NGA bringing in next-generation emergency response system to Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is on its way to becoming the first country in Asia to adopt the next-generation 911 emergency response and public safety system widely used in the US and other countries.

California-based NGA (Next Generation Advanced) is bringing into the Philippines its patented 911 emergency and safety hotline which, company officials said, would “introduce a disruptive technology that’s going to be a game changer.”

“Its like shifting from a brick phone to an iPhone,” Mike Amos, NGA co-founder and director of international sales, told The STAR.

With its cloud-based telecommunications solutions, Amos said NGA provides the highest level of voice, text, and video transmissions during emergencies. He said aside from enabling real-time communication, these reduce response times and improve outcomes in emergency situations.

“Our technology is unlike anyone else. When a call comes in, we can tell where the person is. We can tell you the closest ambulance, the closest police officer, the closest hospital, we record the entire call. We can share the recording of that call with the oncoming police or fire department. They can listen to the call while they’re driving. Also, we can video stream the call. So if there’s a fight, what would happen is we’d have the camera. The caller would get a link, they click on the link, they point at the fight. Now the police are pulling up as they’re watching the fight through live streaming,” Amos explained.

“You remember the brick phone? That’s the system you have now. The system we offer is the iPhone. That’s the difference. The system that’s been used in the US was built in 1968 when Nixon was president. So we’re changing that all across the United States.”

Don Ferguson, co-founder and CEO of NGA and served as a member of President Barack Obama’s technology and innovation brainstorming team on modernizing public safety communications, said after connecting two pilot areas in the Philippines – Morong, Rizal and Alaminos, Pangasinan – they are in talks with about 250 more local government units (LGUs) around the country for possible linking to the 911 system.

“We’ve been investing in the Philippines for the past three years. And we signed our first contract with Morong in April of this year. What we’ve done is we’ve invested a gigantic amount of money so now we’re ready to link up anywhere in this country,” he said.

He also credits Ishka Villacisneros – NGA’s chief financial officer – for bringing their cutting-edge technology to the Philippines.

“The main reason for me bringing it here is because I have a grandma in the Philippines, who’s turning 90 this month. It was because of the 911 calls that we made that we were able to save her life, so I was inspired to bring NGA’s expertise into the country,” Villacisneros said.

Ferguson added that one of the exciting things they are looking to offer within the next few months in the Philippines is a wearable device “that will track when you fall.”

“So for the elderly, if they fall or if they’re in a crash, it will take their heart rates, it’ll take their medical information and it will deliver that to our Emergency Response Center. We’re expanding so we put in the infrastructure. Now we’re expanding that to the so-called IoT or Internet of Things. Yes, one of those is like the smartwatch, so we’re looking to expand and to integrate with smartwatches to improve personal safety and even we were even looking at some incredibly inexpensive devices that are wearables. around the neck.”