Next Generation 911 - Research Paper Example

Generation Next – 9 1 Order No. 280815 No. of pages: 10 1st 6530 United s before the advent of 911 The United s, just like the rest of the world progress and advancements were taking place rapidly and the land of opportunity began opening up different vistas while raising the standard of life. With these advancements came increase in population and with increase in population and affluence came the hazards of crime, accidents and emergencies etc. Therefore, as early as 1935, an association called ‘APCO’ – Association of Public Safety Communications Officials was formed. This association however, was not really able to stem the increase of crime, accidents, and emergencies etc. Information on the occurrences of these types of emergencies or crimes were getting reported but due to the lack of a sophisticated communications system, there always seemed to be a lapse of time between the occurrence of the incident and information to the authorities and their ultimate arrival on the scene. The result was that there was a lot of loss to life and property damaged which sometimes ran into billions of dollars. Efforts made to curb this loss only resulted in greater losses and crime and violence continued unabated. With a view to bring this situation under control and effect a sense of coordination in to the system people became aware that there was an urgent need in finding suitable solutions to end this problem and therefore, in 1957, at a conference called the National Association of Fire Chiefs, it was mooted that a SINGLE telephone number be made available to the general public, that could be used for reporting fire accidents which would significantly bring down the loss of time between communication. This idea was wholeheartedly accepted and duly recommended by all. Ten years later (1967) the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice was so taken up with this idea that it was suggested that a “single number” should be established countrywide, for any emergency and not limiting it to reporting of fires alone. It was the general opinion and rightly so, that the use of different telephone numbers for a variety of incidents, would only increase time lapse. This suggestion received huge support with the result that the task of identifying and implementing such a number that would be convenient and acceptable to all was entrusted to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) The FCC The FCC set out on the task without any further delay, once they had been entrusted with the assignment of locating such a number. The FCC met and had extensive discussions with the American Telephone & Telegraph Co (AT&T) a leading service provider at that point of time and their agenda was to identify and establish such a number. AT&T swung into action and announced the establishment of 9-1-1 (Nine- One- One) as the code for emergency throughout the United States. Why 9 – 1 – 1? It will be interesting to note how the choice of 911 came about. The following were the few factors that went into the culmination of this number - Firstly, this number was never so far authorized as a code and secondly, the number was very easy to remember and one could dial it without much of a bother. The code for emergency being agreed upon as 9-1-1, the Congress accepted AT& T’s proposal and passed legislation in its favor. A year later on February 16th 1968, the first call using the number 911 was dialed by a Senator named Rankin Fite in Alabama. By March 1973 the White House’s Office of Telecommunication found it necessary to issue a policy statement which recognized the advantages and simplicity in using 9-1-1. It can be seen that when the Government of Canada decided to implement a similar emergency single number they opted for 9-1-1 thus making this number international. Implementation of 9-1-1 – formation of NENA The passing of legislation and the acceptance of 911 as an emergency code is one thing but implementing this number on a widespread scale is a totally different ball game altogether. There were various departments that needed to be coordinated, such as an awareness program to be implemented, systems to be put into place, telecommunication advancements to be incorporated that prompted the calling of a series of meetings, debates and discussions by the then National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA ) to centrally focus on the major task at hand. NENA - National Emergency Number Association It was in 1982, that NENA. “National Emergency Number Association” was established. It was a Non Profit Organization comprising of representation from both the industry as well as government, to initiate a “one nation one number” policy. NENA with a 7000 strong workforce and 450 chapters, have just one mission in mind and that is to save lives. NENA assists in promoting the new system installations apart from educating managers on the latest technological advancements and business practices. The entire 9-1-1 program was implemented in two phases. Phase one covered the basic implementation program where increasing the number of Public Safety Answering Point – (PSAP) was to be established. Phase II was for a seamless integration to E911 or ENHANCED 911 wherein the call number details and its address will be available to the operator. This was not available in phase I because this was possible only with a wireless E911 technology. From statistics available achievement of 33% deployment for phase II and 67% for phase I has been achieved and efforts are in full swing to improve these figures. Another important area