Avaya Connected Blog

Federal E911 MLTS Legislation - Is it Time?

2012-05-13T17:24:20Z

QUESTION:
What single question to 50 people has 17 different answers and 33 "What was the question again?"

ANSWER:
"What is your state legislation for E911 regarding MLTS PBX systems?"

It is hard to believe that in this day and age, with 911 celebrating it's 44th birthday this past February 16th, that E911 in PBX systems is mandated in only 17 states. Despite the many tragic stories where the life of a worker may have been saved with even the most simplistic of technology, or worse yet, a vetted procedure to follow, year after year goes by with only minimal legislative action.

Even in the states that have legislation, the message is often unclear, and certainly not in sync with other areas around the county. 40,000 square foot resolution in Chicago, 22,500 square foot resolution in Massachusetts, even station level in other areas. 4 years ago NENA, the National Emergency Number Association, published the MLTS Model Legislation in an attempt to provide guidance to states undertaking legislative action. The document was well received, and various elements of it showed up in legislative works in Virginia, Massachusetts, Michigan, and even the PUC recommendations made to the State in California.

The model legislation covered an area that the work-group considered to be one of the biggest roadblocks for an enterprise, that being location reporting granularity. After many weeks of discussions, building fire alarm zones was suggested to be fair and representative of a solution that would solve the problem. This solution relied on the ability for the MLTS to send, and the PSAP to receive a specific caller ID or Emergency Location Identification Number (ELIN) based on the location of the caller. Pre provisioned ALI records could then exist in the ALI database, an indicate a zone within the building to the 911 call taker.

Where our committee stopped though, didn't take into consideration the implementation side of the network. While some carriers make this task a simple one to implement, others do not, and costly additional services are required to be activated in order to pass any station specific phone number to the PSAP.

In California, the argument was made that any specific caller ID can be passed by the PBX on a non-emergency call, and that number will be displayable to the called party. However, a call from that exact same station to 911 would be screened and removed at the central office, and have the main billing number attached.

ALJ Kimberly Kim of the CPUC, requested additional comments to be filed by the carriers highlighting any specific services that would be required to enable this functionality. In response to that request, all carriers except one responded that this specific functionality was available at no additional cost to the end-user customer. If you want to follow the California legislative process, the link to the CPUC is here.

One state that took the initiative to ensure this particular concern was covered in their administrative laws was Washington state. In WAC 480-120-450 , which covers the enhanced 911 obligations of the local exchange companies, multiline customers must have the ability to dial 911 with common signal protocols which permit the call and the callers ELIN to be transmitted to the E 911 selective router. This means, by law, they have to honor the caller ID sent by the PBX. Additionally, the LEC must permit the PBX customer to maintain their own E 911 database, as long as it's in a nationally accepted format, and the customers have a right to transmit updates to that database at no additional charge.

The initial work by the NENA MLTS committee in 2000 focused on reporting a device location within a large multistory or multi-building campus. Four years ago, the second round of that committee focused on the mobility that voice over IP provided to users, and how to track that mobility within the enterprise. The document was also moved from a TID (technical information document) to a TRD (technical requirements document). A companion Technical Information Document (06-502) was created to aid in educating policy officials, government agencies and users of MLTS systems specific to E9-1-1 obligations. The accompanying Technical Information Document and diagrams discuss many of the issues related to the location of individuals during emergencies in the MLTS environment. It further outlines the current suggested methods of dealing with the challenge as recommended by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) MLTS Policy Work Group.

Several weeks back while at 911 Goes to Washington, I ran into Mary Boyd from Intrado, who is also a NENA past president. We got into a discussion about MLTS and both concluded that once again technology has radically changed enough, that it's time once again to review the model legislation for MLTS systems.

Personally, I feel that it's important for NENA to stay current with the rapidly changing technology, the new methodologies, and operational functionality that modern MLTS and adjunct systems can provide, and keep the public safety industry moving forward at a pace that is comparable with the technology curves being deployed.

I'm encouraged by the rapid acceptance and accelerated deployment of NG 911 networks around the nation and the synergy that I witnessed with NG 112 networks in Europe at the European Union emergency services workshop sponsored by EENA in Riga.

Don't forget, coming up next week in Boston, is the IAUG Educational Conference. On Sunday may 20th,at 3:30, I will be hosting the "Great E 911 Debate" with panelists Nick Maier from RedSky, Bill Svien from 911 ETC, Tim Kenyon from Conveyant Systems, and Lev Dietch from 911 Enable. These vendors represent the most common implementation strategies for enterprise E 911, and I'm looking forward to a lively and informative discussion as each panelist positions their strategy for today, and their vision for tomorrow. Be sure to get the Boston in time for this session on Sunday.

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Public comments, suggestions, corrections and loose change is all graciously accepted ;-)
Until next week. . . dial carefully.

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US School E911 VoIP Call Routed to Canada

2012-05-05T16:10:47Z

Earlier this year on March 21, an incident occurred in the Manhattan School District that prompted a call to 911. This wasn't Manhattan New York. This particular Manhattan is a small village in Will County, Illinois, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.

Apparently two Will County kindergartners decided to take a leave of absence, and walked off the school grounds. But instead of reaching the Lincolnway Public Safety Communications Center in Frankfurt, the call was routed to an emergency call center in Canada.

The immediate question was "How could this happen?", with the initial suspect being the new VoIP system installed last December by Broadvox. As usual, the press sees "E911 failure" and "Voice over IP" in the same sentence, and they immediately draw the conclusion that the two are related. Manhattan Police Chief Howard Martin responded, "it had nothing to do with us, it was a problem at the school."

Ultimately, the children were found, however it was reported that due to the Canadian routing, emergency response was delayed by 5 minutes. Additional comments made by the Sun-Times reported that after the Broadvox system was installed, it was checked and appeared fine, however after the incident, the system was corrected so that any future 911 calls would route locally.The initial knee-jerk response is "VoIP is not compatible with E911".

WRONG

The technology used by the person making the call, whether it's digital, analog, wireless, or VoIP, has little to no bearing on the network processing an E911 call.

What does matter, however, is how the system is interconnected with the PSTN. Even then, it's not as so much as how, but by who that connection is made. Traditional carriers delivering legacy circuits are well interconnected geographically with the E911 selective routers. As businesses flatten, consolidate, and extend, a VoIP solution becomes more and more attractive. Additionally, SIP trunking offers additional savings as well as consolidation benefits.

The problem with SIP trunking, is that it can be located anywhere. It's not bound by the geographical boundaries of the PSTN. This makes E911 more difficult to deal with, as the location of your trunks may not be local to the location of your users. This completely breaks the E911 model used today in North America. But fear not, there is a fix.

In the past, we have talked about VoIP Positioning Center's also known as VPC's. Think of the VPC as a new type of carrier that specifically deals with E911 call traffic. It's the VPC's responsibility to maintain connectivity to each E911 service area, and provide their customers with proper routing for emergency calls. Just like any network transporting any data, routing rules and instructions must be established. For VoIP emergency calls to a VPC, the calling number or ANI is used as a routing reference against a pre-provisioned database.

This routing mechanism is identical to the 911 selective router network, with the exception that it covers a much wider service area, typically all of North America. Based on this, we can shift the blame for this particular call incident to the VPC, right?

No, not really.

In today's legacy analog-based 911 routing, calls going to selective router make it there in some instances without the proper ANI. We know that it's a 911 call, we just can't confirm its origin. So, do we just not process the call? Of course not. The call is what is known as "default routed" to a designated PSAP where it is presented as either an ANI FAIL, or NO DATA call. This is a key indicator to the emergency call taker that they need to establish the location of the caller through a verbal inquiry.

