New Global Collaboration Expected to Transform Public Safety Across the World

“How Can Uber Find You and 9-1-1 Can’t?”

Standardization Will Save Lives as 50-Year-Old Technologies Give Way to IP-based Multi-Modal Systems that Empower First Responders to Use Video, Pictures, Text, and Data

Santa Clara, CA – April 19, 2017 – The new collaboration announced by the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) in Brussels, and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) in the United States will transform how first responders help save lives, according to Avaya, a global leader in mission critical, real-time communication applications of the world’s most important operations.

The collaboration is expected to replace legacy first responder systems developed and deployed in the 1960s and 1970s.  These aging systems, built many years before the existence of the Internet or e-mail, are isolated and disparate islands of connectivity, built on platforms that are not capable of accepting the current modes of communications used by citizens around the world, let alone interconnect the more than 6,000 9-1-1 centers across the United States.

Unable to progress beyond these legacy technologies, and relegated to telephone number lookups, emergency responders in Europe, North America and across the globe will now team up with industry IT experts to create IP-based, interoperable “Next Generation 9-1-1” systems.  “Next Generation 9-1-1,” based on the “NENA i3” standard, can accept video, pictures, text, and data as easily as they accept voice today.  Intelligent information will be placed in context, enabling emergency response vehicles and equipment on-scene to become intelligent endpoints connected to the core Emergency Services IP Network, or ESInet.  Dynamic data, such as live video and floor plans of an incident site, can now be conveyed directly to first responders, safely and securely connecting Internet of Things devices to the newly adopted infrastructure being built out across many regions.

Playing a key role in the evolution of emergency calling systems in North America and Europe is Avaya, the world’s leader in contact centers and among the top providers of networking equipment and command and control software.  Avaya has been ranked as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure for the last 16 years.   We can offer Public Safety agencies the same mission critical services we provide to the world’s largest airlines, financial institutions and other major enterprises in a resilient, reliable and secure environment.   

Dedicated to improving access to emergency services since its founding in 2000, Avaya holds dozens of patents for communications accessibility tools and solutions for people with disabilities worldwide. Pioneering several public safety initiatives globally are Avaya’s Chief Architect for Worldwide Pubic Safety Solutions, Mark Fletcher, ENP, along with Frankfurt-based Markus Bornheim, a Contact Center and Public Safety Specialist.  The two executives have spearheaded initiatives such as the adoption of Kari’s Law, enabling direct 9-1-1 access in multi-line telephone systems in commercial buildings, schools, hotels, and government facilities around the country and the world, and innovative solutions to the recently mandated EU-based eCall initiative. 

Quote:

“How can Uber find you and 911 can’t?  Simple, Uber asks the phone, while 911 uses the phone number, which can move. The joint standards efforts of both NENA and EENA will change that, providing explicit location information from the device, making the world a safer place.  Whether you are in the 5^th floor conference room in a burning building, stuck on the side of a highway with a flat tire, or trapped in a hostage situation, you and future generations of citizens living on either side of the ocean will profoundly benefit. Avaya, is the world’s leader in contact center solutions and we have the next generation know how to lead the global alignment of ubiquitous critical communication that will eliminate the digital divide and make our one world a better and safer place for all.”

Mark J. Fletcher, ENP, Co-Chair of the Emergency Notification WG of the FCC Disability Advisory Committee, NENA Accessibility Committee; Chief Architect - Worldwide Public Safety Solutions - Office of the CTO - Enterprise Solutions, Avaya

About Avaya
Avaya enables the mission critical, real-time communication applications of the world’s most important operations. As the global leader in delivering superior communications experiences, Avaya provides the most complete portfolio of software and services for contact center and unified communications with integrated, secure networking— offered on premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid. Today’s digital world requires some form of communications enablement, and no other company is better positioned to do this than Avaya. For more information, please visit www.avaya.com.

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