RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Will future alerts be much more than a text scroll on screen and some “beeps”? Could be.

The next generation of digital TV broadcasting technology recently took another step toward reality and deployment recently through testing in North Carolina.

A partnership between the state of North Carolina and broadcasters led to what they are calling the “first successful” emergency announcement via a 911-center that utlized the forthcoming ATSC [Advanced Television Systems Committee] 3.0 technology, also called “Next Gen.”

Capitol Broadcasting, the corporate parent of WRAL TV, WRAL.com and WRAL TechWire as well as numerous other ventures, worked with the NC Department of Information Technology and UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina for the test.

“We reached a significant milestone last week when we successfully transmitted and received a 911 dispatch over the WRAL Experimental ATSC 3.0 (Next-Gen TV) transmission system,” said Fred Engel, Senior Director of Technology for UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina. “This is the first time NextGen TV has been used in this fashion. Next steps include bringing a number of subject matter experts together to UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina for a whiteboard session on how best to collect, organize, distribute and display emergency messaging to first responders.”

At the first commercoal demonstration of the ATSC 3.0 technology earlier this year, Capitol, NBC and the National Association of Broadcasters showed how exceptionally crisp images can be blended with local broadcasts while adding local data and interactive, personalized features that make viewing about as personal as your own Facebook page. [See photo with this post.]

The 911 test took place over air on May 17 in Raleigh.

“Emergency dispatchers will reach first responders faster by utilizing available capacity within the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) next generation broadcast technology,” the partnership announced through the NC Department of IT.

“In life or death situations, a matter of seconds can literally be a matter of life or death; reducing response time saves lives.”

Labeling the test a “breakthrough,” the partners declared that “ATSC 3.0 offers new capabilities through advanced transmission and audio/visual coding techniques that extend its functionality beyond consumer uses to include the public safety community.”

The test took place after 18 months of development.

“Working with UNC-TV, WRAL and others in the first responder community, along with several vendor partners, these first test announcements will be the basis for further development of the concept which seeks to deliver critical dispatch information to first responders in a far more expedient fashion utilizing the capabilities of ATSC 3.0,” said Red Grasso of North Carolina FirstNet. FirstNet is the nation-wide first responders’ high-speed network being built by AT&T.

UNC-TV is the only statewide broadcasting network with stations from the coast to mountains.

In the announcement, Eric Boyette, North Carolina’s chief information officer, noted that the “new digital television standard will serve the public in innovative ways and it is exciting to see that the first responder community will have a place in this vision right from the start.”