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Introduction


Verizon Frontline goes beyond providing essential infrastructure, connectivity, and devices – there is a dedicated workforce behind Verizon’s first responder network and its assets, that works tirelessly to uphold our commitment to Public Safety – even when things get tough.

Verizon understands how vital it is for first responder organizations to maintain mission critical communications and situational awareness to make informed decisions as quickly as possible. This is why Verizon is on the frontlines standing at the ready to support those who put their lives on the line for your families and communities. 
 

Hurricane Ian, an historic Category 4 storm devastating communities, leaving four million Floridians without power.

Verizon Frontline Support in Action


As communities who have been through a tragedy like southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian for example, no matter the level of emergency preparedness, not one entity can do it alone. Before, during and after Hurricane Ian, Verizon engineers worked tirelessly to increase the capacity and stability of the satellite, fiber and microwave links that connected cell sites, including 5G, back to the rest of the network so those sites could manage the high influx of data traffic coming from southwest Florida. Support that started before Hurricane Ian made landfall, and continued through restoration. This is just one example.

For nearly thirty years, Verizon has supported public safety and shared the challenges of first responders. Partnering with first responder agencies nationwide is a source of honor. These dedicated teams include the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team (VFCRT), the Satellite Solutions Group (SSG), the Major Emergency Response Incident Team (MERIT), hundreds of network engineers, 200+ drone pilots, and other emergency response teams. 

Beginning quotation mark  When Mother Nature unexpectedly disrupts communications, Verizon's Mobile Satellite Services can get agencies back in business by providing private IP customers with access to their networks from virtually any place in the U.S. within satellite coverage."

– Stuart Burson, Associate Director, Satellite Solutions Group

Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team (CRT)

The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team provides on-demand, emergency assistance to government agencies, first responders, frontline workers and communities—to help maintain mission-critical communications when they’re needed most. Supporting first responders, government agencies, non-profit organizations and our customers during an emergency, the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team is staffed by personnel across the country that have more than 445 years of combined experience in military and emergency response. This broad and vast set of experiences provides a unique competency during incidents when every second matters.

In 2022, the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team responded to over 1,600 requests from 750+ Public Safety customers and the communities they serve. During this support, we delivered over 5,500 Verizon Frontline solutions.


For urgent service requests, call the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team Hotline.

1-800-981-9558

verizon frontline crt team


Major Emergency Response Incident Team (MERIT)

For nearly 30 years, Verizon’s major emergency response incident team (MERIT), a specialized group of Verizon engineers, and its fleet, which consists of deployables like mobile command centers and satellite trucks, are deployed when necessary to restore basic communications and protect Verizon’s network assets and facilities during natural disasters or hazardous materials incidents.


 

Satellite Solutions Group (SSG)

Large satellite assets help deliver coverage in austere or disconnected environments. The Satellite Solutions Group (SSG) provides engineering design, integration, installation and advanced lifecycle support for Verizon's global satellite networks. These mobile satellite solutions provide dependable backup services and can help enhance disaster recovery when normal communications are disrupted.

In 2022, Verizon deployed satellite enabled mobile assets over 525 times not only for disasters but to augment communications for events like fairs, concerts and racing events. 

merit and ssg


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Verizon Frontline deployables



Verizon has nearly 600 deployable assets, and that number is growing, ready all across the nation. The team behind the big red check deploys network assets to regions of the country to help areas affected by devastation. In 2022, over 5,500 Verizon Frontline solutions -- network augmentation assets, deployables and rugged, emergency wireless devices, were delivered to first responders, public safety professionals and community organizations during emergency and non-emergency events. Check here to keep up-to-date with the team ready to respond to a crisis.

Verizon has emergency response solutions, assets and deployables stored and ready for deployment across the United States, including in an undisclosed location, 65 feet below Kansas City, known as the Verizon emergency preparedness cave, which  is ready to withstand everything from power outages to ice storms to EF-5 tornadoes. These assets, like generators, and deployables, like cells on wheels (COWs), are used for both non-crisis and crisis situations.


Deployables and Innovation


From deployables Big Red, to THOR and THOR’s Hammer, to Mutt, Verizon is dedicated to public safety communications innovation. Additional deployables include satellite picocells on trailers (SPOTs), satellite cell on light truck, (SATCoLTs), cell on wheels (COWs), cellular repeater on wheels (CROWs), generator on a trailer (GOATs), flying cell sites, and more.

 

Frontline network

The Verizon Emergency Resource Center supports the critical work of police, firefighters, EMS, and other first responders to help enhance not only public safety operations, but the way public safety functions as a whole. Whether snow, rain, fire, wind, quake or pandemic, the Verizon first responder network is ready. Verizon Frontline is the #1 network in public safety and has earned more than 175 J.D. Power Awards for Network Quality over the last 18 years.1

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Commitment


Verizon has assisted first responders and citizens during some of our nation’s most destructive disasters, loaning more than 6,000 devices during 9/11, more than 3,000 during Hurricane Katrina and more than 2,500 during Hurricane Sandy.

During the 2022 Wildfire season alone, Verizon responded to over 90 named wildfires, loaning more than 1,700 Verizon Frontline solutions, including tablets, hotspots, repeaters, smartphones, routers, or other needed devices, to first responders across the West during emergency response efforts.

Putting safety first means Verizon Frontline is a unified public safety platform built for real interoperability, providing the ability to communicate and share data among multiple agencies—regardless of what network, apps or devices they use.

A network is signals and wires, but Verizon’s commitment to supporting first responders on the front lines drives capabilities for today and innovations for tomorrow. That’s Verizon Frontline.

1 Based on quarterly third-party wireless voice market share data, Q1 2023.

Jamie Italiano has volunteered alongside the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response team and is Digital Marketing Content Manager for Verizon Business Group.

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