Oregon’s State 9-1-1 Program establishes new testing lab in Stayton to improve system reliability

Oregon – Oregon’s State 9-1-1 Program announced the establishment of its new State 9-1-1 testing lab in Stayton, Oregon. This lab will enable the testing of new 9-1-1 system capabilities in a simulated environment before they are deployed in live settings.

Developed in partnership with METCOM 911 (Marion Area Multi-Agency Emergency Telecommunications) and Willamette Valley Communications Center (WVCC) Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), which serve Marion County, the project addresses concerns over the previous testing methods.

Previously, new 9-1-1 technology solutions were tested by deploying them directly in PSAPs, introducing significant risk to service availability and evaluation processes, an approach not considered industry best practice.

The Stayton facility, which also serves as a backup center for Marion County, ensures 9-1-1 services continue if the primary WVCC or METCOM PSAP goes offline. Thanks to the partnership with the State 9-1-1 Program, the facility now supports pre-deployment 9-1-1 lab testing capabilities.

The testing lab replicates the infrastructure used by PSAPs across Oregon, providing a secure and controlled environment for testing emergency call systems. It also includes network and equipment configurations, security access controls, facility monitoring, power management, and delivery of automatic location information (ALI).