As an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited Standards Developer (ASD), APCO International is dedicated to ensuring public safety communications has a role in the development of standards that affect our industry. The integrity and inclusiveness of the process results in high quality standards that assist ECCs with operational, technical and training guidance. APCO’s standards development activities have a broad scope, ranging from the actual development of standards to the representation of public safety communications in other standards development areas.

Join a Standards Working Group

When APCO creates a new standard or revises an existing one, the working groups are the creative minds behind the standard. Groups include about 15 volunteers with training, operations or technical backgrounds who research and write a standard together.

The following working groups are looking for volunteers:

APCO/NENA American National Standard (ANS) Advanced Automatic Collision Notification (AACN) Vehicle Emergency Data Set (VEDS)

This joint working group will revise the existing standard that defines a common dataset using XML and NIEM open standards to enable efficient emergency response to vehicular crashes.

Working group will meet virtually twice a month—on the first and third Mondays at 1 p.m. ET—for 50 minutes each.

APCO American National Standard (ANS) Key Performance Indicators for Emergency Communications Center (ECC) Personnel

This working group will revise the existing standard that ECC management with measurable key performance indicators related to personnel performance, accuracy and information quality.

Working group will meet virtually twice a month—on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 2 p.m. ET—for 50 minutes each.

APCO American National Standard (ANS) Public Safety Telecommunicator Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Program

This working group will revise the existing standard addressing the mental health and well-being of public safety telecommunicators who handle life-and-death emergencies through multiple media channels.

Working group will meet virtually twice a month—on the first and third Mondays at 2 p.m. ET—for 50 minutes each.

 

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Standards Available for Comment & Review

Each candidate standard is open for public review and comment. In this way, all who are directly and materially affected by a standard under development can have a voice in the ANS process. All comments will be addressed by the standards working group.

No standards are currently available for review and comment.

To learn about participating, visit the Standards Review & Comment page.

Find Standards

Locate operational, technical and training standards developed by APCO for the public safety communications profession.

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Standards Review & Comment

The APCO ANS process allows anyone using APCO standards to have confidence that our standards are based on a consensus of views arrived at through a fair and open process. Anyone can participate in reviewing and commenting.

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Help With Standards Development

Join the Standards Development Committee, one of the three subcommittees, or working groups to develop new standards and revise current standards.

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APCO Standards Activities in Progress

The following standards are currently in development:

Operational Candidate ANS

  • Non 9-1-1 Call Processing and Dispatch
  • Supplemental Emergency Responder Recommendations
  • Minimum Technical Requirements for Remote Support to Emergency Communication Center (ECC) Operations\

Technical Candidate ANS

  • Common Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) GIS Identifiers

Training Candidate ANS

 

Revisions to Current APCO ANS Standards

  • Multi-Functional Multi-Discipline CAD Minimum Functional Requirements
  • Public Safety Communications Incident Handling Process
  • NENA/APCO Minimum Training Standard for TTY/TDD Use in the Public
  • NENA/APCO Standard for Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce (TERT)
  • APCO/NENA Standard for the Establishment of a QA/QI Program for ECCs
  • Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Telecommunicators
  • Core Competencies and Minimum Training Standards for PSC Training Coordinator
  • Core Competencies and Minimum Training Standards for PSC Training Officer (CTO)

Questions and Suggestions

If you have any questions, suggestions or need specific standards, please submit your requests to [email protected]
or call APCO at (386) 322-2500 and ask for the Standards Department.