The public safety communications community is always in the midst of tackling several issues, some past, some current and some future. Here’s a quick run-down of those issues (in no particular order), and links to other pages on this Web site that discuss them more fully.
Implementing 911 Everywhere
Believe it or not, the 911 emergency number isn’t available in every single county of the United States. Perhaps 150 counties don’t have the number at all, and perhaps an equal number have only Basic 911 service, which doesn’t transmit the location of the caller to the comm center. In most cases these counties don’t have the funding to purchase the equipment to implement 911, or their local telephone service is ancient and won’t support 911. (Deployment map, FCC funding source report)
Comm Center Staffing
For about the past 10-12 years a large number of public safety comm centers across the country have suffered from an inability to recruit, train and retain qualified dispatchers. The shortage arose during the Web boom of the late 1990s, which created competition for the tech-minded, quick-witted applicants that comm centers needed because of an increasing reliance on computers and other technology. There have been many studies and proposed solutions, but there has been no relief. Many big-city comm centers operate at 60% staffing, requiring the employees to work mandatory overtime. In turn, this creates stress in the comm center, and increases the costs from overtime. (more resources)
Wireless 911 – Implementing & Location accuracy
Back in the early 1990s the increasing use of cellular phones required the public safety communications community to quickly work with the wireless industry to come up with a solution to the lack of location information when someone dialed 911. The FCC finally intervened to require carriers to transmit a caller’s location during a 911 call, and mandated a two-phase approach. All but smaller carriers now provide locations using either GPS technology within the handset, or triangulation using the network. About 95% of U.S. comm centers have updated their equipment to receive location data from carriers, either Phase I (the receiving tower location only) or Phase II (the caller’s latitude and longitude).In 2013 California and several other states noticed that location accuracy was degraded for a larger percentage of 911 calls, and after considerable lobbying, in early 2015 the FCC established a timetable for improved accuracy, including both indoor and outdoor, and caller elevation.
Next Generation 911 Networks
Since the first 911 systems in 1968, the nation’s emergency telephone systems were implemented locally–either city-by-city or on a county basis. There are just a handful of 911 systems that are operated on a state level. This situation means that 911 systems are not interoperable, operate in different ways and are probably more expensive to operate and maintain. The wide-spread use of Internet-based communications protocols (IP) has given public safety the promise of vastly more capabilities, including the ability to inter-operate with other comm centers. This so-called Next Generation 911 (NG911) is in the early planning stages, and it might take a decade to begin any type of significant deployment.
VoIP/911
About 15 years after solving the location problem created by wireless cellular communications, the increasing use of the Internet for voice calls (VoIP) has created a similar problem for public safety comm centers. Inherently, the Internet does not have a way of determing a user’s location and transmitting that along with the data packets. As a result, by FCC rule the VoIP carriers must “hard code” registered users’ locations into their system so it can be passed to PSAPs. Even so, there are still lots of problems and incident glitches. The Internet’s best minds are working on how to upgrade the system to help solve this problem. In Sept. 2010 the FCC asked for additional input on how VoIP calls can best be located for E911 calls. In Feb. 2012 the FCC set outage reporting requirements for VoIP 911 providers.
Consolidations – Mergers
Virtually all comm centers were originally formed locally. But over time, common sense and money have moved many local centers to combine, merge or consolidate, usually at a county level or at as part of a special district. Over the past 15 years the trend has accelerated as funding and interoperability (see below) have become major issues. Several states now limit the number of PSAPs within a county (Oregon, Indiana by 2014, etc.), usually as a way of standardizing and funding the state’s 911 equipment. But many other agencies are merging and consolidating to avoid the high costs of funding equipment upgrades required by wireless cellular, VoIP/911 and other advanced—and required—technology. (My home page, right column has a list of consolidation news stories. In Oct. 2010 the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) published a report on comm center consolidation. Download (pdf) the full report here, and also a slide presentation on the report. In 2010 several Massachusetts cities commissioned a study (pdf) about merging their centers. A consultant hired by Cumberland County (NJ) to study consolidation issued a report (pdf) on the question, along with a feasibility report and technical analysis.