Back to our friends in Manhattan Illinois. I'll speculate on what happened here, and openly admit that I don't have all the details. Most likely what occurred, based on the facts that we do have, is the call to 911 was presented to the VPC. For some reason, the ANI or caller ID did not exist in the VPC database, and the VPC default routed that call to an emergency call response center for manual handling. Although this did cause a delay in the emergency response, was the VPC at fault?

Again, most likely, the answer is no.

When you look at a implementation of the E911 services, there are several important steps that you must consider. The first, is how the system will operate; what exactly happens when a station dials 911, who was notified, and where the call terminates. The second, and just as important as the first, is what routing will take place within the carrier network you're presenting that call too. It doesn't matter if it's a legacy analog network, a digital PRI network, or a new modern VoIP network. If the carrier doesn't have routing instructions, the call cannot be completed, and therefore would be default routed, or even worse incorrectly routed based on invalid data.

So a step back and look at this, and you try to establish how and why this happened, based on the facts I'm not sure you can blame the school, Broadvox, or the VPC carrier. More than likely the implementation was at fault by either not testing properly, or not taking 911 into consideration at all. Keep this in mind when you're looking at your E911 solution for your enterprise. And when you're attending The Great E911 Debate, at IAUG in Boston, on Sunday may 20th. The technology exists to deal with today's highly mobile and nomadic workforce. The knowledge to implement properly is what is often in question. You don't have to become a 911 expert to purchase a 911 solution, just like you don't have to be a mechanic to purchase a car. You should know, however, how many wheels to expect of the car you're buying, and you probably should know how to drive.

I asked Bill Svien, Vice President of Corporate Strategy at 911, ETC, Inc. and a VPC provider himself what his thoughts were around this:

"The implementation process is key to the successful routing and delivery of a 911 call. Ensuring that numbers are properly provisioned within the VPC database is essential, and testing should be thoroughly completed before going live. The technology is available today to properly route 911 calls whether an organization is utilizing TDM or IP/SIP. It's the front-end provisioning of the solution that should be meticulously and professionally handled in order to avoid an outgoing 911 call with no location information attached."

So, as you can see, implementing E911 just takes a little common sense, and good testing and retesting of the implementation. Having the general knowledge of how E911 works, will help you dig through the "rhetorical technobabble" that's out there by those selling E911 to the enterprise based on Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Boston where we will do our part to dispell the FUD at the Great E911 Debate on Sunday May 20th, at 3:30PM. Be sure not to miss this important panel session that will include Avaya DevConnect Technology Partners, and Select Product Partners!

Listen to the Telecom Junkies Podcast covering the Great E911 Debate Prequel here
Or you can watch the YouTube version here,

For more information on IAUG, and how to become a member of this invaluable group, goto http://www.iaug.org and for information on Avaya DevConnect visit http://avaya.com/devconnect.

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The Systemic Technological Stagnation of the Emergency Network

2012-04-29T14:33:10Z

Emergency dispatchers around the world field many calls that are categorized as silent calls, no answer calls, or hoax calls. Many times, these are attributed to a phenomenon known in the industry as a "butt dial", "bum dial" or "pocket dial". With the mass proliferation of cellular devices in the world today, it's no wonder that these devices are the culprits for the bulk of these types of calls.

Another source in the past has been accidental dialing of an emergency number from behind PBX. This commonly occurs with calls to an area code that start with 91, or international calls where the user dialed 11 instead of 011 after dialing nine for an access code.

The cellular industry has responded by eliminating the function of 'one touch' dialing of emergency number on the device itself. PBX manufacturers address the problem by implementing dialing plan functionality that can be programmed into the translation tables that can significantly reduce or eliminate the problem.

There is another source of silent calls, however, that isn't discussed too often, and the user community that is impacted by this is one that you might not be aware of, and may surprise you. The community I am referring to is those with speech or hearing disabilities.

From a 911 or 112 perspective, we have treated this community of users as second-class citizens, since video directly to 911 is not possible, they've been relegated to using Video Relay Services, or even worse a technology that is commonly referred to as TDD (telecommunications device for the deaf) or TTY (teletypewriter). In most cases these devices require an analog line, or have an acoustic coupler that allow them to be used with most any desk telephone handset. They are typically the size of a small typewriter, and based on today's standards, a pretty clumsy box to carry around with you. Also their compatibility with cell phones can be challenging, as well as CODEC issues with VoIP. PHOTO CREDIT: http://nchearingloss.org

Because of the bulkiness and the reliance on having a handset to place in the acoustic coupler, these devices are only considered to be portable. Mobility is not really something they do well. With carriers advancing user technology every two years or so (the new every 2 syndrome), and the systemic technological stagnation of the emergency services networks worldwide, the feature gap between users and public safety widens every single day.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has been very vocal on this and has been quoted several times stating that "The unfortunate truth is that the capability of our emergency response communications has not kept pace with commercial innovation -- has not kept pace with what ordinary people now do every day with communications devices."

In the 70 page report that was issued by the FCC's EAAC, Recommendation T2.2 stated that "The EAAC recommends that the FCC remove the requirement for TTY (analog real-time text) support for new IP-based consumer devices that implement IP-based text communications that include, at a minimum, real time text or, in an LTE environment, IMS Multimedia Telephony that includes real-time text." But before we can remove that requirement, we need to make texting to emergency services a reality.

Several trials have been launched in cities around the United States. Black Hawk, Iowa, Durham, North Carolina, and most recently the state of Vermont have all implemented pilot programs that allow users to send text messages to the 911 centers.

Although this is encouraging, when you read the fine print, it's hard to determine what they're actually testing, and there seems to be quite a few restrictions that users should be aware of. For example, in the Vermont trial, users are cautioned that:

1.) Customers should use the texting option only when a voice call to 911 is not an option.

2.) Sending a text to 9-1-1 may take longer than a voice call because someone must enter the text, send it through the system and then the 911 call taker has to enter a text response and send it back. Time is critical in a life-threatening emergency, and customers should be aware of this difference.

3.) Providing location information and the nature of the emergency in the first message is imperative. The Williston PSAP will not be able to access the cell phone location or speak with the person who is sending the text, and will need to convey the texter's location to local first responders.

4.) Text abbreviations and slang should never be used so that the intent of the dialog can be as clear as possible.

5.) Customers must be in range of cell towers in Vermont. If customers are outside or near the edge of the state, the message may not reach the Williston PSAP.

6.) Texts to 911 have the same 160 character limit as other text messages.

7.) Verizon Wireless customers must have mobile phones that are capable of sending text messages. Text messages to 911 will count either against their messaging bundle or be charged at 20 cents per message.

The issue is not restricted to the United States though. At the recent European Union emergency services workshop sponsored by EENA, in Riga Latvia, several vendors were showing off product and concepts dealing with similar issues.

What exactly is the problem? Why is texting to 911 so difficult when we can text any other device in the world?

One difference is that the voice network, that can correlate location information, is not used when sending a text message. Texting is a data function, and location mechanisms simply don't exist in that environment. Although the originating device is aware of its location through various forms of discovery, it is unable to send that information or determine the actual destination address of the appropriate PSAP. It's like sending an e-mail to a friend of yours overseas, and addressing it to "London". There's just no way for your friend to get that message, or for the network to direct message to them.

This is why the trials that exist here in the US are limited. They use 911 as a pointer to a five digit short code that terminates at a specific PSAP. Location isn't sent, and there are questions as to if call back is even possible. They are typically restricted to a single PSAP, and a single carrier. So although I applaud the industry for trying to move the stake forward, at the same time I fear a false sense of security could be instilled in the general public who doesn't have the technical background to digest what's actually happening. I think we can all agree, sending a text message to a five digit short code works just fine. Haven't we proved that over the last decade of American Idol results?

