https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

content


Leaving no PSAP behind

Leaving no PSAP behind

Today's 911 network is solely dedicated to enabling citizens to request emergency assistance by connecting a caller to a call-taker. The current system
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 1st June 2006

Today’s 911 network is solely dedicated to enabling citizens to request emergency assistance by connecting a caller to a call-taker. The current system performs this single mission quite well, day in and day out.

However, a next-generation emergency response infrastructure can more effectively support 911’s broader mission — both call taking and subsequent dispatch operations — and be leveraged to more directly support a wide range of additional critical public-safety communications needs, including mobile emergency voice and data communications. As public-safety agencies develop migration plans to upgrade their legacy 911 infrastructure, it is imperative to make sure the radio-based needs of mobile responders are accommodated as well.

In the current operating environment, the 911 network is on standby most of the time, prepared to provide access to emergency assistance on demand. A flexible next-generation operating environment can allow the emergency response community to use this excess capacity to support legacy voice radio communications needs, without adversely impacting 911’s life-saving mission. It also can support transporting and sharing of radio-based data communications, with the right information automatically provided at the right time, directly to the right responder.

Further, such a system can improve collaboration among a wider set of emergency responders by minimizing the limitations resulting from the current operating environment’s heavy reliance on premises-based systems. As a result, the capabilities of all users, regardless of their technical sophistication, can be elevated.

The opportunity is to deploy a next-gen platform that lets current operations to continue non-stop throughout the network but also offers new capabilities, regardless of the geographic location of the technology or the level of technical sophistication available to a specific jurisdiction.

Hurricane Katrina provides a real-world example of why such a technology migration is necessary and how a fully optimized next-generation emergency response network can help improve interoperability and operational flexibility.

From a technology perspective, one of the most interesting stories to come out of Katrina was the ability of public-safety and technology officials for the city of New Orleans to piece together an IP communications network in a hotel room. The ready availability of such a network to all public-safety agencies in the area could have dramatically improved the ability of emergency responders to do their jobs.

This could have been the case regardless of a specific agency’s level of technical sophistication or the functional limitations of premises-based infrastructure. The only caveat is that the system must be designed, deployed and maintained to the same performance levels as required for the current 911 network.

In such a network, feature functionality is delivered via a secure IP connection, not a technically isolated, proprietary message-delivery system. Theoretically, if a public-safety communications center became inoperable — as was the case for several agencies in the aftermath of Katrina — personnel could have quickly re-established operations anywhere using secure data links.

Emergency dispatch and response operations could have seamlessly continued without pause. By implementing a system that allows common equipment to be geographically redundant and separated from the users, public-safety officials have a higher degree of operational flexibility than provided in the current premises-based approach.

In addition, a network-based services-delivery platform enables the most advanced feature functionality to be available to all responders based on their authorized level of network access. With costs shared among multiple jurisdictions, and the network itself managed on behalf of public safety by a next-gen 911 service provider, economies of scale can be realized. Using network-based intelligence, all participating agencies benefit from cutting-edge technology without having to undertake expensive upgrades one at a time, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, while laboring to ensure continued compatibility.

During Katrina, a next-generation network also could have been leveraged to support more effective collaboration between a broader set of users, such as FEMA and National Guard personnel. This is possible because network system access is based on standard interfaces and authorization layers, not specific premises-based or in-vehicle equipment. With functionality provided through the network, getting the right information to the right responder at the right time — as contextually appropriate — is a matter of gaining authorized connectivity to a managed, secure and reliable IP-based system.

A specific example of where a next-generation system could have improved emergency response during Hurricane Katrina is in the challenges federal and emergency personnel from other jurisdictions faced trying to locate a specific address. Even had rescue personnel been familiar with the area, it was difficult to find addresses because many street signs were knocked down or underwater. Armed with more contextually relevant information — specifically text-based driving instructions or latitude/longitude coordinates, delivered through the optimized emergency response network — mobile responders may have been able to get to many places faster.

However, we must consider what it takes to deploy a robust and integrated set of IP-based applications as the technical foundation from which next-generation emergency mobile communications can operate. The entire public-safety community — and the public that it serves — expects that emergency communications will be operational 24 hours a day, every day.

Clearly, a robust IP-based next-generation 911 network must address this expectation. An effective next-generation 911 system that relies on IP must maintain the public-safety standards of security, reliability, performance and availability required of any life-safety system.