Accessibility – Deaf, Blind, Language
There is a fundamental need for 911 to be accessible to anyone who needs help, including those with sight or hearing disabilities, or who speak other-than-English. The FCC and U.S. Department of Justice have mandated this accessibility in various laws and regulations, and virtually every comm center makes accomodations to handle these calls. But there are also new challenges to handle emerging technologies, such as video relay services. The FCC is working steadily to compile rules on the new methods to communicate. The nation’s comm centers upgrade their access capabilities when switching to new gear, but otherwise don’t actively pursue this need.
Spectrum Management
The FCC has been under pressure for 20 years to provide more spectrum for public safety, although not necessarily at the direct request of law enforcement, fire or EMS agencies. The earliest action was to allocate 24 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz back in 1997—it’s still not in use because it’s in the midst of UHF-TV frequencies being used until the conversion to digital TV in Feb. 2009. The most recent action involves the FCC’s’ attempt in Feb. 2008 to auction spectrum, the so-called D Block, to a private company, which would build and operate a nationwide public safety wireless network, administered by a trust representing public safety agencies. But the spectrum didn’t sell because no bidder met the minimum bid amount. In Sept. 2008 the FCC proposed auction rule changes that might encourage more bidders for another auction of the same frequencies some time in 2009, but by Oct. 2009 pessimism was still high that such an auction-private-trust arrangement will actually work, and several companies and groups have called for alternate, non-auction proposals to allocate the spectrum. Political lobbying intensified in early 2010. In Jan. 2010 the FCC released early drafts of its Broadband Plan, which included plans to re-auction the D Block of spectrum, instead of direclty allocating it to public afety. Starting in April 2010, legislation was introduced as “rider” bills in Congress several times to allocate the D Block directly to public safety. However, it took until Feb. 2012 for the bill to pass as part of a tax holiday extension bill. The bill would allocate the D Block to public safety, provide $7 billion in funding, and provide for NG911 grants.
MLTS/PBX Locations
At the moment, most multi-line telephone systems, including PBXs, transmit only the telephone switch’s location and telephone number when an extension dials 911. This creates the possibility that an extension telephone will not be accurately identified when someone uses it to dial 911. The exact location of the phone (building, floor, room, etc.) will not be displayed to the dispatcher, and the address (ALI) displayed to the dispatcher may be completely different from the location of the caller (different floor, building or even city). There have been several high-profile incidents involving PBX 911 calls, including a heart attack victim who didn’t know his location, and a high-rise fire where victims could not be specifically located by the dispatchers. There is add-on technology that would transmit the extension’s precise location, but it’s expensive and takes on-going maintenance to maintain accuracy. Sixteen states have passed legislation to mandate installation of these solutions, with some exceptions.
Narrowbanding
In 1992 work started on what is known as “refarming” the spectrum below 512 MHz, in order to make more efficient use of the radio spectrum. As part of that effort, the FCC has mandated that public safety agencies (and other users of certain spectrum allocations) must adopt radio technology that uses more narrow channels. The first major public safety deadline for this project is approaching in 2011. Currently, a channel assigned from the FCC is 25 kHz wide, originally intended to meet voice quality and signal strength needs. However, technology improvements now allow the same quality of voice and signal in a narrower slice of the radio spectrum. To take advantage of this improved technology, and to increase the number of available channels, the FCC mandated “narrowbanding” of the spectrum over a long period of time (10 years or more). The first move would be to 12.5 kHz channels (one-half the current bandwidth), and then to 6.25 kHz channels. In both cases, the transition would involve various transitional steps for radio manufacturers and public safety agencies. For radio manufacturers, the FCC stopped certifying radio equipment unless it was capable of 12.5 kHz bandwidth in Feb. 1997. Next, the FCC stopped certifying radio equipment unless it was capable of 6.25 kHz bandwidth in Jan. 2005 (although this deadline was later delayed). For public safety agencies, on Jan. 1, 2011 the FCC will no longer accept new system applications or system modifications unless they operate on 12.5 kHz channels or narrower. On Jan. 1, 2013 all public safety licensees were required to be operating on 12.5 kHz channels. However, the FCC received scores of waiver requests in the 2-3 months before the deadline. Now, the FCC is working to identify radio licensees who failed to meet the deadline, and in some cases could impose sanctions on them. Surf the FCC’s Web page on the subject.
