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When an emergency happens in Collier County, Florida, the 911 calls go to one of the most high-tech communications centers in the U.S., where callers can send text and video from the scene to dispatchers.Moving to what’s known as an NG911or Next Generation 911system is a journey Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and Bob Finney, the county’s director of communication, have been on for much of the past decade.It’s a long way from Feb. 16, 1968, when Alabama’s then-House Speaker Rankin Fite made the nation’s very first 911 call in Haleyville, Alabama, on a bright red, rotary-style landline telephone. That ceremonial call came just 35 days after AT&T announced plans to use 911 as a nationwide emergency number.Today, most calls to 911 originate with cellphones, with dispatchers in upgraded centers using geo tracking to get accurate geographic locations from callers.But the response time in an emergency depends on the type of technology being used at any of the 6,000 emergency communications centers in the U.S. that receive 911 calls. There is no uniform emergency system in the U.S., so individual cities, counties, states or geographic regions are responsible for operating their own 911 call centers.While some states have fully updated to NG911 systems, others are still using legacy 911 systems that rely on antiquated equipment.“We’re just reminded in these last two weeks, with the flooding in Texas, just how important the work of 911 is,” said Michael Martin, CEO of RapidSOS, which provides infrastructure that passes critical data to emergency centers across the United States. The future is now for 911 The Collier County Sheriff’s Office covers 911 calls from an area of about 2,030 square miles (5,258 square kilometers) that stretches from sandy beaches at the southernmost tip of the Gulf Coast on Florida’s peninsula inland to the Everglades.It’s a region that has been ravaged by hurricanes this century, including Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricanes Ian and Milton most recently.That’s why Sheriff Rambosk wanted a high-tech emergency operations center.“We just believe that when we can reduce the response time using technology, it will improve safety and survivability of those calling in,” said Rambosk, who has been sheriff since 2009. “And that’s really what we’re all about, keeping people safe and rescuing them when they need it.”Today 61 full-time employees and three part-timers staff two emergency operations centers around the clock. They rely on data that RapidSOS collects from connected buildings, devices, vehicles and even smart watches to send first responders to emergency scenes. The baseline data is provide free of charge to all 911 centers, Martin said. Mixing technology with emergency response As Hurricane Helene was tracking toward north Florida last September, forecasters were predicting it could hit Tallahassee as a major Category 3 storm. Officials in Leon County, which serves the state’s Capitol and nearby counties on legacy 911 equipment, reached out to Collier County, some 430 miles (692 kilometers) to the southeast, to see if they could take over emergency calls if the storm knocked their center out.Helene moved to the east of Tallahassee, but Collier County was prepared to help if needed.“Because of the partnership with Rapid SOS, they were able to create a map to where not only did we see our own calls, but we could see exactly where the calls were coming in Tallahassee,” Finney said.Collier County has also partnered with Charleston, South Carolina, as a backup 911 center. Each region is fully prepared to take on 911 calls for the other in case their emergency system goes down for any reason.It’s a similar story in North Carolina, where legislation in 2017 helped establish funding for a next generation 911 system, said Pokey Harris, who serves as president of the National Association of State 911 Administrators and executive director of the North Carolina 911 Board.Harris said Hurricane Helene provided validation for the upgraded system by being able to direct 911 calls from areas that were devastated by the storm to other parts of North Carolina that were not affected.“During Helene, if a citizen could reach a dial tone, even though their local 911 center may have been impacted because of infrastructure devastation, another center somewhere in the state could answer their call,” Harris said. No federal funding for next-generation systems Next Generation 911 systems aren’t cheap.“There has been no federal funding for 911,” Martin, of RapidSOS said. “It has been in various draft formats as long as I’ve been doing this and it’s never gotten through Congress.”There is also no federal oversight of 911, he said.“It’s really quite remarkable how well 911 works despite those challenges,” Martin said. “I think it’s a testament to the people of 911, not the technology.” Freida Frisaro, Associated Press
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Organizers of the recent “No Kings Day” and “Hands Off” pro-democracy protests against the Trump administration have planned another nationwide day of action, dubbed “Good Trouble Lives On,” for this Thursday, July 17, which will focus on promoting racial justice and voting rights. The organizers chose this date to commemorate the five-year anniversary of Congressman John Lewis’s passing, a civil rights leader who frequently used the phrase good trouble,” and famously said, “get in good trouble, necessary trouble and help redeem the soul of America”meaning, when necessary, one should protest injustice. Lewis, who served in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 2021 representing Georgia’s 5th congressional district, was a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement, participating in the first mass sit-ins and Freedom Rides. He spoke at the March on Washington in 1963 alongside Martin Luther King Jr. His speech on that August day ended: “‘Wake up America! Wake up!’ For we cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient”a sentiment echoed by many speakers at the many protests this year. Heres everything you need to know about the “Good Trouble Lives On” July 17 protests. What is the ‘Good Trouble Lives On’ July 17 protest? Nationwide protests in all 50 states are aimed at carrying Lewis’s legacy forward with a flagship event scheduled to take place in Chicago, and key additional events to be held in Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; Annapolis, Maryland; St. Louis; and tentatively San Francisco. “Good Trouble Lives On: John Lewis National Day of Action is rooted in justice and peace,” Christine Wood and Allison Pulliam, codirectors of Declaration for American Democracy Coalition, one of the main organizers of the event, told Fast Company. “For the past five years, we have fought to protect our civil liberties that generations of marginalized Americans have worked tirelessly to secure.” “In only his first few months in office, Trump has pulverized that progress, attacking our right to vote, cracking down on free speech and our right to protest, deporting people without due process, cutting crucial programs, and DEI initiatives, defunding livesaving research,” they added. Who is behind the July 17 protest? The main organizing groups of the “Good Trouble Lives On” protests are the Transformative Justice Coalition, Black Voters Matter, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, League of Women Voters, the Declaration for American Democracy Coalition, and Mi Familia en Acción, along with a coalition of other groups. How big is the ‘Good Trouble Lives On’ protest? We expect at least several hundred thousand people will attend across the country, a spokesperson for “Good Trouble Lives On” told Fast Company. As of Wednesday, July 9, some 1,200 events and rallies were already confirmed. Since Trump took office in January, millions of Americans have taken to the streets and organized rallies across the nation in record numbers from big cities to rural towns, in both blue and red states. For more information about the July 17 protests and other scheduled events in your area, go here.
