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A public-safety answering point (PSAP), sometimes called a public-safety access point, is a type of call center where the public's telephone calls for first responders (such as police, fire department, or emergency medical services/ambulance) are received and handled. It takes calls from any landline, mobile phone line, or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) line. It can also happen that when 112 is dialed in then a logic is implemented by mobile or network operators to route the call to the nearest police station. Such call centers exist in most countries to answer calls to an emergency telephone number. Trained telephone operators are also usually responsible for dispatching these emergency services. Most PSAPs are now capable of caller location for landline calls, and many can handle mobile phone locations as well (sometimes referred to as phase II location), where the mobile phone company has a handset to location system. Some can also use voice broadcasting where outgoing voice mail can be sent to many phone numbers at once, in order to alert people to a local emergency such as a chemical spill.
In Canada and the United States, the county or a large city usually handles this responsibility, and its PSAP is sometimes called a radio room. As a division of a U.S. state, counties are generally bound to provide this and other emergency services even within the municipalities, unless the municipality chooses to opt out and have its own system, sometimes along with a neighboring jurisdiction. If a city operates its own PSAP, but not its own particular emergency service (for example, city police but county fire), it may be necessary to relay the call to the PSAP that does handle that type of call. The U.S. requires caller location capability on the part of all phone companies, including mobile ones, but there is no federal law requiring PSAPs to be able to receive such information.
There are 5,748 primary and secondary PSAPs in the U.S. as of February 2021 [1] Personnel working for PSAPs can become voting members of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). Emergency dispatchers working in PSAPs can become certified with the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED), and a PSAP can become an IAED Accredited Center of Excellence. [2]
Each PSAP has a 'real' telephone number that is called when the emergency number (911) is dialed. The telecommunications operator is responsible for associating all landline numbers with the most applicable (often the nearest) PSAP, so that when emergency number is dialed, the call is automatically routed to the most suitable PSAP. PSAPs can be subject to changes including new contact information and changing coverage area. Commercial products exist that purport to keep pace with these changes and allow the telecommunications operator to associate numbers with the relevant PSAP based upon their physical address associated with that number.
In other countries, this is the responsibility of other types of local government, and the particular setup of the telephone network dictates how such calls are handled.
There is also now the ability to answer text messages at some PSAPs, which is useful in areas where weak signal strength due to distance from the nearest cell site causes fringe reception, resulting in blocked or dropped calls. Since SMS messages only require an instant to send, a brief peak in radio propagation (such as a sudden favourable shift in multipath phase alignment) is often enough to get a message sent. Text messages are also useful for the deaf or speech disabled, as it does not require a TTY device. [3]
The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) long-term solution for emergency calling, referred to as the i3 Solution, assumes end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) signaling from the Voice over IP (VoIP) endpoint to an IP-enabled Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), with callback and caller location information provided to the PSAP with the call. While the i3 Solution assumes end-to-end IP connectivity, and it is expected that an increasing number of PSAPs will evolve to support i3 functionality over time, legacy PSAPs must continue to be supported as originating networks and the Emergency Services infrastructure migrate toward IP.
The Legacy PSAP Gateway is a functional element of the i3 Solution architecture that supports the interconnection of the i3 ESInet with legacy PSAPs. The Legacy PSAP Gateway is expected to provide interworking and other functionality necessary for emergency calls routed via an i3 Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) to be delivered to and handled by legacy PSAPs without requiring changes to legacy PSAP Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). Calls routed via an i3 ESInet and delivered to a legacy PSAP must undergo signaling interworking (i.e., at the Legacy PSAP Gateway) to convert the incoming IP-based (i.e., Session Initiation Protocol [SIP]) signaling supported by the ESInet to the traditional Multi-Frequency (MF) or Enhanced Multi-Frequency (E-MF) signaling supported by the legacy PSAP. Functionality must also be applied by the Legacy PSAP Gateway to emergency call originations to allow the legacy PSAP to experience call delivery, Automatic Location Identification (ALI) data retrieval, and feature activation the same way as they do today.
The Legacy PSAP Gateway must also support an ALI interface over which it can receive and respond to ALI queries from legacy PSAPs. Interfaces to a Location Information Server (LIS) and a Legacy Network Gateway must also be supported by the Legacy PSAP Gateway so that it can perform a de-referencing operation if the SIP signaling from the ESInet includes a location-by-reference. In addition, the Legacy PSAP Gateway must support an interface to an Emergency Call Routing Function (ECRF) in the i3 ESInet to support certain emergency call transfer scenarios. The Legacy PSAP Gateway may also support interfaces to Call Information Databases (CIDBs) to support access to additional non-location data associated with the emergency call, if a reference to such data is provided in incoming SIP signaling.
Telcordia GR-3166, Legacy Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Gateway Generic Requirements, [4] addresses the external signaling interfaces that must be supported by the Legacy PSAP Gateway, including a SIP interface over which emergency calls will be delivered to it via the i3 ESInet, and traditional MF and/or E-MF interfaces to legacy PSAPs for call delivery.
The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling protocol used for initiating, maintaining, and terminating communication sessions that include voice, video and messaging applications. SIP is used in Internet telephony, in private IP telephone systems, as well as mobile phone calling over LTE (VoLTE).
In telephony, ringdown is a method of signaling an operator in which telephone ringing current is sent over the line to operate a lamp or cause the operation of a self-locking relay known as a drop.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for voice calls for the delivery of voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet.
