Next Generation 9-1-1 Networks

The current 9-1-1 Network is based on 1970's technology, and transmits limited data over traditional voice-grade lines at the equivalent of 2400 baud modem speed. The network cannot handle text or video messaging, some internet phones, Automatic Crash Notification systems such as OnStar, and other new and future technologies.

Emergency Call Centers are not interconnected, cannot exchange data, and cannot work together as effectively to manage a public emergency as if they were interconnected. When a 9-1-1 call is misrouted in the current network, the Emergency Call Center receiving the call can transfer the call to the correct Call Center. No additional information is transferred with the call, including location information which must be re-polled after transfer to the new Call Center. This limitation on data transfer delays the dispatch of First Responders and of help arriving on scene.

Location Determination

• There are currently nine counties in Colorado where the 9-1-1 System cannot identify a cellphone caller's location (used to send the call to the correct Emergency Call Center as well as to dispatch First Responders to assist the caller), four counties in which the 9-1-1 System cannot even provide the caller's number in case the call is disconnected.
• The 9-1-1 System cannot identify the location of people sending text messages, and so can't determine which Emergency Call Center should get them. This is the reason you cannot text-message 9-1-1 (as students desperately tried to do during the "Virginia Tech Massacre").
• The location of many Internet phones is not correctly reported to the 9-1-1 Call Center. Recently, an elderly woman who called 9-1-1 from her home in Arizona was connected to the Emergency Call Center in Fort Collins, apparently because that is where her son bought the phone for her. "Nomadic" or mobile Internet phones create even greater issues for the 9-1-1 System.

An important feature of the Next Generation 9-1-1 Network is greater location determination capability. In the current network, the location of wireline callers is based upon a simple database, or lookup table, relating the service address to the telephone number. Some Internet Phone (VoIP) providers also use this database to identify its customers' service locations. The most basic level of wireless (cell phone) location determination identifies the location of the cell tower or antenna through which the call is connected. Fully-implemented wireless E-911 uses GPS chips in the handset, or triangulation from cell towers, to identify the caller's location for the Emergency Call Center. The wireless location information is pushed into the lookup table using a pseudo telephone number for the duration of the 9-1-1 call. However text messaging, video messaging and some internet phone systems cannot use 9-1-1 because of the lack of systems to determine their location, which is necessary to route calls or messages to "9-1-1" to the correct 9-1-1 Call Center. (Text messaging to 9-1-1 is not available for this reason).

Next Generation 9-1-1 Networks include data processing centers dedicated to automatically determining the location of callers, and identifying the Emergency Call Center responsible for serving the caller's area. These data processing centers provide the foundation for incorporating text and video messaging, internet phone systems, and other new and future communications technologies into the 9-1-1 System.

IP Networks

Transition of the Colorado 9-1-1 Network to a broadband digital, IP (Internet Protocol) network, or Next Generation 9-1-1 Network, will improve transfers and communication between Emergency Call Centers, and allow connection of calls from additional devices and systems to the Emergency Call Center (Call Center policies permitting). A Next Generation 9-1-1 Network will allow public safety agencies to create a broad umbrella network that will closely link all Emergency Call Centers, and will facilitate inter-agency communication.

In order for a 9-1-1 Call Center to receive caller location information over the current network or a Next Generation Network, the call must be received at the Call Center over the 9-1-1 Network. If a call has been received over a regular ("administrative") telephone line, the Emergency Call Center cannot identify the location of the caller or transfer the call to another Emergency Call Center, for example if the call has been misrouted. Currently, calls from home alarm system operators, health monitoring system operators and Automated Crash Notification Systems like OnStar^TM can only be routed over administrative lines and not the 9-1-1 Network. The Emergency Call Centers also cannot transfer misrouted calls received over administrative lines to other Emergency Call Centers. With a Next Generation 9-1-1 Network, calls from alarm and health monitoring system operators and Automatic Crash Notification system operators will arrive at the Emergency Call Center over the 9-1-1 Network.

Currently, even when a misrouted call has been received at an Emergency Call Center over the 9-1-1 Network, only the call itself can only be transferred to the correct Call Center. Other information which may have been gathered by the first Emergency Call Center is not transmitted with the call. The location information is also not forwarded, but must be re-polled by the second Center, delaying response to the emergency. Next Generation 9-1-1 Networks, based on IP technology, facilitate transmission of data with the call, and will facilitate CAD-to-CAD system exchange of data.

With a Next Generation 9-1-1 Network and Next Generation-ready Call Centers, once a call taker has received a misrouted call and begun entering the information, the questions will not need to be asked and information will not need to be entered again. Take for example a case in which the call taker at the first call center enters the call type, traffic accident for example, and then determines that the location is in another Call Center's response area. When the 9-1-1 Call is transferred to the correct Call Center, the call type and location information will be transferred with it. At about the same time the call taker in the second center answers the call, the call type as well as the location will show up on her CAD screen and her CAD system will recommend the First Responders to dispatch to the scene, and the dispatcher can accept the recommendation with a press of a key or click of a mouse.

