https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • 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
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • 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
  • 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
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • 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

Alerting Systems


News

California 911 centers access OnStar crash data via RapidDeploy

California 911 centers access OnStar crash data via RapidDeploy

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 26th March 2021

California 911 centers now can receive vehicle-crash data and injury-severity predictions from OnStar through the RapidDeploy’s RadiusPlus map application that has been installed at the 450 public-safety answering points (PSAPs) in the state, according to an announcement released this week.

Budge Currier, 911 and emergency-communications branch manager for California, said the initiative will enhance the ability for 911 centers to process quickly the considerable amount of telematics information generated by OnStar when a vehicle crash occurs.

“With the existing technology that we have in our PSAPs today, we didn’t really have a way for that to be displayed on the call-answering equipment, which answers the 911 call, or on computer-aided dispatch, which is what they use to dispatch resources,” Currier said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “There was this gap where there was this data that could be used to save lives, but there was no way to display it in every PSAP in California.

“The data’s available, and now you need a way to display it in the PSAPs. That’s where RapidDeploy comes in. We’ve deployed their technology to every PSAP in the state, and they’ve entered into this agreement with OnStar, where OnStar will send that data, and it can be displayed in the PSAP by RapidDeploy. Now you’ve got access to that crash data in every single PSAP in California, through this RapidDeploy software.”

Catherine Bishop, senior manager for OnStar Emergency Services, said this marks the first time that 911 centers will be able to receive crash telematics data directly—something the company has wanted to do since OnStar began collecting the information from vehicles in 2004.

“We’ve done a couple of pilots with NHTSA and the DOT in the past, but in those situations, it’s primarily been just test data,” Bishop said. “So, it’s very exciting to have real-time crash data available when it’s actually going to make the difference.

“Before I came to OnStar, I ran a 911 center. Learning about OnStar, I was thinking that getting this data to public safety was right around the corner, and I’ve been with OnStar now for 17 years … Getting data to public safety is definitely one of my lifetime goals, so I’m glad to see it happening.”

Some of OnStar’s telematics include the speed of the vehicle at the time of a crash, the point of impact, and which passengers were wearing seatbelt. OnStar also uses this information and automatically puts it into an algorithm that calculates the likelihood that one of the passengers in the front seat has suffered a severe injury, so responders can better focus their efforts while on scene.

“For the last decade, we have been able to predict whether there might be a high probability of a severe injury within the vehicle,” Bishop said. “We’re on the third version of that, and we’re fairly accurate with our assertion.

“We have visibility on the front seat, in terms of occupants. We have yet to be able to apply that to the entire vehicle, just because the sensor capabilities are not as sophisticated in the second and third rows. But the PSAPs California will be able to see—at least for the two front-seat occupants—for example, that the passenger is the one with the high probability of injury.”

For 911 centers, being able to receive the OnStar data promises to be much more efficient than having it provided verbally to a telecommunicator, who often is limited in the time they have to devote to the effort.

“Our emergency advisor has the data on their screen, and we attempt to provide the data,” Bishop said. “But in many cases, you know how busy these 911 centers are. To take it all down and have to type it all in takes time. Most of the time, they’re not able to, just because of how busy their centers are.

“This is really going to transform the landscape. My hope is that, as California embraces this and we have some very successful outcomes, we’re going to see other states want to replicate the success. We’re going to be prepared to respond accordingly.”

RapidDeploy CEO Steve Raucher echoed this sentiment.

“This is our first deployment with OnStar, and I would imagine that it would be the first of many,” Raucher said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “California has led the way across the U.S., in terms of next-gen 911 and the interesting things that it does with technology. We’re very, very proud to partner with both OnStar and CalOES to deliver these signals.”

RapidDeploy’s RadiusPlus call-taking map and Eclipse analytics products are available to all 911 centers through a CalOES initiative that resulted in RapidDeploy being installed in all PSAPs in the state. Currier emphasized that each 911 center has to decide whether to activate the RapidDeploy capabilities, including the crash information from OnStar.

“The two pieces that we try to be particularly careful of are, ‘Is the PSAP properly trained on how to use the data,’ and ‘Does the PSAP actually want all of that data?’” Currier said. “That’s a local-agency decision that we honor.

“Any PSAP today in California that’s not using this software yet is in the process yet of saying, ‘Hey, how do I get it? We’ve had nothing but positive feedback on that. Those that hear about it, want it.”

Currier said he has been particularly impressed by RapidDeploy’s ability to adapt to the quickly evolving needs of 911 centers.

“Any feedback that we get on how the technology is performing and what RapidDeploy is doing, we make sure that any feedback we get from the PSAPs is reflected in the software,” Currier said. “They’ve done a really great job of that throughout the life of the project. Whenever we hear of anything, we reach out to them and say, ‘Can you provide this capability, as well?’ and they say, ‘Yes.’

“Last year at this time, we rolled out a text-from-911 capability. From when we first deployed RapidDeploy to when it was deployed statewide, I think it was something like three months, which is remarkable.”

When RapidDeploy entered the U.S. market in 2017, most 911 administrators were wary—if not adamantly opposed—to using cloud-based solutions like RapidDeploy, opting instead to continue relying on on-premise systems. But those concerns about the cloud are virtually nonexistent today, according to Raucher.

“Do you know how many RFPs I’ve seen that have said ‘on-prem’ in the last 12 months?” he said. “One—literally one.”

