Airbus DS Communications and the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) have signed a five-year agreement for services related to the City’s 9-1-1 call handling system.

Airbus DS Communications developed the VESTA® emergency call handling solution currently in use in New York City (NYC). Its dedicated team will supply 24/7 monitoring and technical support to help ensure the integrity of the City’s 9-1-1 operations and, ultimately, its ability to safeguard residents and visitors in need.

The VESTA system was first implemented in 2006 and is currently in use by more than 1,000 call handling positions supporting the New York Police Department (NYPD), Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) and Emergency Medical Dispatch. These are located at the City’s Public Safety Answering Center in Brooklyn and the Public Safety Answering Center facility in the Bronx, as well FDNY communications offices in Queens and the Bronx. Airbus and the DoITT have worked closely since VESTA‘s inception to ensure its optimal performance and use at all these locations.

The implementation of the VESTA system was a significant milestone in the City’s modernization of its 9-1-1 system, known as the Emergency Communications Transformation Program. The efforts of NYC officials under this initiative enabled their 1,500+ call takers for police, fire and emergency medical dispatch to use the same 9-1-1 technology – the VESTA system – for the first time. This not only allowed these agencies to better share data, it resulted in better coordination of resources and improved response times in emergencies for enhanced Public Safety.