of NENA’s commitment is its aggressive IP development efforts which was necessary to be integrated to 9 -1 -1. The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) migration truly enhances its operations. Working alongside NENA is VoIP which is also active in promoting and supporting the Non Traditional Communications like MLTS, PBX, Satellite and Telematics. This greatly helped in making the 911 emergency number accessible even to those with disabilities. It can be said that NENA is widely recognized as the standard setting organization and its members are experts where the 9-1-1 telephony communication system is concerned. Another Vital Cog in the Wheel of 9-1-1 - FCC We have dwelt on the contributions of NENA in the success story of the 9-1-1 however it is but relevant and logical to bring in the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) without whose help these changes could never have been brought about. It was briefly pointed out that all content be it television, Radio, Wireless, or Satellite be monitored and controlled by this body called the FCC. In any country control and proper monitoring of airwaves is a very important feature not only for security but also for industry as today wireless technology is becoming more advanced with every passing day. The sensitive areas that FCC covers relates to personal freedom and public good. The Federal Communications Commission is an independent United States government agency. It came into existence with the Communication Act of 1934 and is given the huge responsibility of regulating interstate and international communications by known media like Television, Radio, Wireless, Satellite, and Cable network. In order to ensure systematic and unbiased regulatory adoptions and laws, the Commission has set up various bureaus and offices, each given a specific area of operation, such as Enforcement Bureau, Media Bureau of Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau etc. while some of its offices are Office of Administrative Law Judges, Office of Inspector General, Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis etc. Today the average American allows his child to play with a radio controlled airplane, or a teenager in his rooms sends out a presentation via internet, an executive prepares his sales figures using back ups from the office situated miles away, you lock your car with a remote controlled gadget or you activate your burglar alarm before going to bed., these and a plethora of such activities come under the purview, control and regulation of the Federal Communications Commission and if people have the freedom to perform these operations it is only thanks to the FCC which ensures safety and security. Congress Bill for next generation 911 In a joint decision taken by the senate and the house legislation was passed in order to enhance public-safety answering points (PSAPs) by migrating to the next generation 9 -1 -1. Policy issues that posed as barriers to this transition were smoothened out before President George W. Bush passed the bill and made it a law. According to the H.R bill 3043, it had to provide liability protection for all the PSAPs and services providers who made use of an IP based communications system in order to have access to the Nine- One- One-system. Some of the issues raised were that the use of 911 was prohibited by certain laws in certain states; some state laws have prohibited the collection of fees for the 9 – 1 – 1, the wireless and VoIP services. According to the 9 – 1 -1 Act of 2004, the bill allowed grant money to be utilized for the upgradation of the PSAPs to the next generation ventures. The government affairs director of the National Emergency Number Association Mr. Patrick Halley stated that “Its important because Congress so far has appropriated only $43.5 million of the $1.25 billion the Enhance 911 Act authorized over a five-year period. "The fact that the money can be used for broader purposes, we hope, will help us," Fraudsters to the Fore – A happy tale turned sour In 1996, when the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) laid down the rules for mobile phones making use of the 9 -1 -1 services, it turned out to be a nationwide nightmare for the PSAPs. Fraudsters were quick to understand that if these non initialized phones had a working battery they could be used to dial 9 -1 -1 but yet could not be tracked down or traced. Since such phones were not connected to any service provider they do not possess an automatic number identification (ANI) and hence could not be traced. It was these calls that clogged up the 9 – 1 – 1 systems and made it very difficult for them to keep up with it. A classy example is the PSAPS Tennessee that reported fraudulent calls to the 9 -1 – 1 amounting to 10,000 in just 3 months. Another example is from the PSAPs in Florida reported approximately 8,400 such fraudulent calls in just a single month. To counter this nagging issue many good technology companies have come forward to help the FCC, indicating that they had developed technology that is capable of helping the PSAPs to block all the fraudulent calls to the 9 – 1 – 1. One such company is the telecommunication Systems (TCS) who is a dominant wireless and VoIP E911 service provider who is developing the software that can track down a phones ESN whether it was a non initialized devise or not and it could enable PSAPs to block all the fraudulent calls without them having to upgrade their infrastructure. Presently, NENA and other public safety groups are working in tandem with the FCC in order to sort out problems that arise at a