Misrouted 9-1-1 calls and calls over administrative lines result in delay in the dispatch of First Responders. The whole purpose of the 9-1-1 System is to avoid delay in the dispatch of First Responders, when minutes count. A person can bleed to death in minutes. Brain cells start dying after just 5 minutes deprivation of oxygen, such as from asphyxiation caused by smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning, cardiac arrest (when the heart stops pumping), choking, drowning, drug overdose, or stroke. After 6 minutes, brain damage is very likely, and a person will suffer irreversible brain damage after 10 minutes deprivation of oxygen. Each minute the heart muscle goes without receiving an adequate supply of oxygen, such as due to a heart attack, irreversible damage is done to the heart muscle. Even if a person is resuscitated, they will have ongoing physical impacts due to the death of heart tissue. In a few minutes a fire can spread and engulf an entire house.

Automatic Crash Notification and Alarm Systems

Currently when an accident is detected by OnStar or other Automatic Crash Notification ("ACN") systems, an operator communicates with the vehicle involved through the ACN system. The operator then tries to determine the correct Emergency Call Center and calls it on an administrative number to relay information to the Call Center, because the current 9-1-1 Network cannot interface with ACN systems to send the calls over the 9-1-1 Network. This poses several problems. Some Emergency Call Centers do not have the personnel to answer non-emergency lines outside of regular business hours, and others do not have extensions for administrative lines at Emergency call taker positions. An Emergency Call Center which is incorrectly called on an administrative line by the ACN operator, cannot transfer the call to the correct Call Center. The ACN operator must hang up and place a new call to the correct Emergency Call Center. Finally, location and crash information and other relevant data is not transmitted to the Emergency Call Center.

With a Next Generation 9-1-1 Network, an ACN operator could connect with the Emergency Call Center through the 9-1-1 Network. The Next Gen Network would determine the correct Emergency Call Center to handle the call using the location data from the ACN system. The location data would be automatically displayed for the call taker and transmitted to the Call Center's Computer Aided Dispatch ("CAD") system, which would use the location data to automatically dispatch First Responders, or recommend units for dispatch. The 9-1-1 Call taker at the Emergency Call Center would be able to speak directly with the vehicle occupants, rather than having all information relayed by the ACN operator. In a fully-developed system, information from the vehicle crash sensors regarding the type and force of the crash would be relayed through the Emergency Call Center and CAD system to the First Responders and the Emergency Room to which the victims will be transported. It is easy to anticipate that supplemental services to timely provide an accident victim's critical medical history may also be developed.

Alarm Systems

Home alarm systems, are similar to ACN systems, in that alarm company operators must currently contact the Emergency Call Center by administrative telephone line, rather than through the 9-1-1 System, to relay alarm information. Busy Emergency Call Centers simply cannot take on responsibility for calling alarm company customers in response to alarms, and false alarms, for the profit of private companies.

With Next Gen 9-1-1, however, an alarm company would be able to transfer their call to the homeowner to the Emergency Call Center, and thus to connect the homeowner directly with the Emergency Call Center via Next Gen 9-1-1 network, in the event of a valid alarm. The Emergency Call Center call-taker will be able to speak directly with the homeowner. The location where the alarm has been triggered will be immediately displayed at the Emergency Call Center and transmitted directly into the CAD system for dispatch. Alarm sensor data, perhaps identifying whether a fire or intrusion sensor has been triggered and the location of the sensor, could be transmitted directly to the CAD system, and through the CAD system to the First Responders and, if a health emergency, the Emergency Room to which a person needing care will be transported.

Health Monitoring Systems

Health monitoring systems are a more recent introduction to the alarm market, and include health monitoring devices or manually activated alarms worn by an elderly person or other person with health concerns or risks. When an alarm is activated, such as when an elderly person has fallen or is otherwise incapacitated, the system operator contacts the customer to inquire if there is an emergency or an accidental triggering of the alarm. It the customer responds that there is an emergency, or does not respond, the system operator calls the local Emergency Call Center on an administrative line to report the emergency.

With Next Gen 9-1-1, however, an alarm company would be able to connect with Emergency Call Center via Next Gen network in the event of a valid alarm, and the Emergency Call Center call taker will be able to speak directly with the homeowner. The location where the alarm has been triggered will be immediately displayed for the operator and transmitted directly into the CAD system for dispatch. Alarm sensor data or health monitoring data can be transmitted directly to the CAD system as well, and through the CAD system to the First Responders and, if a health emergency, the Emergency Room to which a person needing care will be transported.

Modernizing the 9-1-1 Network Will Save Lives

Modernizing the Colorado 9-1-1 Network to a Next Generation network, along with updating Colorado's Emergency Call Centers, will assure that people can call 9-1-1 no matter what communications technology or device they use, and will save lives. Updating the network and Call Centers will also result in First Responders arriving on scene sooner and better prepared, saving lives. We also believe that the upgrades to the Emergency Call Centers and the network will usher in an age of further computer-driven innovation and improvement in public safety services.

Misrouted 9-1-1 Calls most often occur with wireless 9-1-1 calls, because of the inherent time delay between connection of a wireless 9-1-1 call, and the system's identification of the caller's location.