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If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Zohran Mamdani should feel extremely flattered. Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in New Yorks Democratic mayoral primary last month, just kicked off his campaign as an independent in the general electionwith a launch video that could generously be described as an homage to Mamdanis acclaimed video style. While the clip may signal Cuomos willingness to play the social media game on Mamdanis terms, it seems destined to simply highlight and magnify the contrast between their efforts. Perhaps the most striking thing about Cuomos new launch video is the stark difference from his previous one. Released back in March, the former governors opening salvo in the primary was a 17-and-a-half minute dirge about the dire straits in which New Yorkers currently find themselves, and Cuomos unique ability to lead them into the light. Speaking indoors and direct-to-cameraas he did during the daily briefings that boosted his national profile in the early days of COVIDCuomo struck a moderate tone about the threatening feel of the city and the importance of supporting the NYPD. He closed by essentially asking New Yorkers to complete his redemption arc, without dwelling at all on what hes done that needs redeeming. (Cuomo resigned in 2021 after 13 women accused him of sexual harassment, which he has denied, attributing his resignation to “political pressure and media frenzy.”) That video, however, debuted before Mamdani earned wide praise for his steady output of engaging campaign videos. Short, splashy, and sunny (in both light and tone), not to mention overwhelmingly New York-centric, Mamdani’s clips gave voters a flavor of the candidates personality and policy promises. They often racked up views in the millions. The extent to which Mamdanis video teamwhich includes director of digital Andrew Epstein, videographer Donald Borenstein, and production agency Melted Solidshelped Mamdani win is hard to gauge without polling. However, judging by Cuomos first video since losing to Mamdani in the primary, the former governor seems convinced those videos helped quite a lot. From doom and gloom to hope and change Cuomos campaign relaunch video, released just after confirming his candidacy on Monday, clocks in at a breezy 90 seconds. The new clip features the former governor out on the leafiest streets of Manhattans Upper East Side, shaking hands and taking selfies with supporters. All the while, he and the city are bathed in lighting that suggests someone on his team simply ordered the Mamdani filterand that New York has magically morphed into a less threatening place than it was four months ago. Its quite a departure from Cuomos previous video. “Youre not going to out-Mamdani Mamdani, a representative for Cuomos campaign told Fast Company in a statement. However, we readily admit that our social media game during the primary wasnt resonating. We own that and we made some changes to better reach New Yorkers.” Fast Company also reached out to Mamdani’s team for comment, but did not hear back before press time. The problem with Cuomos new Mamdani-fied approach is that, by the very nature of its clear imitation, it lacks authenticity and smacks of desperation. Footage of Mamdani greeting his supporters on the street may have resonated with voters not because theyd never seen a candidate do such a thing before but because of how much those supporters light up when they see him and how he appears to effortlessly mirror their energy. Mamdanis videos also wisely include audio of those supporters interacting with the candidate, rather than relegating them to b-roll footage as Cuomo didmaking them feel less like flesh-and-blood people than political props. Its also difficult to take the newfound positivity of Cuomos video seriously when he still cant resist mispronouncing his opponents name in it, at this late date, after previously doing so repeatedly, with Mamdani correcting him in real time on the primary debate stage last month. (A new Mamdani video that debuted Tuesday morning begins with an outtake of the candidate gently correcting Brooklyn Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn on her pronunciation of his surname, adding You know what happened to the last guy that got it wrong, and then both sharing a hearty laugh.) Reactions speak louder than words Social media observers immediately clocked the familiar feel of Cuomos campaign relaunch videoalong with the visible boom mic in one early shotand called it out on both X and Bluesky. The @DNC has clearly decided that Zohran won because of slick, man on the street Social Media videos. Not his overwhelmingly popular policy, charisma, compassion. Oh and Cuomo still doesn't say it right: It's Mamdani. https://t.co/ZIo55ICJY1— marty (@MartyOropeza) July 14, 2025 Cuomo announces his general election run by proving the Mamdani sauce ain't so easy to cook up on the spot with half the ingredients— Corey Atad (@coreyatad.com) 2025-07-14T18:49:22.168Z The most brutal response, however, may have come from Mamdani himself. Even before Cuomo confirmed he would remain in the face, Mamdani caught wind of his opponent filming an ad, and tweeted about it. We got him making man on the street videos with a guy in Carhartt, Mamdani noted. By next week, he’ll be sipping adeni chai and eating khaliat al nahl. After the eventual video surfaced online, Mamdani apparently decided not to say anything, but rather let his supporters enthusiasm do the talking. He replied to Cuomos tweet of the video with just a link to the donation section of his own website. Mamdanis reply has so far received nearly three times as many retweets as Cuomos, and roughly 32 times as many likes. Perhaps well find out next whether Cuomo is as inspired to approximate his opponents social media dunking prowess as he is Mamdanis videos.
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