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).
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, Dominican Republic, Jordan, 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/misuse of 911 can range from probation/community service to fines/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.
A telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) is a teleprinter, an electronic device for text communication over a telephone line, that is designed for use by persons with hearing or speech difficulties. Other names for the device include teletypewriter (TTY), textphone, and minicom.
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 are received and handled. It takes calls from any landline, mobile phone line, or VoIP 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, 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.
An emergency population warning is a method where by local, regional, or national authorities can contact members of the public to warn them of an impending emergency. These warnings may be necessary for a number of reasons, including:
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).
The location information server, or LIS is a network node originally defined in the National Emergency Number Association i2 network architecture that addresses the intermediate solution for providing e911 service for users of VoIP telephony. The LIS is the node that determines the location of the VoIP terminal.
A video relay service (VRS), also sometimes known as a video interpreting service (VIS), is a video telecommunication service that allows deaf, hard-of-hearing, and speech-impaired (D-HOH-SI) individuals to communicate over video telephones and similar technologies with hearing people in real-time, via a sign language interpreter.
Text over IP is a means of providing a real-time text (RTT) service that operates over IP-based networks. It complements Voice over IP (VoIP) and Video over IP.
The Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 is a United States federal law enacted as Public Law 106–81 of October 26, 1999. It is also known as the 911 Act. The act required the setup of enhanced 911 and mandated that 911 serve as the emergency number for non-land line phones as well. It was an amendment to the Communications Act of 1934 as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network. A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that use the protocol. Introduced in 1999, WAP achieved some popularity in the early 2000s, but by the 2010s it had been largely superseded by more modern standards. Almost all modern handset internet browsers now fully support HTML, so they do not need to use WAP markup for web page compatibility, and therefore, most are no longer able to render and display pages written in WML, WAP's markup language.
Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International was founded in 1935. It is the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association. APCO’s mission is to be a leader in providing public safety communications expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach to benefit its members and the public.
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.
An emergency communication system (ECS) is any system that is organized for the primary purpose of supporting one-way and two-way communication of emergency information between both individuals and groups of individuals. These systems are commonly designed to convey information over multiple types of devices, from signal lights to text messaging to live, streaming video, forming a unified communication system intended to optimize communications during emergencies. Contrary to emergency notification systems, which generally deliver emergency information in one direction, emergency communication systems are typically capable of both initiating and receiving information between multiple parties. These systems are often made up of both input devices, sensors, and output/communication devices. Therefore, the origination of information can occur from a variety of sources and locations, from which the system will disseminate that information to one or more target audiences.
An emergency notification system is a method of facilitating the one-way dissemination or broadcast of messages to one or many groups of people, alerting them to a pending or existing emergency. The Emergency Notification System (ENS) was created by Dialogic Communication Corporation (DCC) in the early 1980s. DCC, including its patent portfolio, was purchased by Motorola Solutions as part of their 2018 acquisition of Airbus DS Communications.
Alberta Emergency Alert (AEA) is a public warning system in Alberta that warns the public on impending or occurring emergencies affecting an area. The system was implemented in October 2011, replacing the former Alberta Emergency Public Warning System. Alerts are disseminated through various media outlets including television and radio, internet, social media mobile apps, and cell broadcast.
The National Public Alerting System, branded as Alert Ready, is the national warning system in Canada, broadcast to Canadian television, radio, and wireless devices.
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.