This is where the App may be able to play an important role. We've talked before about FRESS, Share with 911, and Smart 911. These are all great ideas, but what they lack is a common infrastructure at the PSAP. In a way, they are all proprietary in their client to server communication. That makes me believe that maybe it's time for some redirection of effort. If the App truly solves the problem, and all three of those companies believe that it will, let's standardize the back-end so we don't accidentally create a proprietary pairing of software between the public user and public safety.

Last week, I added "Any Network" to the list of "Anywhere. Anytime. Any Device".

This week, I'll add another request. "Any App".

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A state or condition of worldwide relevance

2012-04-22T21:46:56Z

Globality (glow-bal'-ity)(n)-a state or condition of worldwide relevance

, This past week, I had the great pleasure of attending the European Union Emergency Services Workshop 2012 in Riga, Latvia. In addition to being a tremendous opportunity to meet friends and colleagues from across the globe, it was an extreme honor to sit down with Europe's brightest minds in public safety communications. I can only imagine what it must of been like to be a close friend of Wilbur and Orville Wright as they sat down and designed something that would revolutionize the world.

And then to have a VIP seat during the first flight, where Orville Wright piloted the first airplane a mere 20 feet above a wind-swept beach in North Carolina. Although that flight lasted only 12 seconds and covered 120 feet, it was the dawn of a new age in technology. In contrast, the flight distance from JFK International Airport to Sheremetyevo International in Moscow was 4,661 miles, and lasted almost 10 hours. Putting that in perspective, that's over a 200,000% increase over 99 years or so.

We're all very aware that 911 is the universal number in the United States, in the EU 112 is recognized across all member states. Other countries typically have some level of emergency infrastructure, and in my opinion, it is the lack of mandated global compliance that has allowed countries to develop their own path. With the promulgation last June of NG911 and the NENA i3 08-003 standard, and the publication of the EENA NG112 LTD I think it is safe to say that Next Generation emergency communications has reached a state of globality.

As modern air travel has shortened the distance around the globe, modern broadband IP-based communications has pretty much eliminated it. Just a few years ago I needed a costly calling card, and a fat wallet just to call home and let folks know that I got there okay. Today, with a wireless broadband connection to the Internet, I can use applications like Facetime, and the Avaya OneX client to speak with those same people with incredible quality and no perceivable latency. Even though my iPhone was a brick on the PSTN network (because of it being CDMA and not GSM), I have full functionality and access to all my applications over Wi-Fi.

One evening while returning to my room, I tripped and fell and subsequently broke two ribs. The phone on the wall was only a few meters away, but there was no way that I was going to be reach it. My phone had no PSTN service, and wasn't even compatible with the cellular infrastructure, but I had a Wi-Fi connection. Still, my choices were limited. That's when I truly realized the need for the globality of emergency services. NENA preaches "Any time, Anywhere, Any device". As EENA develops their standards, I'd like them to add "Any network" to that list.

This is going to change the face and format of emergency communications as we know it today. We live in a world where the App is King. One of the main problems with 911, and 112, and 999 and whatever other number might be in use, is the number itself. Society has come too far for those numbers to change. The evidence of that fact is clear. In the US, 911 was the original emergency number, and is known by a high percentage of the population. This is strengthened through the educational efforts of NENA, and other organizations with our nations youth. On the other hand, Europe faces a population that has grown up with other numbers, and their efforts to change the number to 112 have only been 30% effective in many countries.

Going back to my incident, even if I had reached the phone, I'm not sure what 112 would have done. There were no instructions on the phone on what to dial or even where I was located, although I would've probably been able to vocalize that. Later that evening after being able to get back up and make it to my room, I noticed that device was clearly marked with instructions to dial 999 in the event of an emergency. The next day I discovered that the actual emergency numbers and country were 01, 02, 03 for police, fire, and medical emergencies. With 112 also work in country? I'm not sure. But what would have worked, is an app on my phone.

That app could examine my location based on many different technologies and then presented me with whatever choices were available. The next day, I ran into some folks from the FRESS Foundation (pronounced FRESH). In the recent months, there have been several attempts with apps for emergency situations. Some have received a positive response from public safety, like Share with 911 and Smart 911; and others like Crimepush have been developed in a vacuum with total disregard for public safety compliance. The FRESS Foundation app falls into the first category.

FRESS is 100% free to everyone, and allows you to utilize voice, video, photos and text anywhere in the world. In addition to public safety, FRESS can offer you other important numbers and information such as how to contact your embassy based on where you're from, and where you are. Based on this, FRESS is the first application to bring globality to emergency service applications. If you want more information, you can go to http://www.getfress.com and see where and how FRESS is available in your part of the world.

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NG Emergency Services Goes Global

2012-04-15T14:05:42Z

Although the numbers 911 are somewhat centric to North America, emergency calling is something that happens worldwide. If you look for "Emergency Telephone Number" on Wikipedia, you'll find a fairly long list of two, three, four and even five digit emergency numbers.

http://www.eena.org

In the European Union, the digits 112 have been recognized in all member states, and EENA, the European Emergency Number Association, is considered the sister organization to North American-based NENA.

This past week EENA released the first public version of the Next Generation 112 Long-Term Definition standard which is also known as the NG112 LTD. One of the key initiatives of EENA, to ensure global interoperability, was to reuse existing standards as much as possible. Particularly, the NG 911 work from NENA was adapted to be applicable to European Public Safety Answer Points, and to find a long-term architecture for European Emergency Services. Voluntarily, this document remains very close to the NENA i3 standard.

Hannes Tschofenig, who has been drafting the standard since 2004, and chairing the EENA NG112 Technical Committee since 2009, stated "this is undoubtedly a key milestone reached. Europe was lacking such a reference document and hence we are proud to be able to release the NG 112 LTD today". According to Christina Lumbreras, EENA Technical Director, the NG 112 LTD "is a crucial document for the future of our emergency services and for the safety of European citizens. We are grateful to our NG 112 committee members and to our friends at NENA".

Similar to NENA i3, the NG 112 LTD will be a living document that will be updated to include new standards and specifications as well as cope with the rapid emergence of technologies within public safety. This week in Riga, Latvia, during the EENA EU Emergency Services Workshop 2012, the NG 112 LTD standard will be presented and a hot topic.

I'll be getting a plane Sunday afternoon and flying over to Riga, with a short layover in Moscow, and barring any technical glitches I will be reporting back with some interviews and quotes from our Public Safety Associates abroad.

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Guest Blogger Atty. Martha Buyer - Dialing 911 from Inside Your Workspace

2012-04-08T01:27:08Z

Most weeks as Friday starts to roll around, I start collecting my thoughts and notes from the week and start to zero in on the topic of my blog and podcast, which I usually record sometime over the weekend. Most weeks there is more than enough going on in the industry, that I haven't been short for topics. This week I recieved a special gift that got me the weekend off.

Earlier this week, I got a note from Martha Buyer, a well known legal advisor in the industry, who asked me to provide a quote for her monthly article in the Journal of the Bar Association of Erie County New York. After doing so, she returned a copy of that article to me for my final approval, which I found it to be both well written, and very timely. No surprise there.