nationwide level. Vision for the 21st Century By 1973 the modern system of communication that we are familiar with today was created by the Federal EMS Act. Nowadays, ambulances are fitted with radios which are automatically connected to the emergency departments in a hospital. Through communication the hospital people know that kind of patient they are expecting and are ready with the necessary equipment to render service to the emergency. In days gone by this was not so. At most times, the ambulance would arrive unannounced. Since 35 years the EMS system has gone a long way in becoming one of the most sophisticated services catering to the field medical care. However, the communication systems that were initiated in 1973 remains almost the same with the use of VHF and UHF frequencies with a 98% voice communication service that made use of a little bit of telemetry. However, regulations through the wireless seemed an extremely challenging task and taking grievances to the FCC was not an easy task. In this scenario NENA Began what is called the ‘SWAT’ initiative, (Strategic Wireline/ Wireless Action Team) which made an effort to coordinate and bring together all the players and companies in the field and through brain – storming session tried to find solutions to the problems that were cropping up. Changes for the better are taking place gradually and the communication system is being made even more sophisticated. According to Kevin Bankston senior staff attorney of the EFF, “If Obama truly supports change……then he should end the Bush administration’s attempt to cover-up lawbreaking by the NSA (National Security Agency) and its telecom collaborators, and ensure that the judicial branch is finally allowed to rule on the legality of [the] NSA program. It is left to be seen What the Obama government is going to do because of the many options that are posed to them. The Future of 9 – 1 – 1 – Emergency Communications Most Americans expect the 911 system to support features that are part of an emergency response. This does not happen because the 911 system is built on analog technology which does not support many features of the usual emergency response. They use architecture of switches and circuits that were built when there was monopoly in the nation’s telephone service. Due to their out datedness, systems for 911 cannot accommodate technological advancements. “Simply put, the 9-1-1 system has not kept up with technology and is badly in need of modernization.” (NENA, 2008) There is a danger of failure and the maintenance cost is very high. Since the analog system cannot carry text messages, the calls are sometimes dropped or delayed. Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) are call centers that receive 911 calls. The information is sometimes lost as the telecommunication infrastructure cannot transmit digital detail or they are not understood by the computer at PSAP. The delay in transfer of calls from digital to analog result sometimes in life threatening situations. To modernize the system new technologies are required which can match the expectations of the users. These new technologies, according to general consensus, should incorporate Internet Protocol (IP) networks and standards. The new technologies are collectively referred to as Next Generation 911 or NG9-1-1. The term ‘NG9 -1 -1’ is used to refer to the modernization aspect which includes software, hardware, data and other operational procedures and policies of the 9 -1 -1 which are regularly supported by multi- purpose emergency service networks. The Congress passed three bills to support improvements so as to provide effective 911 services. The NET 911 Improvement Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-283) is the most recent bill which required the IP enablement of emergency networks. The National Plan for the migration to IP enablement was prepared by the E-911 Implementation Coordination Office (ICO). ICO is co-administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The scheduled termination of the ICO is October 1, 2009. The Congress expects the completion of the National Plan by April 2009. There is therefore very little time for the implementation of these proposals. The Congress, to maintain continuity of the program, may choose to reauthorize the ICO so as to have an IP enabled communication network for the 911 services. The future of the Next Generation 9 -1 -1 is envisioned with an IP based standardized protocols that will provide national, regional, state, local and tribal services to accommodate any crisis situation that they may come across. Other benefits include better connections between the call centers of the 9 -1 -1, the emergency responders and the alerting and warning systems. In addition to these it should have the flexibility of receiving calls in any format because of its high capacity. “Benefits like these are among the reasons that Congress has required the preparation of a National Plan to prepare 911 for the transition to an IP enabled emergency communications network.” (P.L. 110-283, Sec. 102, (3) “(d) “(1); 122 STAT. 2623) References NENA, Next Generation Partner Program, A Policy Maker Blueprint for Transitioning to the Next Generation 9-1-1 System: Issues and Recommendations for State and Federal Policy Makers to Enable NG9-1-1, page 2. Report at [http://www.nena.org/media/File/ NG9-1-1PolicyMakerBlueprintTransitionGuide-Final_1.pdf]. Viewed October 22, 2008. NENA NG9-1-1 Project at [http://www.nena.org/pages/ContentList.asp?CTID=65]. Viewed September 29, 2008. P.L. 110-283, Sec. 102, (3) “(d) “(1); 122 STAT. 2623. Read More