City of Bristol, Virginia

300 Lee Street, Bristol, Virginia 24201 (276) 645-7333

FAX: (276) 821-6278
Website: www.bristolva.org

March 12, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release of Next Generation 911 (NG911)

The City of Bristol, Virginia has been preparing for the federal and state mandated upgrade
to the upcoming NextGen 911 system & criteria for addressing standards. This is a “life
safety” matter to improve emergency response time and location accuracy in the event you
dial 911. Because most 911 systems were originally built using analog rather than digital
technologies, public safety answering points (PSAPs) across the country need to be
upgraded to a digital or Internet Protocol (IP)-based 911 system, commonly referred to as
Next Generation 911 (NG911). As part of this process, over 7,600 addresses and over 150
new street segment names throughout the City of Bristol, Virginia will change. Notifications
of new addresses will be mailed to property owners beginning on March 15, 2021. Here are
certain facts related to the change:

• The goal of implementing the NextGen 911 system is to make it easier to locate and
identify correct addresses for 911, as well as mail & package delivery, online
mapping accuracy, etc.
• In 2019, the City received 33,224 calls to 911 for help. 76% of those calls were
initiated from mobile phones (28% of all 911 mobile calls had no location).
• The City’s addressing system is now based on linear distance and block ranging for
better location.
• The City added almost 1,700 address points to the 911 system during this process
for better location of callers.
• 327 road segment names were changed that were duplicates or presented
challenges for location in the field.
• Over 100 new street names have been added to improve location accuracy.
• The City was divided into 25 different geographic zones to improve all emergency
response.
• Rapid SOS was implemented, which reduces caller location error when 911 is dialed
from mobile phones. This update improves the caller’s location accuracy from 1000
feet to nearly 10 feet and also calculates elevation.
• Text-message to 911 capability has been added.
• We have connected with USPS, BVUA, Point Broadband, and CenturyLink to update
the address changes.
• Changes are being submitted to many online mapping services for updates and
corrections to their services.

Please direct any questions to Kelly Miller, GIS Coordinator, at 276-645-7294.