The article built on the location granularity topic I have been building on, and I thought that I would share her thoughts with you from the litigation side of the topic. With that, I present to you, Martha Buyer, PLLC:

As published in the Journal of the Bar Association of Erie County, NY

Annually, I like to use this space to remind those of you who work behind multi-line telephone systems (main listed number and numerous extensions in varying locations known as MLTS) about emergency information. As is the case with security systems, it is to be hoped that no one will ever need to dial 911 in the event of a medical or other emergency. But the fact remains that such calls DO need to be made, and when they do, time can absolutely be of the essence. A first responder has no more than 4 minutes to get to someone in cardiac or other medical distress. Simply put, that's not very much time.

While New York has not yet taken steps to require specific obligations for managing emergency information, legislation or not, under OSHA and some other state and federal statutes as well, employers have an ongoing obligation to provide safe work environments for employees. It wouldn't take much for even a marginal litigator to prove that an employer's failure to plan for an emergency situation creates, among other things, a significant (read: expensive and potentially deadly) OSHA violation.

The bottom line of any emergency response program is its ability to find someone in need. In the "biz," this is called "location granularity," and it refers to the amount of specificity that is provided to the 911 center when someone picks up a phone and calls looking for help. When you call 911 from a landline at home, your street address, as well as the cross streets on either side are provided to the Public Safety Access Point person who answers the phone. When a call is made from behind an MLTS (translation: when a call is made from a desk in an MLTS environment), where the caller id may only show the main listed number, there's a problem, particularly when the office is large and not located either on a single floor or in a single building. As multi line telephone systems have become increasingly sophisticated, it has become much easier to manage the location granularity within the phone system. The bottom line is that the first responder (fire, paramedic, etc) must be able to find the person in need as quickly as possible.

While legal obligations for reporting in multiline telephone systems vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction (NY, at this time, imposes no such requirements), internal granularity--that is, having someone inside the company know from precisely where the call to 911 was made is both easy to manage and cost effective to implement. This is a marked contrast to keeping the same information current with the local carrier or another third party on the "outside" who needs to be in the loop every time a new employee starts or moves workspaces from one office location to another.

At the risk of getting a little technical (for those who are still with me), the only information that the phone system itself sends out when an emergency number is dialed is the phone number from which the call was made. That information is then run through a database that's external to the phone system managed at the Local Exchange Carrier (Verizon, Windstream, Time Warner among others)and matched with some sort of physical location information that can be provided in 20 characters or less (which isn't very much). For this reason ACCURATE CALLER ID information is critical. However, even location-specific information (in 20 characters or less) is useless unless the responder understands how to read the office map and understands the 20 character or less location identification information. What's critical is that relevant data that's already built in to the in-house network and is understandable beyond the network control center be sent promptly to public safety. In short, it says "I need help, I'm here, come get me!"

According to Mark Fletcher, perhaps the most knowledgeable and well-respected 911 professional in the business, (not only formerly an EMT and police dispatcher, but an Avaya employee as well) whether or not statutory obligations exist regarding emergency information notification, it's critical that within a specific building or facility that manageable response zones located within the building or specific location that provide location-based discovery and routing be created. This means that large spaces be divided into zones for easy identification when an emergency call is made. Secondly, internal databases must be updated in an ongoing and timely way. Thirdly, there must be a vehicle for notifying in-house personnel when a call is made so that when the ambulance shows up, the paramedics can be directed to the right location as quickly as possible. After all, internal first responders are best able to coordinate with public safety officials to ensure the quickest possible response when time is absolutely of the essence. Fletcher puts it this way, "Public safety dispatchers need to get responders to the right location. Telling them that the caller is in Cube 2C231 is the same as saying 'I'm having chest pains, and I'm wearing blue socks.' It's irrelevant information at that point in the emergency." Emergency responders responding to the scene need situational awareness, and that is best provided by staff on scene who understand what is going on and have taken steps to ensure door are unlocked, paths are clear, etc. Fletcher added, "First responders don't like to walk into a lobby of a building, only to be asked 'What are you guys doing here?' Internal awareness to emergent events can shave life saving minutes from the response time."

Finally, there are many sophisticated and cool products that can be secured to interact with a multi line telephone system to assist in the event of a 911 call. However, the best step to take first when considering these options is to make a call to the local police and/or fire and speak with them to determine what information they will find most useful in the event of an emergency. After all, they'll be the ones dispatched to address the problem, and it only makes sense that they should be consulted before any important, but potentially costly investment is made.

Martha can be reached via email at Martha@MarthaBuyer.com, or visit her on the web at http://MarthaBuyer.com

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9-1-1 and We . . . The People

2012-03-31T17:05:04Z

Last week the 9-1-1 industry went to Washington in an annual event that is appropriately named "9-1-1 Goes to Washington". This event is sponsored each year by NENA, the 9-1-1 Association, and is billed as the only event where you can "explore the policy issues facing public safety and take immediate action to address technological, operational, and educational challenges by engaging in dialogue with your elected and appointed officials."

Although I've personally been involved in the 9-1-1 industry for nearly the last decade, for one reason or another, I was never able to attend this particular event. I have to say that out of all of the industry events that I've participated in over the years, this is one of the most well run, and useful events that I've ever been to.

Many experts in the industry have been predicting that 2012 will be a banner year for 9-1-1 and the evolution to NG 9-1-1, as we continue to raise the awareness of this desperately needed technological refresh. I think we can safely say that we have the agreement from the technical side of the industry that NG 9-1-1 is achievable, and the right thing to do, although there are some technical interactions that still need to be worked out. Fortunately, I don't think any of these differences of opinion are showstoppers to the evolution of an IP-based emergency services network.

Enabling this fundamental shift in the way we deal with calls for assistance, is going to require support from many levels, including regulatory and legislative reinforcement. Getting our legislators to understand the problem, is as much of an issue as the problem itself, and left up to industry lobbyists, will only ensure that the one with the most cash will be the dominant player.

Fortunately our system of government in the United States is built on one simple statement:

Fortunately, YOU are We . . . the people;

I am We . . . the people;

We are all We . . . the people;

and as We . . . the people, we all have a basic right to speak with our elected officials to make them aware of our thoughts, desires and concerns.

I have to commend NENA on taking this particular topic to heart. Each and every year during the 9-1-1 Goes to Washington event, they provide their members with the tools they need to schedule appointments with their legislative officials in Congress and the U.S. Senate. Now, at first, you might think that getting in line for something like this would look like the line at the latest and greatest ride at your local amusement park. But there is a process, there is a protocol, and there are some basic tips that can get anyone in this country a meeting with their legislator, or a member of their staff, that are simple and easy-to-follow.

I took advantage of this while in Washington, and was able to successfully meet with representatives from both New Jersey Senators, as well as my Congressman. Being in the Hart Senate building, and sitting in my Senators offices, I was proud to see the telecommunications equipment, both old and new, sitting on the desk. It was also a pre-existing example that I used to explain how 9-1-1 works, as well as the importance of on-site notification in the event of an emergency. In case you were unaware, the Senate is served by a large CS 2100, and uses the Sentry 9-1-1 solution provided by one of our Select Product Partners.

I kept my message short, and to the point, and my time slot with each Legislative Assistant, I feel that they had a better understanding of the challenges behind E9-1-1 funding in the US, and the issue with the lack of legislation for MLTS and PBX 9-1-1 compliance.

I left two of the offices with one single request. I asked Sen. Menendez and Congressman Garrett for their support regarding E9-1-1 initiatives by joining New Jersey Sen. Lautenberg in the NG 9-1-1 Caucus. I feel confident that my message was clearly heard and understood and that I was considered part of We . . . the people.

My message to you in this blog is to make sure your voice is heard. If you have a message that has merit, I can assure you that you will stand out in a long line of people that are vying for their 15 minutes. So thank you to Ashley, Lexi, and John for providing me with my 15 minutes.

(Who am I kidding? When have I EVER shut up after 15 minutes?)

