Local GIS Responsibilities, Addressing, and 911 Boundaries

Local GIS Responsibilities

Local governments and their designated GIS or addressing authorities play an essential role in maintaining the accuracy of 911 location data.

Local responsibilities may include:

• Maintaining current address information
• Maintaining road and street information
• Identifying jurisdictional and emergency service boundaries
• Coordinating GIS information among local agencies
• Identifying the appropriate local data authority
• Submitting required updates to NM 911
• Correcting errors identified through data review or validation

The NM 911 Bureau provides statewide standards, coordination, guidance and processing to support the use of local information within the statewide NG911 environment.

Addressing and 911

Accurate addressing is one of the foundations of reliable 911 service.

A complete and consistently maintained address allows emergency communications systems to associate a caller's location with the appropriate geographic area and emergency service.

Local addressing authorities should coordinate with GIS providers and PSAPs to ensure that new addresses, address corrections, road changes and jurisdictional changes are reflected in the data used for 911. 

911 Boundaries

NextGen systems use geospatial boundaries for critical functions, such as 911 call routing and dispatching emergency responders.  Local PSAPs are responsible for maintaining these boundaries in accordance with NextGen standards.

PSAPs may use different approaches to upholding this responsibility:

• PSAPs may hire GIS staff to perform this task with little or no assistance needed.
• PSAPs may rely on local GIS staff that are otherwise not affiliated with 911 and therefore do not work at the PSAP.
• NM911 may provide PSAPs with online maps and licenses so non-GIS staff can perform this task.
• PSAPs may pay a consultant to perform this task.

Maintaining accurate 911 boundaries requires a high degree of coordination between local staff, local governments, and with the state.  NM911 helps facilitate these efforts to ensure all affected parties consent to any changes, and NM911 ensures the boundaries comply with NextGen standards before provisioning them into New Mexico’s NextGen system.