From an at-home therapy session to a job interview, we rely on communications networks to connect our daily lives, yet the trade workforce that keeps those networks running remains largely unrecognized.
This is especially true in emergency communications where the stakes are higher, the pressure constant and the technology more complicated, yet few people understand the technology behind 911 calls — and what's involved in getting help to exactly when and where it’s needed.
Robert Reifendifer has spent nearly 25 years in this world as a technician servicing Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), the centers where 911 calls are received and routed to first responders. His job sits between backend engineering and frontline dispatch — making sure the technology works flawlessly when someone dials those three numbers. The day-to-day can involve anything from installing and testing equipment to managing network upgrades, troubleshooting system issues and staying current with emerging standards — all serving as a kind of "mid-escalation point" with network troubles.
“I treat every situation like my family might be calling 911,” he told Broadband Nation.
As a senior technician who’s supported PSAPs all over the country, he said learning how to temper and “shield" himself from the anxieties and pressures of the job took time.
“Early on, I was a little more nervous in those situations. I mean, I think anybody will be in public safety. There are lives on the line, every second counts,” he explained. “At this point in my career, there's not really that nervousness or anxiousness there. I can only do what I can do, and so I've learned to mitigate that pressure somewhat.”
Critical work behind the curtain
Reifendifer first transitioned from a Verizon lineman position to supporting 911 network upgrades occurring in the early 2000s. “They [older technicians] didn't necessarily have the networking or computer skills to handle the migration that was occurring at the time,” he recalled.
While he was initially brought in for technical experience, beyond the circuits, Reifendifer found his interest piqued by the emergency communication environment. Despite being more pressure and even more behind the scenes than the average lineman or premise technician.
“You're doing critical work, and the thanks are never going to be there directly, per se,” he said. There may be anecdotes from a dispatcher on how a situation unfolded, but often it remains an internal understanding.
“To me, it's kind of like a hidden thing. You have to be able to recognize that,” noted Reifendifer. “You've got to be able to do that yourself because you're not going to be in the newspaper saying you saved the day,”
It is a lot of work to evaluate the broad scope of technology and do so under pressure of life-threatening situations for the people you support. “That can be daunting,” he acknowledged, especially when starting out. But compensation tends to reflect that reality.
Network technician roles can already be a lucrative area of broadband trade work, and the added 911 demands — from stress to required knowledge and training — can often result in higher pay.
PSAP service technicians make an average of $88k a year, according to Glassdoor. Many roles, especially after establishing experience, additional training and certifications, pay well over six figures.
But solid salaries are not always enough to sustain such a demanding area of technical work, and for Reifendifer, the human impact is what's kept him around so long.
“It's very rewarding,” said Reifendifer, “You know that what you do allows people to get the help they need every day in their worst situation. When you're getting beat up in this job, because there's a lot of work, or it's a high severity situation, or whatever it is, that [purpose] always stands to the forefront for me.”
Evolving technology: the constant in daily 911 tech work
Evolving technology is what brought Reifendifer into this sector, and it remains a baseline for his day-to-day job — working with layered legacy and next-gen equipment.
“Right now, in the United States, it's a very mixed bag. We still have a lot of older, more antiquated stuff out there, just because the infrastructure isn't there to merge it to next-gen yet,” he detailed. The process is riddled with requirements and standards to ensure smooth transitions when lives are on the line.
That means techs inevitably need to have a lot of knowledge of the old and the new — and switch easily between them.
“There's a lot of change in this environment, new versions, a lot of documentation to keep up with,” said Reifendifer. “You really have to be self-motivated to take some classes, push out to other techs,” and document that knowledge as things migrate. Reifendifer is currently in the process of digitizing nearly 100 notebooks from the last 25 years in the industry. “Some of that stuff is still fundamentally sound for where we apply this now.”
Today, next-gen inevitably means some degree of AI integration.
Reifendifer has already this seen take shape in his sector, particularly around customer premise equipment (CPE) — in this case referring to Intrado’s call-handling system installed at PSAP sites. Applications of text translation and voice transcription, including cross-language translation, are helping dispatchers more quickly assess the situation and caller needs, helping remove barriers like language and poor audio quality.
“That's an exciting environment going forward,” said Reifendifer. “You know, a lot of people are kind of tenuous about AI, but the things that it can do in the 911 world, I'm excited about, and what I've seen so far is very nice.”
He clarified that AI being intentionally integrated and not needlessly “thrown out there” makes all the difference in this particular evolution.
“AI is new, it's hot, it's exciting, but it's got to be managed, and we don't want to put something out there that's going to put a dispatcher in a tough spot,” he argued. Done well, it could be a great help to dispatchers and make their lives easier before it directly affects technicians’ duties.
Still, no technology replaces the mindset it takes to show up to a job where seconds make a difference for someone’s safety. That’s why Reifendifer tells anyone considering the path to see it up close. Whether a new tech or completely new to the field, he advised anyone interested to reach out to a local PSAP and ask about taking a tour and talking to dispatchers and technicians.
Not everyone — not even every technician — is suited to the urgency of the 911 environment, but others like Reifendifer thrive in it. For those who do, it's a rewarding and lucrative trade career critically supporting people in urgent need.
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