Thanks for the half-hour!

Personally, I have a renewed belief that our government works. Our elected officials, as well as their staff, take their job of providing a conduit from We . . . the people seriously.

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Certified E911 Consultants - Do we need them?

2012-03-25T15:52:54Z

Last week I had the great honor of presenting to a group of telecommunications professionals that I see as a critical element in moving enterprise E9-1-1 compliance forward with the evolution of next generation 911 technologies and a radical change in how our 911 calls will be processed in the near future.

911 is not a difficult topic, but it is one that is often misunderstood. Based on my readers input, my presentations that list the common 911 myths seem to be at the top of the popular list. But you have to stop and think, why do these myths even exist? The answer, is simple. It stems from the lack of education within the industry. Now, let me be clear, I'm not saying that the education is missing, I'm saying that there is a lack of people taking advantage of the education, and certifications, that exist.

NENA, the National Emergency Number Association, is known as the "Voice of 9-1-1", and is on the forefront of all emergency communications issues representing their more than 7000 members who are all dedicated to saving lives. Their membership is made up of public safety officials, call takers, legislative and regulatory representatives, as well as members from the private sector such as manufacturers, developers, and consultants.

NENA provides the ENP certification for its Emergency Number Professionals as a tool to establish the benchmark of performance and signify a broad-based competence in this specialized professional field. Before you can even become certifiable, candidates have to meet an experience criteria that includes three years dealing with emergency communications directly, or with a commercial provider of emergency communications products and services.

Having satisfied the minimum experience criterion, members must then establish a cumulative total of 10 points which is calculated based on additional experience, education and professional development and service. Once you establish your ENP certification, after passing a fairly intensive test of 300 questions are so, re-certification is required every four years in order to maintain your ENP designation.

The ENP program is quite popular, and earlier this year exceeded having 1000 ENPs nationwide. Although the NENA ENP certification is open to anyone that passes the minimum requirements, the majority of consultants that take the time to get certified, are consultants that primarily deal with PSAP's and public safety.

Consulting in the enterprise, especially for E9-1-1, is special unto itself. With the E9-1-1 technology and architecture rapidly changing and evolving, maybe what is needed is an additional certification for enterprise E9-1-1 consulting. As we talked about in the past, there are many ways administrators can solve their E9-1-1 problems. With many of these ways being correct, picking the best way for their environment requires some knowledge and understanding of how E9-1-1 works, how common industry tools and best practices can be deployed, and how to effectively vocalize their needs and requirements in an RFI or RFP.

These are all things that consultants do very well, and I've even seen great consultants, who initially knew nothing about E9-1-1, write very explicit RFI and RFP documents. Why? Because they did their homework on the topic of E9-1-1, and they knew how to do what they do best, and that is consult.

When you're dealing with your consultant on your next communication system RFI or RFP, make sure they're providing you with some inherent value in the E9-1-1 section of that document, and not just a laundry list of acronyms. E9-1-1 compliance in the enterprise is much more than "does your PBX support E9-1-1 in the 16 states with legislation?" Look for specific features and functionality in the solutions you are considering.

Some of the more common features you should consider are:

-The ability to define multiple numbers as emergency calls. This allows 911, 9-911, or other internal emergency numbers to be captured as emergency calls.

-Location-based routing of emergency calls based on where a device is on the network.

-On-site notification mechanisms that include screen pops, e-mail, SMS, or audio alerts.

-Integration with other network data repositories, such as LDAP, active directory and others that can provide additional information about a 911 caller.

-The ability to correlate floor plans and other data such as material safety data sheets that are applicable to the emergency caller, and the ability to then convey that information to internal first responders.

-The ability to handle off-site or VPN remote users using a separate technology than internal users, if desired.

Eventually, I think you'll find E9-1-1 industry organizations such as NENA will expand their ENP certification program to include specific certifications for consultants, as well as organizations such as the Society of Telecommunications Consultants (STC). Until that time, make sure you get real references, and call those references, when deciding on an E9-1-1 consultant.

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New Michigan Law Takes Aim on SWATTERS

2012-03-18T02:59:57Z

Once again Michigan makes news with some new legislation that makes swatting a felony punishable by up to four years in jail. Pretty much since the invention of the telephone people have used the device to play jokes on their friends and colleagues. During my younger days, Caller ID didn't even exist, so playing pranks was quite easy. But the pranks that we played in those days were fairly harmless.

"Hello, this is the telephone company repairmen calling. We're going to be working on your phone lines, so please don't answer your telephone for the next hour."

We would then call back the number over and over again, and inevitably people were not able to resist the urge to answer, and when they would we would scream as loud as we could. I guess for a 14-year-old, back in the mid-70s, that was pretty funny.

Today however, technology exists in several different forms, that allows a caller to manipulate their caller ID, or use other services that effectively mask the originating caller from public safety. Side Note: For all the little hackers out there, not going to go into it any further, so find another spot to do your research. "Swatting" usually entails making false emergency phone calls to a 911 center. At that point, social engineering is used to convince the 911 call taker that a horrific crime either has, or is about to, occur. The hopes of the "swatter" is to provoke a response by the SWAT team to show up at the innocent persons address, while the swatter sits back and watches the mayhem that ensues. Unfortunately not only do they put their intended vicims in harms way, they endanger the 1st responders making them rush to the scene, as well as delay services to other who actually are in need of help.

Representative Kurt Heise of Michigan introduced House Bill 5431 which makes swatting a felony in Michigan. Heise stated "the innocent victims of swatting have literally been woken up in the middle of night to find SWAT teams, with guns drawn, at their window or door step. Our emergency first responders don't have the time or resources to respond to false crisis events. We need to take a strong stand against swatting before an innocent victim or emergency first responder is killed, or resources are misdirected."

Every few weeks it seems that a new swatting incident shows up in the news. The FBI reports that between 2002 and 2006, five specific swatter's made over 100 calls to 60 different agencies nationwide. In addition to disrupting emergency services, those incidents resulted in up to $250,000 in losses in manpower for the agencies. With today's agencies scraping to save every dollar they can, the financial impact of being swatted affects public safety as well as the public they are trying to protect.

One of the areas of major concern with next generation 911, is the security and authentication built into that network of networks. As we are all aware today, e-mail phishing, identity theft, and impersonation are all too easy to accomplish with common technology available today. Without the proper planning and protection, the next generation 911 network of tomorrow will be a primary target. The one saving grace in all of this, is that enterprise businesses have been connected to the Internet for over a few decades now. Best practices have been established, and what was once a very closed environment, only available to specific individuals through pinhole firewalls, has been opened up to the level where most companies have open browsing and Internet access with the exception of sites being deemed "inappropriate".

Should public safety attached directly to the Internet? That question is often discussed with valid points on both sides of the argument. The conservative approach is to maintain separation between the public safety network in the "evil malware infested Internet". That's what I call the "bubble boy" approach. The other approach, which I feel is more rational and appropriate, is the guarded DMZ approach.

Think of the DMZ as a buffer zone between public safety, and that big scary Internet. It's kind of like a doctor saying "I'm not touching that! Get me a set of gloves!" With traffic isolated within a DMZ, additional actions can be taken, by profiling the data as well as its source. This brings up the concept of black gray and white that I spoke about in a previous podcast. If you're a trusted entity, and can provide credentials that prove that, you're on the white list. If you're new to the network, and trust has not been established, you're on the gray list and additional security checks are leveraged against you. If you've been a bad boy in the past, and the network recognizes you, you're on the blacklist and will receive only a base level of service at a lower priority.

