Sumter County Strengthens 911 Reliability with Next Generation System Migration

Sumter County has successfully migrated its 911 network from Lumen’s Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) platform to Motorola Solutions’ Next Generation Core Services platform, strengthening the reliability, redundancy, and future readiness of the County’s emergency communications system.

The transition was completed shortly after 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, following extensive planning and testing. Residents experienced no interruption to 911 service during the migration.

The project is part of Sumter County’s continued investment in a modern and resilient public safety communications network as demand for emergency services grows. Sumter County’s 911 call volume has increased by an average of more than 10 percent annually, making system reliability and the ability to maintain service during outages, severe weather, and other abnormal conditions increasingly important.

“This is one of those improvements residents may never notice during a normal 911 call, and that is exactly what we want,” said Stephen Kennedy, assistant county administrator. “The work is happening behind the scenes to make sure our 911 system is reliable, resilient, and prepared to support the needs of our growing community.”

Next Generation 911, commonly referred to as NG911, represents the continued evolution of emergency communications from traditional voice-based systems toward secure, Internet Protocol-based networks that support more precise location information, text, and other forms of emergency data.

Sumter County’s new NGCS platform strengthens system resilience through redundant routing, carrier diversity, and additional backup connectivity. If a connection, facility, or component experiences a problem, the network has additional options to keep 911 calls routed to the appropriate public safety answering point.

The system also provides improved routing and failover capabilities. Geospatial routing allows different areas of Sumter County to be directed to designated backup locations when necessary, rather than relying on a single overflow location. It also supports connectivity and failover capabilities with neighboring 911 centers.

The transition also improves integration among the County’s existing public safety technologies. Motorola Solutions already provides Sumter County’s VESTA 911 call-handling technology used by both the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and Board of County Commissioners public safety answering points. Motorola also provides PremierOne Computer-Aided Dispatch technology used by Sumter County Fire & EMS and Animal Services.

Bringing the NGCS network and call-handling technology within the same public safety technology ecosystem improves system integration and simplifies support and troubleshooting. Instead of coordinating with multiple vendors when an issue occurs, the County can use a consolidated support process in which Motorola coordinates across the system’s components.

Planning for the transition began in summer 2025, followed by a formal project kickoff and site survey work in November 2025. Before the September migration, the County and its partners conducted extensive testing of call delivery, system redundancy, backup procedures, and overall system performance.

The migration also strengthens Sumter County’s ability to adapt as emergency communications technology continues to evolve. The County currently supports Text-to-911, and the upgraded infrastructure provides a more reliable and flexible foundation for the County’s 911 needs moving forward.

In 2020, Sumter County selected CenturyLink, now Lumen, to modernize its 911 network, and in 2022, added Lumen NG911 Core Services. The transition to Motorola NGCS builds upon that modernization while aligning Sumter County’s emergency communications infrastructure with the broader direction of Next Generation 911 technology and the National Emergency Number Association’s i3 standards.

“For our telecommunicators, the transition should be fairly seamless day to day, but behind the scenes it gives us greater redundancy, improved failover capabilities, and a stronger foundation for where 911 technology is headed,” Kennedy said. “Ultimately, this is about making sure our emergency communications system continues to perform when our residents need it most.”

For residents, calling 911 remains the same. The improvements are primarily behind the scenes, providing additional reliability, redundancy, and flexibility to help ensure that emergency calls continue to reach public safety professionals when they are needed most.

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