911, sometimes written 9-1-1, is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Jordan, Iraq, Mexico, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency numbers around the world, this number is only intended for use in emergency circumstances. Using it for any other purpose is a crime in most jurisdictions. Penalties for abuse or misuse of 911 can range from probation or community service to fines and jail time. Offenders can also be ordered to undergo counseling and have their use of telephones restricted or suspended for a period time as a condition of probation.
Enhanced 911 is a system used in North America to automatically provide the caller's location to 911 dispatchers. 911 is the universal emergency telephone number in the region. In the European Union, a similar system exists known as E112 and known as eCall when called by a vehicle.
An emergency telephone number is a number that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency number differs from country to country; it is typically a three-digit number so that it can be easily remembered and dialed quickly. Some countries have a different emergency number for each of the different emergency services; these often differ only by the last digit.
In telecommunication, common-channel signaling (CCS), or common-channel interoffice signaling (CCIS), is the transmission of control information (signaling) via a separate channel than that used for the messages, The signaling channel usually controls multiple message channels.
In telephony, multi-frequency signaling (MF) is a type of signaling that was introduced by the Bell System after World War II. It uses a combination of audible tones for address transport and supervision signaling on trunk lines between central offices. The signaling is sent in-band over the same channel as the bearer channel used for voice traffic.
A business telephone system is a telephone system typically used in business environments, encompassing the range of technology from the key telephone system (KTS) to the private branch exchange (PBX).
The IP Multimedia Subsystem or IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS) is a standardised architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia services. Historically, mobile phones have provided voice call services over a circuit-switched-style network, rather than strictly over an IP packet-switched network. Various voice over IP technologies are available on smartphones; IMS provides a standard protocol across vendors.
Direct inward dialing (DID), also called direct dial-in (DDI) in Europe and Oceania, is a telecommunication service offered by telephone companies to subscribers who operate private branch exchange (PBX) systems. The feature provides service for multiple telephone numbers over one or more analog or digital physical circuits to the PBX, and transmits the dialed telephone number to the PBX so that a PBX extension is directly accessible for an outside caller, possibly by-passing an auto-attendant.
A VoIP phone or IP phone uses voice over IP technologies for placing and transmitting telephone calls over an IP network, such as the Internet. This is in contrast to a standard phone which uses the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN).
000 Emergency, also known as Triple Zero or Triple 0, and sometimes stylised Triple Zero (000), is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia and Australian External Territories. The Emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra, and overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and is intended only for use in life-threatening or time-critical emergencies.
The SIP URI scheme is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) scheme for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) multimedia communications protocol. A SIP address is a URI that addresses a specific telephone extension on a voice over IP system. Such a number could be a private branch exchange or an E.164 telephone number dialled through a specific gateway. The scheme was defined in RFC 3261.
Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center (SLVECC) is a 9-1-1 police, fire, and medical emergency services dispatch agency located in West Valley City, Utah, United States. SLVECC is one of two primary public-safety answering point (PSAP) for Salt Lake County.
Next Generation 9-1-1 refers to an initiative aimed at updating the 911 service infrastructure in the United States and Canada to improve public emergency communications services in a growing wireless mobile society. In addition to calling 9-1-1 from a phone, it intends to enable the public to transmit text, images, video and data to the 9-1-1 center. The initiative also envisions additional types of emergency communications and data transfer. This NG9-1-1 infrastructure is intended to replace the current services over time. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) first identified the need for NG9-1-1 in 2000, and started development actions in 2003, and is nearing full definition and standards for NG9-1-1. Since 2006, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) in the United States and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in Canada have been leading their respective initiatives, which include research and development projects aimed at advancing NG9-1-1. On January 24, 2013, the CRTC announced the first step toward a Canadian implementation of NG9-1-1 and, in March 2016, began a consultation with the public to discuss what services should be offered, who will play a role in offering these services and how these services should be paid for. Several US states have implemented versions of NG9-1-1, as of October 2013.
Aculab is a privately held, UK-based limited company that was founded in 1978. It is a designer, developer and manufacturer that specialises in providing API-driven, enabling technology sub-systems for telecommunications related OEM products such as are used in fixed line PSTN, wireless and VoIP networks. Aculab's products are sold worldwide, primarily through direct sales and also via the reseller channel. Aculab's headquarters and R&D facilities are located in Milton Keynes, UK. It has a branch office in Norwood, Massachusetts, USA.
Call recording hardware, or a telephone recorder, is hardware that can be used to record telephone conversations. Call recording hardware is most often used by law enforcement, lawyers, journalist, and call centers to record phone transaction with customers.
STIR/SHAKEN, or SHAKEN/STIR, is a suite of protocols and procedures intended to combat caller ID spoofing on public telephone networks. Caller ID spoofing is used by robocallers to mask their identity or to make it appear the call is from a legitimate source, often a nearby phone number with the same area code and exchange, or from well-known agencies like the Internal Revenue Service or Ontario Provincial Police. This sort of spoofing is common for calls originating from voice-over-IP (VoIP) systems, which can be located anywhere in the world.
Next Generation 112 (NG112) is a blueprint for emergency communications which are entirely based on Internet Protocol (IP) technology, from the citizen requesting help to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) responding to that request. Over the last decade or so, publicly available electronic communications network providers have started their respective journeys toward migrating to Next-generation networks. Network rollouts are more advanced in some countries than others but by the end of the 2020s, networks will be predominantly IP-based providing a platform for innovative multimedia communications. In mobile networks this will be based on 4G and 5G technology and most voice communications will be based on Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Public authorities need to respond to these developments so that PSAPs are equipped to receive emergency communications originating on many different types of devices and applications. NG112 provides the basis for this as a flexible, scalable and future-proofed platform for emergency communications.