In addition to applying that to individual identities, the same logic can be applied to suspicious profiles based on a number of other things including the device, the access method, or even the contextual data that surrounds the call.

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Avaya Announces E911 Select Product Partners

2012-03-12T11:41:11Z

Last week the new Avaya DevConnect Select Product Program was announced. This new program known as SPP enables innovative developer partner applications to be ordered directly through Avaya and its distributors. The new process simplifies the way customers obtain Avaya compatible technology, and opens up new market opportunities for both developers and channel partners.

The new program enables both Avaya customers and channel partners to order selected DevConnect Technology Partner applications from Avaya or its distributors. Previously these applications were only available directly from the DevConnect partner itself, or their reseller community. Purchasing a complete Avaya based communications solution has been made simpler by eliminating the need for numerous vendor relationships and transactions, as well as streamlining the ordering process for both our valued customers and Avaya DevConnect channel partners.

What enables a product to become part of the Select Product Program?

Applications are initially selected by Avaya based on proven interoperability through rigorous DevConnect Compliance Testing. Secondly, the important capabilities and functionalities that a particular solution brought as an enhancement to Avaya's portfolio was weighed carefully for it's value to the customer.

Out of the entire Avaya DevConnect ecosystem of partners, only eight DevConnect Technology Partners have been selected as part of the initial program, with two specific partners, 911 ETC and Conveyant Systems, providing enhanced E911 functionality for enterprise class users.

Although the Avaya DevConnect Select Product Program is being introduced in the U.S., it is expected to expand globally during the current year as Avaya DevConnect is a global program spanning technology companies in over 145 countries, focused on the development, marketing and enablement of innovative third-party products that extend the value of a customer's investment in its Avaya communication portfolios.

Eric Rossman, vice president, Developer Relations, Avaya, stated "Businesses can buy compelling, third-party applications that work seamlessly with their Avaya platform. We think this will bring new benefits to our customers, our channel partners and our growing community of third-party developers."

So why did Avaya bring in two competing E911 products?

In reality, we didn't. E911 in the enterprise has never been a box that you simply plug-in and walk away from. Managing enterprise E911 is not difficult, however you must define the functionality that you need to provide an effective solution for your particular enterprise. The Conveyant Systems Sentry product provides key functionality for in building IP users as well as TDM devices. Location discovery and routing information is provided to the communication server when a device registers, so that proper E911 reporting is available almost immediately after a device receives dialtone on the network. This was a huge step forward from other applications that only provided daily public safety database updates using batch files, or deployed other mechanisms that required ongoing monthly billing to achieve near real-time location updates.

When a user on the system dials 911, or any other number defined as an emergency number, the Sentry product provides immediate notification with detailed information provided by the communication server as well as additional information provided by Active Directory or the network if desired. On-site crisis notification alerts can be sent as an e-mail, an SMS message, or even a screen pop on a computer terminal that contains specific data about an emergent event such as a floor plan or map of the facility.

This functionality is one of the most important as it provides local on-site personnel situational awareness of an emergency event within their facility. This allows them to respond immediately to an emergency situation instead of finding out when EMS or fire pulls up to the front of building.

When I speak to public safety communications officials, they always remind me that their job is to enable first responders to prioritize what they need to do: Respond.

When the ambulance leaves the squad building, or fire truck pulls out of the firehouse, the detail that they need to have at that point in time is a Street address, and potentially a floor number.

Historically, applications have gone through great lengths to provide the specific station level detail, which is well-known within the enterprise, to public safety outside of the enterprise, and at a great deal of expense as well as complex mechanisms. Unfortunately, based on 911 center managers I have spoken too the reality is public safety dispatchers aren't really interested in your cubicle number. Why, you may ask? The answer is simple, they don't have maps of your facility, and telling them that you're in cube 2C231, really does nothing to decrease the response time, since they are driving the ambulance to a specific spot outside of the building. Knowing the entrance to use is the most important information, and then knowing there will be someone there who has been notified that can guide 1st responders to the victim.

On-site notification provides a great level of detail to internal 1st responders within your building, where that level of information is critical and of great interest. The interesting part is since that information is already available within the network, it's an easy task to distribute that to the relevant parties, and even print a floor plan that you can hand the public safety when they arrive on scene.

Inevitably, however, applications and controls that are implemented internally simply are not capable of providing information at that level for remote users, like the VPN telecommuter. Because that model has become extremely popular for voice over IP enterprise deployments, a separate specialized service was required. Because VPN users, and the networks that they reside on, are quite often not visible to the enterprise network location discovery becomes difficult if not impossible. Another problematic scenario is a remote office with just a few workers in no localized trunking. When those users are in another state or simply outside of the E911 zone of the main office, call handling for emergency calls can become problematic.

To solve this problem, 911 ETC was added as an SPP solution to provide hosted E911 services for these and other problematic environments. Integrating tightly into the Avaya communications solution and its ability to provide location-based routing, specific users can be routed to the 911 ETC emergency network and terminated at the appropriate PSAP for the remote caller. For soft phone users their SoftLoc product works as a firewall blocking any communications client from registering without first selecting an E911 reporting location as defined by the system administrator. The application also monitors the remote user for IP address changes and forces them to reregister should they move.

So now you can see, we didn't bring two competing vendors into the SPP program, we brought in two complementary E911 vendors that have a joint roadmap together to bring efficient and affordable emergency solutions functionality to Avaya customers at a price point that is acceptable.

Congratulations to 911 ETC and Conveyant Systems for being selected for the Avaya SPP program for E911 solutions. Don't forget about the IAUG Global Education Conference in Boston May 20-24 where Next Generation 911 will be discussed and Avaya will sponsor "The Great E911 Debate" where we put the vendors in the hot seat to share the value of their products with you.

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GIS? Gee, I Don't Know?!

2012-03-03T18:48:11Z

If you're a regular reader of my blogs or listener to my pod-casts, you're probably involved in public safety in some way or you manage E 911 in your company's PBX infrastructure. You also more than likely understand that caller ID is used for routing E 911 calls to the proper PSAP, and all that magic happens based on some information listed in the MSAG database or Master Street Address Guide.

In many ways, MSAG is at the heart of the E911 system today, at least from a routing perspective. With the adoption of NG911, we've said many times that telephone numbers and the locations they represent (ANI / ALI) can finally go away. With the pending demise of ANI / ALI, since the MSAG is fed from that data, it, in itself, is also on a very short leash. At a bare minimum it will need to be replaced in order to realize the full benefit of NG 911 and routing based on IP-based location objects and the geodetic data that they will contain.

In the NG 911 architecture, and even in some of today's local dispatch systems is GIS. GIS is a system of hardware and software used for the storage, retrieval, mapping, and analysis of geographic data. Spatial features are stored in a coordinate based system (latitude/longitude), which reference a particular place on the earth. Associated to this point specific spatial data and associated attributes that can then be layered together for mapping and analysis. GIS is used for scientific investigations, resource management, and development planning, and in the NG 911 world, it provides the new routing database that is queried and provides location and emergency service correlation.

Image Courtesy DDTI http://www.ddti.net

There is much more to GIS than that, and it certainly doesn't do this on its own, but it is the primary source for location and routing instructions. If GIS is not correct, then we are routing in the dark, and for the 911 center, that could be disastrous.

I recently stopped by the 911 center that had just upgraded their computer-aided dispatch (CAD) application. One of the first things that I noticed, was that many long winding driveways in this rural area where noted as unnamed roads in the GIS database. Additionally, some short roads such as neighborhood cul-de-sacs were also listed as "unnamed". Being familiar with the area, I recognized these as long driveways to residences or farms. This is a huge issue for public safety, and the reason why so many resources need to be dedicated specifically to GIS.

