-of-hearing community turning to texting as a primary means of communication, text-to-911 services need to be developed and deployed as quickly as possible.

As public safety agencies face the imminent implementation of text-to-911 capabilities, the role of industry standards becomes essential.

New Jersey residents generate $130 million annually to support the state's 911 system--yet allegedly none of the money makes it to the county level. This is more evidence that the 911 sector's funding model needs a major overhaul.

Including the band in every wireless device--phones, tablet computers, electric meters and more--should dramatically reduce the cost of chipsets, potentially create new funding mechanisms, and provide public officials with a vital alerting resource in emergencies that they don't have today.

The prospect of a global public-safety standard could have a massive impact on pricing for equipment and applications, if managed correctly.

"Fix yourself" commands work today; the challenge for the future will be in getting organizations to trust the technology.