The Role of GIS and LIS in Next Generation 911 Across Jurisdictions

By E. J. Wasikowski – Vice President of Tribal Affairs and Strategy

Netmaker Communications, LLC.

The transition to Next Generation 911 (NG9-1-1) represents one of the most significant evolutions in public safety communications in decades. At the heart of this transition are two essential components: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping and Location Information Services (LIS). Together, they deliver the information required for the Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) to decern which Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to deliver a 9-1-1 call to, thus ensuring that every emergency call is routed correctly, validated against authoritative data, and delivered with actionable location information.

While the technical importance of GIS and LIS is clear, their role becomes even more critical when viewed through the lens of governance. Calls for help do not stop at jurisdictional boundaries, and the effective use of GIS and LIS determines whether a 9-1-1 system is capable of serving the public across local, state, federal, and tribal lands.

The primary distinction between Enhanced 911 (E-911) and NG9-1-1 lies in their design and capabilities. E-911 is a voice-centric system built on traditional phone lines, capable of delivering caller location and basic information to dispatchers. In contrast, NG9-1-1 is a modern, IP-based platform that supports not only voice but also text, video, images, and other forms of multimedia data. By leveraging Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Location Information Systems (LIS), NG9-1-1 provides more detailed, accurate, and real-time information to call takers and first responders — enabling faster, smarter, and more effective emergency response.

Local and Municipal Perspective

Cities and counties are the first line of public safety. In legacy systems, 911 calls were often routed based on telephone exchanges, which could easily misdirect a call near a jurisdictional boundary. NG9-1-1 replaces this with geospatial call routing, where GIS datasets define the authoritative service boundaries for each Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). LIS supplies the caller’s precise location, whether from a landline, mobile device, or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application.

This pairing ensures that a call made on one side of a county line does not get routed to the wrong PSAP. Instead, dispatchers receive the call with validated, “dispatchable” location information — a critical improvement for reducing response times and saving lives.

Statewide Integration

States are increasingly responsible for building and managing Emergency Services IP Networks (ESInets) that carry NG9-1-1 traffic. Here, GIS and LIS provide consistency across counties and municipalities. Authoritative statewide GIS datasets allow calls to cross county lines without routing failures. LIS provides accurate caller location, regardless of the service provider or device in use.

By integrating local data into statewide GIS frameworks, states can deliver seamless NG9-1-1 coverage, while also aligning with federal mandates such as Kari’s Law (2018) — requiring direct 911 dialing and on-site notification — and the Ray Baum’s Act (2018), which requires that all 911 calls convey a “dispatchable location.”  This creates a foundation for interoperability while ensuring compliance with national policy.

Federal Facilities and Installations

On federal property, whether a military base, a post office, or a national park, NG9-1-1 faces unique challenges. Calls made within these facilities may otherwise default to nearby municipal PSAPs, leaving local responders responsible for incidents on federal land where they may lack jurisdiction or access.

GIS addresses this by defining the authoritative boundaries of federal property and mapping them directly into the NG9-1-1 ecosystem. LIS ensures that every call made within those boundaries carries trusted, dispatchable location information. This approach enables calls to be routed directly to the appropriate federal responders, such as installation fire departments, security forces, or medical personnel, without delay or confusion.

The Department of War (DOW) [Formerly the Department of Defense (DoD)] has recognized the importance of NG9-1-1 and location-based services in its broader modernization efforts. DoW guidance such as DoD Directive (DODD) 8422.01 Public Safety Communications and DoW CIO memoranda on Emergency Communications Modernization emphasize the need for standards-based, IP-enabled emergency communications across installations. These directives establish NG9-1-1 compliant frameworks, including GIS and LIS integration, as part of DoW’s strategy to replace legacy Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) voice systems and ensure mission assurance for emergency communications on military installations worldwide.

Tribal Nations and Sovereignty

Tribal lands face some of the most persistent interoperability gaps in the public safety landscape. Many tribal PSAPs cover expansive rural or remote areas where legacy 911 systems have not been deployed consistently. As a result, calls made on tribal lands are too often routed to state or county PSAPs without tribal coordination.