When a call arrives at the 911 center, whether it's landline or wireless based, the GIS is queried for the reference to that particular place on the earth. The spatial data fundamentally is comprised of points, lines and arcs, as well as polygons, and define what are known as "boundaries". From emergency services perspective, these Emergency 911 Service Zone Boundaries have unique combinations of police, fire, and ambulance jurisdiction. From the dispatchers perspective, a single police department may patrol the entire town, however, EMS and fire companies may have specific jurisdictions that they are responsible for.

Specific detail about an area can be overlaid on the base spatial data that indicate specific pieces of information. Some of the more common layers include buildings, school zones, as well as primary service areas for particular agency or department. An NG 911 computer-aided dispatch system (CAD) relies on this information to make run recs (dispatch recommendations) to the dispatcher.

So if GIS is not correct, and roads are missing or mislabel, the entire "process" of dispatching could be placed in jeopardy. Without a properly maintained GIS database, public safety could be operating the dark, and we look at why it costs so much to maintain the emergency services network, the resources and manpower required for GIS alone can be staggering without the right solution.

Am I an expert on GIS? Not by a long shot. But I am smart enough to know that without a proper GIS solution, and by proper I mean one that's accurate with current information, NG911 and all of the information it promises to provide will become worthless.

For those of you in public safety, you understand exactly how important GIS is to your day-to-day job. For those of you not directly public safety, I hope I've educated you just a little bit, and expand your horizon.

Texting to 911 Comes to a Town Near You - Or does it?

2012-02-27T00:18:06Z

The new buzzword for public safety in 2012 is Next Generation 911, and one of the "features" that is reportedly being clamored for is Texting to 911. The reason people want this feature is not because they need to send "Yo PoPo, dis dude be jackin' me up!" Although that does highlight a whole new breed of interpreters. You see, 911 is supposed to be ubiquitous; available everywhere, and equally to anyone who needs it on any device. For a long time it's been expected to be especially beneficial to those that are hearing-impaired.

The problem is, that there is no magic wand that can be waived that will easily allow text messages from phones to carry the ever important location information. It really gets under my skin when I see headlines that say "Text to 911 Now Possible!" Or something similar. Typically, when you read through the article, there is very little mention of the technology that will be used to provide this valuable service. Granted, I don't read every single article ever written, but I am constantly on the hunt for the announcement that this technology Has been bridged.

In Columbus Ohio recently, Franklin County announced an upgrade to its wireless 911 call centers that will allow texting, and eventually pictures and video. The article included several quotes from John Moore, CEO of the Deaf Services Center in Worthington. In the article more stated that almost 9% of Ohio's population is either deaf or hearing-impaired. Unfortunately, this community of individuals is often treated as a second-class citizen when it comes to 911. Although the American Disabilities Act requires that public safety answering points maintain TTY/TDD equipment, there are hundreds of stories where deaf individuals have had difficulties reaching 911, and ultimately they had to call someone who was able to hear and ask them to make a phone call for them.

An amazing person that I met while serving on the FCC EAAC in Washington was Sherri Farina. She has an amazing story where her husband was doing some work around the house, and as many husbands do, severely injured himself using a tool. I can say that, because I put a screwdriver through my hand a couple of weeks before my wedding which prevented me from wearing my wedding band due to the swelling. At least that's the story I'm sticking with, and I've got a doctors note to prove it!

Getting back to Sherri's story, she dialed 911 with her TTY, and for some reason the PSAP did not detect the TTY and treated it as a silent call. She tried again, and still was not able to establish communication. Fortunately, due to that PSAPs policy of silent 911 calls, they ended up sending a patrol car by the address, where Sherri was able to flag down the cruiser and get medical help for her husband. If you're interested in following Sherri's activities as an advocate for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, I encourage you to follow her on twitter @xoSheri.

This brings us to our slippery slope. In a report from Local ABC Affiliate Channel 6 that highlighted texting to 911 in Franklin County Ohio, the report ended with this bit of information that unfortunately is true: "The number to text for 911 help, will MOST LIKELY NOT BE 911! Read the story and watch the video here.

This is one of my pet peeves, but at least the newscaster did her job and did the research. We talk about texting to 911 with next generation 911, but inevitably were talking about getting a text message to a 911 center which is very different than addressing your emergency text to the digits 911. On the surface, you might not see this as a major problem. But as was reported in this news story "the number won't be 911, but another easy to remember number". So let's put this in perspective. In the average day, during your commute to work, or while running around taking care of errands:

How many different cities do you pass through?

Is the town served by a municipal PSAP?

Is it the County?

What about when you're on a highway?

Is the state police?

When you're traveling state to state, are you always aware when you cross the state line?

Obviously these are all questions that require us to carry around a briefcase full of maps, GPS, and a book of all the agencies and their different but "easy to remember" short codes. I'm sorry, this is impractical, and it's not solving any problem. We have to solve a routing problem for text messages that allow a single ubiquitous number to be directed to the proper authorities based on location. Until we have that, we won't really have texting to 911. Then I might be a bit of an unpopular thing to say, but today, it is in fact the truth.

The problem is text messages are routed completely different from calls from cellular devices. One way to solve the problem, that is being deployed in Canada sidesteps that problem by having the PSAP initiate the text message session after a normal voice session is established. A special flag is placed on a user's ANI record that indicates that the caller is hearing-impaired and has opted in for text messaging communications on that particular device. The 911 call taker then initiates a text message session to the person calling. Is that solution perfect? Probably not. But what it does do, is it moves us in the right direction without degrading service, requiring specific equipment, or forcing expensive hardware upgrades on either side.

NG 911 won't solve the problems we experience today, it will however lay down the groundwork with the network topology that will allow the conveyance of multimedia messages between a caller who needs help in the call taker that can provide that help.

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INITIAL DRAFT

NG911 on the Presidents Desk with H.R. 3630

2012-02-18T22:12:26Z

Last Friday on February 17, the U.S. Congress voted and passed a conference report for HR 3630 titled the "Middle-Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012" by a vote of 60 - 36.

The complete history of this bill can be found HERE
(Special thanks to Guy Clinch for the link)

The Major Congressional Actions are listed as:
12/9/2011
Introduced in House

12/13/2011
Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by recorded vote: 234 - 193 (Roll no. 923).

12/17/2011
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Unanimous Consent.

2/16/2012
Conference report H. Rept. 112-399 filed.

2/17/2012
Conference report agreed to in House: On agreeing to the conference report Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 293 - 132 (Roll no. 72).

2/17/2012
Conference report agreed to in Senate: Senate agreed to conference report by Yea-Nay Vote. 60 - 36. Record Vote Number: 22.

Sure, tax relief to the middle class is certainly a nice thing, but why is it news in a podcast and blog focused around E 911 and NG 911? It seems that a commonly used tactic was used in this bill called Rider Legislation. Riders are most effective when they are attached to an important bill, such as middle class tax relief and job creation, because a veto or postponement of that bill could delay funding to important government programs or cause serious damage politically in an election year.

HR 3630 had such a rider, and on page 214 of the bill, Subtitle E was listed as the Next Generation 911 Advancement Act of 2012. So when this do? In simple terms, if put NG 911 officially "on the books". In SEC. 6502 under definitions, multiline telephone systems or MLTS was included following the common definition used by NENA that includes the control units, telephone sets, and adjunct systems. It also covers both hosted and premise-based systems as well as Centrex, VoIP, PBX, hybrid and key telephone systems defined under Part 68.

The bill continues with a discussion on the implementation of an IP backbone network, what we have been referring to is ESInet, and calls for regulatory action within 120 days after the date of enactment.

