With the pending transition from e911 to Next Generation 911 there are many changes looming. One of the largest is the fact that NG911 is more of a distributed architecture with pieces of it made by various vendors and interconnection overseen by various jurisdictions. This being the cast it is important to know if your system will interoperate with neighboring jurisdictions.

In 2004, NENA the Standards Development Organization behind NG 9-1-1 began the development of the standards with the hope that all systems could be interoperable. This panel moderated by Texas A&M University will include the Department of Homeland Security who is providing funding for this important certification program, the Department of Transportation's NG 9-1-1 Office who is leading national coordination efforts and the chair of the NG911 Interoperability Task Force. Included in the panel will be two co-PIs from Texas A&M University that are overseeing the operations of the testbed and the ISO testbed accreditation.

This session will discuss communications industry interoperability testing best practices, the DHS leadership in ensuring interoperability, a description of what the testing and certification will look like and what it means to you as a user of NG 9-1-1 services or manager of an NG 9-1-1 call network/center. It will also provide an update of the status of the program.