NG9-1-1 modernization anchored in GIS and LIS empowers tribes to close this gap. GIS establishes clear jurisdictional boundaries for tribal lands, ensuring that calls originating within those boundaries are routed to the correct tribal or regional PSAP. LIS adds the critical layer of location accuracy, enabling dispatchers to pinpoint callers even in remote or mobile scenarios. Beyond the technical benefits, GIS and LIS implementation reinforces tribal sovereignty by ensuring that tribal nations control their emergency communications environment.

Jurisdictional Responsibility

A central challenge in NG9-1-1 deployment is defining who bears responsibility for providing and maintaining GIS mapping and LIS capabilities. Some argue that the Originating Service Provider (OSP) — the telephone companies that own and operate the public network — should assume responsibility, since they already deliver call setup and transport. However, providers often push back, stating that GIS and LIS maintenance falls outside their core business role.

Enterprises can and do deploy LIS solutions within their private telephone networks, ensuring location accuracy for VoIP systems inside office buildings or campuses. Yet this approach leaves open the question of residential users, who cannot reasonably be expected to build or maintain LIS data for their home phones.

In the wireless domain, carriers already support advanced location services through smartphone GPS, Wi-Fi positioning, and network-based enhancements, often delivered via partnerships with platforms such as RapidSOS. This raises a policy question: if carriers can successfully provide location accuracy for wireless calls, why should the same obligation not extend to VoIP services and even legacy analog landline networks? Requiring parity across all originating technologies would help close current gaps, ensuring that every call, regardless of the device or access method, is routed with the same level of accuracy and reliability.

From a policy standpoint, resolving this responsibility requires a layered approach. The FCC has authority to impose obligations on carriers, as seen in the implementation of Kari’s Law and the Ray Baum’s Act, both of which mandate direct dialing and dispatchable location for 911 calls. At the state level, 911 boards are increasingly tasked with building and maintaining authoritative GIS datasets to support NG9-1-1, ensuring consistency across counties and municipalities. For federal installations, the DoW CIO and related directives establish standards for emergency communications modernization, requiring that GIS and LIS integration be sustained as part of Unified Capabilities and mission assurance strategies.

Finally, for tribal nations, control of GIS and LIS data supports both emergency response and tribal sovereignty, ensuring calls originating on tribal lands route to the correct PSAP under tribal governance. Together, these policy levers demonstrate that while no single stakeholder can bear full responsibility, a shared governance model is essential to ensure parity, compliance, and trust across the NG9-1-1 ecosystem.

A Cross-Jurisdictional Imperative

The power of GIS and LIS lies not only in their technical precision but in their ability to unify disparate systems across local, state, federal, and tribal governance. Emergency calls do not recognize boundaries; a driver in distress on a state highway, a hiker in a national forest, or a family on tribal land all expect the same outcome — immediate access to the right responder.

GIS provides the authoritative map and jurisdictional boundaries, while LIS delivers the trusted “where” of the caller. Together, they ensure that NG9-1-1 delivers on its promise of faster, smarter, and more reliable emergency response for all people, regardless of where they live, work, or travel.

Conclusion

GIS and LIS are not optional add-ons to NG9-1-1; they are the foundation of modern emergency communications. They enable compliance with federal statutes, promote interoperability across jurisdictions, and respect the sovereignty of tribal nations. Most importantly, they guarantee that every 911 call reaches the right place, every time.

In an era when the public expects seamless connectivity and rapid emergency response, the integration of GIS and LIS into NGCS is both a technical necessity and a moral obligation. Local, state, federal, and tribal authorities that invest in these capabilities will not only strengthen their emergency communications infrastructure but also safeguard the trust and safety of the communities they serve.

References

National Emergency Number Association (NENA). NENA i3 Standard for Next Generation 9-1-1 (NENA-STA-010.3-2021).

Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Kari’s Law Implementation Report (2019).

FCC. Ray Baum’s Act Section 506 Requirements for Dispatchable Location (2020).

National 911 Program. Next Generation 911 Interstate Playbook (2021).

Government Accountability Office (GAO). Tribal Access to 911 and Emergency Communications Services (GAO-20-518, 2020).