SEC. 6504 on page 227 defines the "Requirements for Multiline Telephone Systems". This is an important part of the legislation, as the "NG 911 pessimists" have been pointing out that MLTS and PBX have never been a part of NG 911. Now, within 90 days of the enactment of this Act, the commission will issue a public notice seeking comment on the feasibility of including NG 911 within all systems manufactured after a specific date, or other mechanisms to provide a sufficiently precise indication of a 911 caller's location while avoiding the imposition of undue burdens on MLTS manufacturers providers and operators.

If you'd like to watch a good example of how that might be done, be sure to check out my recent Webinar as posted on YouTube.

Several years ago, I had the honor to be a key author, with several other of my colleagues, on the National Emergency Number Association's "Technical Requirements Document on Model Legislation E9-1-1 for MLTS" (NENA 06 - 750, version 2). Under the aforementioned public notice, the Commission will seek comment on that document.

Will NG 911 in the enterprise MLTS happen tomorrow? No, not likely. But I finally get to use one of my favorite words, and say that as soon as President Obama signs HR 3630 into law, which is expected in the next few days, NG 911 and its applicability to MLTS will officially be "promulgated".

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Happy 44th Birthday 911!

2012-02-16T14:58:57Z

This is a story I get to tell each year around the middle of February, where I just have to change 1 digit. ;-)

There 's a small little town in Northern Alabama, with about 6,000 people in the community, and according to the Haleyville Fire Department website, a meer 18 fire calls so far this year at the time of this writing.

So why is this town so important? Well in addition to sharing a name with my favorite daughter, this sleepy little town deep in the land of good BBQ, happens to be the birthplace of the 911 network in the US, and home of the first 911 call in the country ever made.That was 44 years ago, on February 16th, 1968.

In recognition of that historic event, permission has graciously been provided by Roger D. Wilson of Walker County 9-1-1 and past President of the Alabama Chapter of NENA located at http://www.al911org to reprint the history of 911 here as well as in my weekly E911 Talk Podcast.

The Official Story from NENA goes like this . . . . .

Before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, (June 2, 1875) public safety was served by town criers. A town crier would walk the streets of a town and cry out for help in emergency situations. In the 1950's, independent telephone companies were very common in the United States. If you wanted the police, you dialed the police station. If you had a fire, you called the fire department. If you needed any emergency help, you dialed the individual you needed, or you could dial " 0" and get the operator. Then he or she would ring the persons you were calling for.

In 1958, Congress called for an universal emergency number. At this time, the President's Commission of Law Enforcement and the F.C.C. started arguing over a single easy to remember number. This was due to the large volume of emergency calls going to telephone company operators. A person may be calling for emergency help while the operator was giving information on the number of Aunt Betsy in Louisiana or Uncle Charles in Oklahoma, which lead to delays in emergency responses. Telephone companies were facing the problem of how to separate emergencies from general business. For over ten years the idea was discussed and argued about among the different agencies who wanted to receive the calls. Police said they should answer all calls, the Fire Department felt they were the better choice, some even felt the local hospital was the best answer.

According to a report in the Fayette, Alabama Times Record commemorating the 25th anniversary of the historic event, B.W. Gallagher, President of Alabama Telephone Company, said he was inspired by an article in the Wall Street Journal. He read that the president of AT&T and the FCC had announced that 911 would be the nationwide emergency number. Being a bit offended by the fact that the views of the independent telephone industry had been overlooked in this decision, Gallagher decided to make the Alabama Telephone Company the first to implement 9-1-1.

Gallagher consulted with Robert Fitzgerald, inside plant manager for the Alabama Telephone Company, who examined schematics of the company's 27 exchanges. Fitzgerald chose Haleyville because its existing equipment was best suited to be quickly converted to receive 9-1-1 calls. Fitzgerald then designed the circuitry and installed the first 911 system in less than a week. Working with Fitzgerald to achieve this goal were technicians Pete Gosa, Jimmy White, Al Bush and Glenn Johnston.

In the early stages, the city fathers were skeptical of 9-1-1 calls being answered at the police station. They, like persons in Congress, were afraid that the city might not have the personnel qualified to answer "all out emergency calls".

Haleyville, Alabama introduced the nation's first 9-1-1 system which was located at the police station. Alabama Speaker of the House, Rankin Fite, made the first call from another city hall room. It was answered by Congressman Tom Bevill on a bright red telephone located in the police department. Also on hand was Haleyville Mayor James Whitt, Public Service Commission President Eugene (Bull) Connor, and B. W. Gallagher.

So on February 16, 1968, the first 9-1-1 call was made

Happy Birthday 9-1-1!
You're looking pretty good for a 44 year old, not to mention you save countless lives every single day.

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M2M - NG911 Machine to Machine Communications

2012-02-15T22:00:00Z

"This isn't science fiction. This is here and now."
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski

One of things I love the most about my job at Avaya, is the cool people I get to hang out with. What makes it even better is that those people have even cooler friends. A colleague of mine introduced me to a white paper written by former White House policy advisor and president of JK Strategies, Jim Kohlenberger. The white paper is called "The Internet's 3rd Act: The Connected Device Decade" published January 26, 2012.

One of the values that Next Generation 911 promises to bring to fruition, is connectivity between citizens and public safety, as well as connectivity between public safety agencies. But one of the offshoots of this massive broadband explosion, along with the proliferation of wireless technology and speeds, is exactly what Jim's white paper is about; connected devices.

Broadband penetration is on a steady rise in the US, with current figures in 2010 north of 54%. In addition to a smart phone, wireless connectivity is extending from your hand to your vehicle to your person, and even to your home or place of work. As Jim put it, we are "Not just smarter. Were talking genius."

Imagine the impact that all of the smart technology will have on our daily lives. The possibilities are endless. From your alarm clock understanding that there's a traffic jam on your way to work, and reacting by waking you up 15 min. early, to physiological sensors that are monitoring important health statistics like pulse temperature and blood pressure. I remember the poor gentleman Gaithersburg Maryland that dialed 911 when he was having chest pains. Not only did the PBX he was using fail to communicate his location, and never notified anyone else that a 911 call was placed, and the only thing that the public safety call taker heard was grunts and groans along with a few muffled numbers.

I sit and wonder what the outcome would be in the future with physiological sensors communicating that information with the 911 call the public safety, in addition to letting someone know what was going on; which in itself is a simple task to implement even without NG911.

In the near future, not only will you have an always on connection in your home, but in your vehicle as well. 4G wireless also known as Long Term Evolution or LTE promises to bring broadband speeds to almost anywhere. That alone will enable real-time video from a moving vehicle if required, and voice will become a "no-brainer".

From emergency services perspective, both in the enterprise and in public safety, I believe the cool new "killer app" will be one that performs event correlation. There will be so much data, from so many sources, that the human being will have a difficult time sorting through the information, and will, on a regular basis, experience information anarchy as was highlighted in Guy Clinch's CONNECTED blog earlier this year.

I still get asked, on a regular basis, "When will NG911 actually be here?"

Given all the activity of the state levels, movement in the alarm industry, funding initiatives in Washington at the federal level, and the willingness of our Avaya DevConnect partners to build exciting and new applications to service the market, how completely agree with Bill Hughes from TCS's prediction of second quarter 2012.

True, there are still some out there that say "not in my lifetime" when talking about NG 911 deployments being a reality. Personally, I stopped fighting those battles a while ago. Mainly because I'm just too busy working on NG 911 as a reality. Some industries pushback on NG911 as they view it as a threat to their revenue model. Fortunately, others have seen the value of NG 911 and have changed or adjusted their vision to be in alignment with the future.

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