TMA Now Issuing Certificates of Verification for FirstNet Services
Certificates will be issued to qualifying alarm companies to support review of eligibility for FirstNet services.
MCLEAN, Va. — The Monitoring Association has begun issuing TMA Certificates of Verification to qualifying alarm companies to support review of eligibility for FirstNet services.
In April, TMA reached an agreement with AT&T to provide qualified alarm companies with a TMA Certificate of Verification that will enable them to apply for eligibility to use FirstNet services for alarm transport communications.
FirstNet is the nationwide public-safety wireless broadband network platform, built and deployed through a first‐of‐its‐kind public‐private partnership between the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) and AT&T. The FirstNet Authority is an independent authority of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
TMA will be issuing certificates to those companies that meet accepted alarm industry standards that result in the transmission of public safety-related alarms from systems designed primarily to protect life and/or property (e.g. robbery, burglary, unlawful intrusion, fire, emergency medical) to a central station monitoring facility that confirms and verifies the authenticity of the alarm and notifies a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for relay to a public safety agency for the purpose of initiating an emergency response.
Public‐safety related alarms are critical to alerting first responders of emergencies requiring their urgent response. For an alarm services company to apply to use FirstNet services for alarm transport communications as an extended primary user in support of public safety, it must first verify compliance through receipt of a TMA Certificate of Verification.
The alarm services company can then seek approval for eligibility to use FirstNet services by presenting the TMA Certificate of Verification to AT&T along with their contract(s) and/or service order(s), or to another alarm services company who will be providing FirstNet services from AT&T.
The TMA Certificate of Verification must be renewed every 12 months from when the initial TMA Certificate is issued.
“FirstNet services will enhance our ability to support public safety and first responders. I am very pleased the alarm industry will be able to use FirstNet services for alarm transport communications,” states Louis T. Fiore, chairman of the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) and past president of TMA.
Bob Sloan, COO of the FirstNet program at AT&T, explains delivering emergency alarms via the communications platform supports public safety, helping first responders get the information they need to respond to an alarm-initiated incident.
“By working with TMA as part of the rigorous eligibility process, we can help to make sure that alarms transmitted using FirstNet services are relevant to and align with the public safety mission and truly serve on the frontlines of notification should a public safety incident occur,” Sloan continues. “We’re pleased to see the thorough examinations TMA has conducted over the past six months before issuing its first Certificates of Verification.”
For more information, contact TMA Executive Director Celia Besore at (703) 660‐4913 or at [email protected].
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