Dispatcher Training & Standards
Right now there is no national standard for training dispatchers (or even to have a state standard), nor any national standard for comm center policies and procedures. Many states have dispatcher training programs, but they are either required or optional, and funded or un-funded. Few states have any operations or policy standards for state-wide comm centers (although New Hampshire has a single 911 PSAP). Both APCO and NENA have committees and other groups that promulgate various operational standards, recommendations and other documents that can assist comm centers in establishing standards on the necessary topics, and identifying the critical issues that must be considered. While there have been some movements—mostly by the families of crime victims—to create a national training standard or certification program, the hurdles of local control and funding make it unlikely in the foreseeable future. Notably, the Denise Amber Lee Foundation is working bring mandatory training to the nation’s comm centers. The foundation is headed by Nathan Lee, whose wife was kidnapped and murdered in Florida after the mishandling of a critical 911 call from a witness.
Nationwide Wireless Broadband
The availability and use of broadband Internet has been an FCC goal for consumers for many years. However, the project has also come to encompass a wider range of capabilities, including a nationwide wireless network for public safety. The explanation of how “Internet” came to include “wireless public safety” is complicated to explain. Generally, both projects were independent in 2007 when there was no funding for an advanced national, wireless network. When the FCC began working to improve broadband access for the entire nation (putting the U.S. on a par with other countries), several commercial and political interests noted that perhaps public safety could be hitched to that wagon to generate funding. Now, the project includes the auction of the D Block of spectrum, broadband, nationwide wireless network and many other issues, and has become known as FirstNet. Note: This network is for data only, not voice. However, in the future, the network might technically support voice (voice over LTE). Check the official FirstNet Web page, the FCC’s broadband Web page, and this separate public safety broadband Web page.
T-Band Relocation
In 2012 the FCC took measures to auction certain TV channels spectrum, which included using the proceeds from the auction to fund a nationwide wireless broadband network (see above). However, during Congressional negotiations over legislation to authorize the auction and funding, legislators included a political give-up—current public safety users of the T-band (470-512 MHz) must vacate the frequencies by 2021. The give-up covers agencies in 11 major metro regions who use the T-band. The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council has formed a working group to study the legal requirements of the give-up, and create recommendations about how it might best be accomplished. In Feb. 2015 the federal agency Safecom posted information about the T-band give-back.
Text to 9-1-1
The increased use of smartphones to send text messages via the cellular networks’ SMS method prompted the public, media and Congress to demand access to the 911 networks. Several technology trials were held during 2011 and 2012, at selected comm centers and with selected carriers. The inherent technical issues of SMS remain, but sending texts to 911 is was proven possible by the trials. Still, practical and procedure issues at the comm center still need to be worked out to provide efficient emergency communications. In Dec. 2012 the four major U.S. carriers agreed to implement text-to-911 by March 2014, and within a week the FCC issued a formal order on the subject. An FCC working group has issued recommendations (pdf) on the subject. In April 2013 the TIA/ATIS have posted a jointly-developed interim standard for text-to-911; the FCC has a Web page devoted to the topic; and in May 2014 APCO posted an Interim Planning Guide (pdf).
Further Reading: NENA’s “Capitol Hill Briefing and Talking Points” as presented at their Feb. 2009 “9-1-1 Goes to Washington” conference (pdf).