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When you dial 9-1-1, you expect help to arrive fast. But behind the scenes, that speed depends on something invisible to most of us: highly accurate geospatial data. Every street, address, boundary, and landmark must be precise and up to date. If it’s not – if the data is outdated, inconsistent, or incomplete – callers can be misrouted, first responders can lose precious minutes, and lives can be put at risk.

In the Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) era, the reliance on GIS data is even more critical. Legacy systems that once leaned heavily on phone company records are being replaced by digital, location-based call routing. That means the accuracy of GIS data is no longer a “nice to have” – it’s the backbone of how calls are delivered to the right Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and dispatched to the right emergency crews.

Yet many agencies are still struggling with the old way: manual, fragmented, error-prone methods of managing GIS data. This creates silos, slows updates, and introduces risk at the very moment agencies need certainty.

That’s where 1Spatial comes in. By replacing manual cleanup with an automated, rules-based approach, we help agencies bring confidence and consistency to their NG9-1-1 data. The result: data that’s always current, always accurate, and always ready when lives are on the line.

To understand the differences, let’s contrast the traditional, manual, fragmented approach with the 1Spatial way – an automated, rules-based method that brings new confidence to NG9-1-1 data.

The "Old Way": Manual, Fragmented, and Risky

Under the old way, GIS teams often perform manual checks on 9-1-1 datasets, using spreadsheets or eyeballing maps to catch errors. This approach is tedious and error-prone. Every jurisdiction might validate data differently, leading to inconsistent validation from one locale to another. In practice, neighboring counties must coordinate and double-check each other’s maps to ensure roads and address points line up at boundaries – a laborious process that can take months. 

With disjointed, legacy systems, agencies sometimes face costly “rip-and-replace” upgrades just to keep up with evolving standards. This fragmented landscape creates proprietary silos of data. Often, one vendor’s system can’t easily share data with another’s, and validation tools may operate like black boxes. Agencies might send data off for compliance checks and get back a report without understanding why certain records failed – hardly the transparency you want for mission-critical information. 

Moreover, many legacy solutions don’t scale well: a tool built for a big state may be too expensive or complex for a small county, while a patchwork method that works in one city may not extend to a statewide deployment. 

In short, the old way is slow to adapt, limited in scalability, and leaves users in the dark. And when bad data slips through, the price is paid in emergency response: misrouted calls, delayed dispatch, and frustrated GIS staff scrambling to fix issues on the fly.

The 1Spatial Way: Automated, Unified, and Trusted

Now imagine a better way – the 1Spatial way – where automation and smart rules replace tedious manual fixes. 1Spatial’s NG9-1-1 solutions (like 1Locate and 1Engage) introduce “automated, rules-based validation” that checks data for you. Instead of ad-hoc QA, you configure business rules once and let the system flag errors across all your datasets consistently. Every road, address, or boundary is validated in a consistent, repeatable, and FCC-compliant process. This means no more guesswork. And the same standards are applied everywhere, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. The result? Data that meets NG9-1-1 standards and no 9-1-1 call is ever misrouted due to bad data.

Crucially, 1Spatial’s approach doesn’t force you to abandon your existing GIS investments. When you combine the 1Engage extension for ArcGIS Pro with the Esri Address Management Solution, you get a full end-to-end address management solution through provisioning to NG9-1-1 core services. That means you don’t have to rip out what already works. Rather, 1Engage allows analysts to validate, clean, and prep NG9-1-1 data without leaving the Esri environment. This tight integration saves time and training, and it minimizes disruption and cost during the NG9-1-1 transition.

The 1Spatial way is also about transparency and standards. Instead of a black box, it uses open standards and interoperates with core NG9-1-1 systems (like the Location Validation Function and Emergency Call Routing Function). Users see exactly why a piece of data failed a rule and how to fix it, building trust in the data. The rules engine aligns with national standards (NENA’s NG9-1-1 i3 standard and FCC guidelines) and can even adapt to state-specific requirements. In one centralized workflow, you can automatically check compliance against the NENA schema, FCC rules, and your local policies – providing full confidence in data quality and compliance.

Finally, the 1Spatial approach is built to scale. Whether you’re a single county PSAP or a multi-state telecom provider, the platform fits. It supports flexible Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and on-premise deployments, fit for single PSAPs, statewide rollouts, or telecom providers.

This scalability means the same automated process can handle a small town’s data or an entire state’s, adjusting as you grow. And 1Spatial doesn’t just drop software on your doorstep – it’s a customer-first partnership with consulting, training, and ongoing support to ensure your success. 

In short, the 1Spatial way transforms fragmented, inconsistent data into accurate, interoperable, and compliant information, so every emergency call routes correctly, every time.

Why It Matters and How to Get Started

The difference between the old way and the 1Spatial way is more than just night and day – it could also be life and death. NG9-1-1 promises to improve emergency response, but only if we manage the underlying data right. 

Automation, integration with ArcGIS, scalability, transparency, and rigorous standards compliance are the game-changers that turn NG9-1-1 into a working reality. Agencies in numerous states are already embracing this approach to ensure “every call, every time” is routed properly, instead of leaving it to guesswork and error-prone manual effort.

The old way of manual, fragmented GIS management is a dead end, especially as demands grow. The 1Spatial way offers a proven, modern path to data confidence in NG9-1-1. It’s a path where GIS professionals can focus on analysis and improvement rather than hunting for errors, and where public safety leaders can sleep easier knowing data won’t be the weak link in an emergency.

Ready to explore the 1Spatial way for your organization? 

It’s easier than you might think. Take 1Engage for an interactive spin for a seamless try-before-you-buy experience. 

We also invite you to contact the 1Spatial team to see how a rules-based, automated approach can transform your NG9-1-1 data management. 

The goal is simple – every emergency call, routed to the right place, at the right time, every time. The old way made that a challenge; the 1Spatial way makes it achievable. Now it’s your move to make the switch.
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