Importance of the Provisioning Boundary

This course introduces the concept of the provisioning boundary, the role of the boundary in provisioning GIS data to the Spatial Interface (SI) for use in the ECRF/LVF and the importance of accurate provisioning boundaries. 

The provisioning boundary is a polygon layer that defines the area of GIS data provisioning responsibility.  The geographic extent of the provisioning boundary must be agreed to by neighboring data providers and should be a seamless coverage with no intentional gaps or overlaps.  The purpose of the provisioning boundary is to delineate the spatial extent within which a single data provider will provision the civic address and emergency service boundary data.  The data provider must ensure that they are including seamless GIS data for the entire geographic area within their provisioning boundary extent. 

The Provisioning Boundary helps determine the entity responsible for data discrepancy resolutions.

The provisioning boundary will be used during additional data validation and QC processes to verify that a single data provider’s GIS data is completely contained within that provider’s provisioning boundary.  Any GIS features extending past or outside of that boundary is considered an error as data outside that boundary would be considered the responsibility of the neighboring PSAP and data provider. As a result, much like the PSAP boundary, the development and refinement of the provisioning boundary should be completed in coordination with neighboring PSAPs and data providers to ensure seamless coverage across borders.

Specific VEP workflows and software functionality to address the following considerations are detailed in other courses in the DATAMARK VEP Support Center: 

• Road centerlines that cross the boundary.
• Road centerlines that are coincident or near coincident with the boundary.
• Address point placement for parcels near and/or split by the boundary.
• Use of snap points at the border.
• Coordination with neighboring data providers to reduce data duplication at borders.
• Updates and/or changes to the provisioning boundary must be done in coordination with neighboring data providers.

For additional guidance and specifications, please refer to NENA Standard for NG9-1-1 GIS Data Model (NENA-STA-006.1-2018).