Local public-safety agencies interested in ensuring that their mobile emergency communication needs are integrated into a next-generation operating environment without adversely affecting the delivery of emergency services would be well-served to follow the current operating model.

Like the current 911 system, the next-generation system must be deployed over a dedicated, secure and highly reliable IP infrastructure. This system must be managed by an experienced and trusted 911 service provider, such as the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC), on behalf of multiple local governments. Strict rules and standards will need to define which personnel and organizations are granted network access.

Should a migration to IP not be part of a particular ILEC’s overall strategy, there are other companies with the required expertise to help a community cost-effectively make the migration to IP-based 911, leveraged to also support the needs of emergency responders that rely upon mobile technology.

Next-gen 911 has the ability to elevate the capabilities of all communications centers and improve collaboration among mobile responders, in addition to supporting expanded 911 functionality. But it must be designed and maintained to the same high performance standards as the current 911 network. Local public-safety communication center officials and state 911 coordinators can serve as good resources in determining the best alternative for your jurisdiction.


Stephen Meer is co-founder and chief technology officer of Intrado, a leading provider of 911 solutions. For more than 25 years, he has been helping government agencies develop solutions that address emerging technologies. He can be reached at [email protected].

MRT TV

Editor Glenn Bischoff talks to Chris Drake, operations manager for the City of New Orleans Emergency Operations Center, at HSNI 2006 about restoring vital communications services in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
www.mrtmag.com

Tags: PSAP content Policy Public Safety

Most Recent


  • Airbus U.S.: Rebecca Purcell, Bob Baumann discuss MCX, Agnet offerings
      Two members of the business and mission-critical solutions unit of Airbus U.S. Space & Defense—Rebecca Purcell, business analyst for business and mission-critical communications, and Bob Baumann, head of sales for business and mission-critical solutions—talk about the company’s diversified portfolio, including mission-critical communications offerings like MCX services over its Agnet platform. Attendees of the IWCE […]
  • Microsoft Outlook vulnerability could be 2023's 'It' bug
    Microsoft recently patched a zero-day vulnerability under active exploit in Microsoft Outlook, identified as CVE-2023-23397, which could enable an attacker to perform a privilege escalation, accessing the victim’s Net-NTLMv2 challenge-response authentication hash and impersonating the user. Now it’s becoming clear that CVE-2023-23397 is dangerous enough to become the most far-reaching bug of the year, security researchers are […]
  • Getting to know the how—and why—of the telecom cloud
    A funny thing happened during the pandemic: The giant cloud hyperscalers burst into the telecom industry. And now it’s time for everyone to get acquainted with them. Why? Well, it seems increasingly inevitable that a certain percentage – ranging from “a little” to “most” – of telecom operators’ network functions are going to run in […]
  • Zipline delivery drone docks, charges by itself
    Zipline has unveiled its new autonomous drone platform, designed to provide accurate everyday delivery to homes in the U.S., including in busy residential areas. Zipline’s previous delivery system worked by parachuting parcels into a specified area. Now the new drone, dubbed Platform 2 or P2 Zip, sends its goods down to customers via a tether […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Unfinished Business: Why NFPA and IBC fire codes need to kill the fire phone
  • Driverless-tech liability is all in the wording
  • Is an attacker living off your land?
  • New ThroughTek IoT supply-chain vulnerability announced

Commentary


Updated: How ‘sidelink’ peer-to-peer communications can enhance public-safety operations

  • 1
27th February 2023

NG911 needed to secure our communities and nation

24th February 2023

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Airbus U.S.: Rebecca Purcell, Bob Baumann discuss MCX, Agnet offerings dlvr.it/SlJNqW

22nd March 2023
UrgentComm

Microsoft Outlook vulnerability could be 2023’s ‘It’ bug dlvr.it/SlC3Hh

20th March 2023
UrgentComm

Getting to know the how–and why–of the telecom cloud dlvr.it/SlBbD1

20th March 2023
UrgentComm

Zipline delivery drone docks, charges by itself dlvr.it/SlBNWy

20th March 2023
UrgentComm

State and local leaders can alleviate the burden on public-safety personnel by tackling three workforce trends dlvr.it/SlBH89

20th March 2023
UrgentComm

6G is shaping up to disappoint, and the industry can blame itself dlvr.it/Sl918J

20th March 2023
UrgentComm

Change is coming to the network detection and response (NDR) market dlvr.it/Sl4cts

18th March 2023
UrgentComm

Telcos need to build businesses, as well as networks dlvr.it/Sl4cRR

18th March 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.