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

Urgent Matters


Commentary

Interalia solution might be the aspirin for a giant 911 sector headache

Interalia solution might be the aspirin for a giant 911 sector headache

Solutions that filter out unintended 911 calls from wireless handsets--the so-called "butt dials"--can save significant time for telecommunicators that can be spent answering legitimate emergency calls.
  • Written by
  • 12th September 2013

A couple of weeks ago, we posted a video in which Mark Spross, communications manager for the Clackamas County (Ore.) Department of Communications, talked about a solution his center has deployed that filters out unintended 911 calls made from wireless handsets —the so-called “butt dials,” which plague public-safety answering points (PSAPs) from coast to coast.

That posting elicited an e-mail from Larry Hatch, assistant director of Washington County (Ore.) 911, who wrote that his county has used the same solution—the XMU+, which is produced by Calgary, Alberta-based Interalia—for the last five years. Hatch said that two other counties in the state deploy the solution—Land, in which the city of Eugene is located and Multnomah, in which the city of Portland is located. He claimed that the solution intercepts one-third of the wireless 911 calls made to his PSAP, having deemed them to be unintended.

“These are calls that the person on the other end has no idea that their call [were placed to] the 911 center. … You can hear people singing along with their radios, taking groceries out of shopping bags or talking with their kids,” Hatch said.

In the past, the big problem was cellular phones that had exposed keypads, according to Hatch. The “9” key was programmed to automatically dial 911 if it were depressed and held for a few seconds. It’s easy to imagine just how easy it was to make an unintended emergency call, especially when one slipped the phone into a back pocket. When flip phones hit the marketplace, Hatch thought the problem naturally would be solved. Think again. For reasons that he can’t explain, unintended calls continued to represent about one-third of all 911 calls fielded by his PSAP.

Somehow, Hatch learned of Interalia’s solution, which was being used in Reno, Nev. The solution doesn’t bother with trying to discern whether the call is intelligible; rather, it measures the amount of noise that’s on the line, according to Sebastien Di Meglio, Interalia’s global sales manager.

“When you talk into your phone, your voice is converted into current, and we pick up that current,” Di Meglio said. “It works like a voltmeter. Remember when we were kids, and we were recording tapes? If we spoke too loud, the needle would move into the red zone. With our solution, if the call is loud enough, it gets connected—if it isn’t, it doesn’t.”  Di Meglio added that the solution is configurable, so each agency can set the threshold for when a call gets connected.

When a call’s loudness falls below the threshold, the caller receives a message that instructs him to speak or press any key on the phone if he truly is experiencing an emergency. The message is then repeated in Spanish. If no response is received, the system automatically disconnects the call, without any involvement of a telecommunicator.

Hatch said that his agency sets the sensitivity low to guard against accidentally missing a legitimate emergency call. He further called the decision to deploy the solution a “no-brainer.” He estimated that that average 911 call fielded by his center lasts 1:15 and said that the solution blocked about 25,000 unintended 911 calls in the first six months of this year. Do the math, and you’ll find that the Interalia solution saved Washington County 911 more than 500 telecommunicator hours just in the first half of 2013. Now think about New York City, which receives about 4 million unintended 911 calls annually, according to Di Meglio. No brainer, indeed.

Interestingly, Di Meglio said that there wasn’t a lot of uptake when the company first introduced the solution. This was, in part, because agencies were afraid that they might unwittingly miss a legit 911 call, with tragic consequences, and/or they didn’t understand how the technology worked. But now, interest is picking up.

“A lot more people are using cell phones, so we’re seeing a resurgence, and we’re going to put the appropriate resources to it,” Di Meglio said.

Pardon the pun, but unintended 911 calls are a giant pain in the butt for every PSAP. In an era of diminished resources, when many centers are struggling just to keep up with legitimate emergency calls, this seems like a solution that definitely is worth a look.

Tags: PSAP Commentary Dispatch/Call-taking Public Safety Urgent Matters Commentary

Most Recent


  • AT&T claims LTE coverage edge, FirstNet build more than 99% done
    AT&T claims a 250,000-square-mile coverage advantage and that the planned five-year deployment of the FirstNet public-safety broadband network operating on the 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority is more than 99% complete as a contractual deadline approaches this week. AT&T—the contractor responsible for building and maintaining the FirstNet public-safety broadband system—made […]
  • Verizon
    Verizon Frontline supports U.S. Forest Service efforts against wildfires
    Verizon Frontline increased its support of entities responding to wildland fires during 2022, particularly the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which accounted for more than half of this activity by the carrier’s Crisis Response Team, according to the carrier. Cory Davis, Verizon’s assistant vice president for public safety, said that Verizon Frontline provided communications support to […]
  • Autonomous-vehicle consequences could include more traffic
    Most discussions about driverless, autonomous cars, have led to claims that they will help reduce congestion. Not so, says the RAC Foundation. It cites a UK government report which believes the opposite is true. Claiming that driverless cars could increase congestion by 85% by 2060. Presently, it’s thought that drivers lose more than 80 hours […]
  • Tesla Model 3 hacked in less than 2 minutes at Pwn2Own contest
    Researchers from France-based pen-testing firm Synacktiv demonstrated two separate exploits against the Tesla Model 3 this week at the Pwn2Own hacking contest in Vancouver. The attacks gave them deep access into subsystems controlling the vehicle’s safety and other components. One of the exploits involved executing what is known as a time-of-check-to-time-of-use (TOCTTOU) attack on Tesla’s Gateway energy […]

Related Content

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

Gallery: IWCE 2023 kicks off in Las Vegas dlvr.it/SlZlk4

28th March 2023
UrgentComm

AT&T claims LTE coverage edge, FirstNet build more than 99% done dlvr.it/SlXZfr

27th March 2023
UrgentComm

Verizon Frontline supports U.S. Forest Service efforts against wildfires dlvr.it/SlX1g3

27th March 2023
UrgentComm

Autonomous-vehicle consequences could include more traffic dlvr.it/SlWr67

27th March 2023
UrgentComm

Tesla Model 3 hacked in less than 2 minutes at Pwn2Own contest dlvr.it/SlVJg9

26th March 2023
UrgentComm

SES: JP Hemingway on satellites’ role in the digital divide, D2D and disasters dlvr.it/SlTL4h

25th March 2023
UrgentComm

House members introduce $15 billion NG911 funding bill dlvr.it/SlS0Lr

25th March 2023
UrgentComm

ADRF: Sun Kim discusses company’s new hybrid in-building wireless solution dlvr.it/SlRtSQ

25th 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.