Tuesday, February 15, 2022

FEMA looks to AT&T to modernize disaster response communications

AT&T has been awarded four separate contracts valued at $167 million over 5 years to modernize the communication capabilities of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which coordinates federal response to disasters within the United States. FEMA is already a FirstNet subscriber.

AT&T will transition FEMA voice and data systems, wireless LAN capabilities, Contact Center Capability Modernization Program (C3MP), and The National Warning System from legacy technologies. The goal is a modernized voice and data architecture with a flatter network topology (Layers 2 and 3) that reduces the agency’s enterprise network footprint; lowers management and maintenance resource support costs; increases security and availability; and provides a platform for future scalability. Access options include FirstNet resources with always-on priority/preemption and Band 14 spectrum, as well as satellite and Wi-Fi 6. The upgrade program will also modernize FEMA's in-bound contact center capabilities for disaster survivors. AT&T will provide FEMA a protected, resilient, survivable, and recoverable contact center solution as well as a path to migrate C3MP to the cloud.

“The FEMA mission is noble in intent, expansive in reach, and complex in delivery. As climate events and their impacts continue to increase in number and scope, more and more U.S. citizens turn to FEMA for help. We’re proud to stand beside FEMA and modernize its communications capabilities now and for the future,” said Stacy Schwartz, Vice President, Public Sector and FirstNet, AT&T.

https://about.att.com/story/2022/chosen-to-modernize-fema-communication-capabilities.html