In addition to California, RapidDeploy has statewide contracts with four other states, including announced deals in Kansas and Arizona, Raucher said. Meanwhile, RapidDeploy’s cloud-native approach makes it easier for its platform to integrate data from new sources like OnStar.

“The data is coming down a pipe, and it’s going to be surfaced directly into our 911 call-taking map, which is called RadiusPlus,” Raucher said. “We’ll be able to bring all of the telematics data that OnStar is famous for visualized directly in the platform.

“So, not only do we have a direct integration with all of the mobile-handset manufacturers, and we’re going to be bringing data down from other telematic sources. But right now, OnStar is leading the way with us in California by surfacing those signals to improve the response times with better visualization and data to 911—the first first responders, who need it most.”

Bishop said the fact that OnStar’s crash information can be displayed on a RapidDeploy screen already used in California 911 centers is critical.

“We were really happy that RapidDeploy already had a presence in California and that their RadiusPlus was already being used by telecommunicators,” Bishop said. “The last thing we wanted to do was to be relegated to some screen over in the corner that no one ever looked at, because then it would be irrelevant. But it’s going to be front and center.

“I think that, if telecommunicators see that there’s a high probability of severe injury or a situation with an electric vehicle, they’re really going to take notice and act upon that, even before our voice call comes in.”

Currier said the level to which the OnStar data is integrated is dependent upon the California 911 center adopting RapidDeploy and having the proper equipment installed.

“With the RapidDeploy solution that we’ve got deployed already at all of the PSAPs, it would display on that screen,” Currier said. “That RapidDeploy screen—in most cases—is running on the machine that’s running CAD for them, but in some cases, it is a standalone machine. It just depends on the capabilities in the PSAP.

“[In those cases,] RapidDeploy is being used in the PSAP, through a web browser, on a screen. It’s different from the call-processing equipment and the computer-aided dispatch. We had to do that, because those two pieces of technology cannot integrate this data. So, we needed something to be able to display this in every single PSAP in the state of California, regardless of where they were in the transition timeline.”

 

Tags: homepage-featured-4 Alerting Systems Analytics Applications Companies Critical Infrastructure Dispatch/Call-taking Enterprise Federal Government/Military Incident Command/Situational Awareness Internet of Things IoT/Smart X News NG-911 Public Safety Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet Regional Coordination Software State & Local Government Subscriber Devices System Operation Test & Measurement Tracking, Monitoring & Control News

Most Recent


  • FirstNet Authority board approves FY 2023 budget of $358 million
    FirstNet Authority board members yesterday approved a $358 million budget for fiscal year 2023, with more than half of the money being allocated to investments that would be designed to enhance the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) being built by AT&T. As in past years, the FirstNet Authority budget for fiscal year 2023—beginning on Oct. […]
  • California 911 centers access OnStar crash data via RapidDeploy
    Newscan: DHS tests new tech that could bring emergency alerts to vehicle screens
    Web Roundup Items from other news organizations DHS tests new tech that could bring emergency alerts to vehicle screens Oracle begins auditing TikTok’s algorithms Strong solar storm could impact U.S. communications this week VA systems vulnerable to cyber intrusions due to lack of effective oversight, report says Former city employee shut down police website over […]
  • Intelsat, OneWeb team on in-flight connectivity
    UK-government backed OneWeb and US-based Intelsat are joining forces to offer in-flight connectivity services to airlines, combining the former’s low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite service with the latter’s geostationary (GEO) satellites to “harness the power of multi-orbit capabilities.” The companies said they expect the multi-orbit solution to be in service by 2024. Inflight connectivity is certainly an […]
  • Black Hat 2022: Adapting to the growing cyberthreat landscape
    The nation’s first cybersecurity chief is warning that the growing threat landscape will get worse as society and businesses become more digitized. At the Black Hat USA 2022 conference, Chris Krebs, the first director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said he spent the last 18 months gathering information. He spoke to people […]

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

  • Corrected: RapidDeploy wins $6.6 million CalOES contract for analytics and mapping
  • Kansas 911 organization selects AT&T, RapidDeploy to shift key PSAP solutions to the cloud
  • RapidDeploy adds 911 mapping, analytics products to partnership with AT&T
  • South Carolina 911 center replacing on-premises CAD system with cloud-based RapidDeploy solution

Commentary


LTE and liability: Why the fire service must move forward with digital incident command

  • 2
6th May 2022

Partnership and collaboration must be the foundation for emergency communications

18th April 2022

FirstNet success means no hypothetical ‘shots’ need to be fired, Swenson says

22nd February 2022
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Newscan: DHS tests new tech that could bring emergency alerts to vehicle screens dlvr.it/SWpYTv

17th August 2022
UrgentComm

Connectivity Made Simple for Emergency Response dlvr.it/SWpMJF

17th August 2022
UrgentComm

Intelsat, OneWeb team on in-flight connectivity dlvr.it/SWgYb2

15th August 2022
UrgentComm

Black Hat 2022: Adapting to the growing cyberthreat landscape dlvr.it/SWgF3Y

15th August 2022
UrgentComm

Diffusing the connected car’s ticking data-privacy timebomb dlvr.it/SWdCw2

14th August 2022
UrgentComm

Patch madness: Vendor bug advisories are broken, so broken dlvr.it/SWcvFR

14th August 2022
UrgentComm

What the 6 GHz band might mean to fixed-wireless access dlvr.it/SWctfk

14th August 2022
UrgentComm

FirstNet PTT technical progress highlighted by AT&T at APCO 2022 dlvr.it/SWZtNJ

13th August 2022

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”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 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.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X