Tag Archives: NG911

Next Generation 911

On July 9, the FCC ordered all carriers and local governments to complete the transition to next generation 911 (NG911).

NG911 moves 911 off the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) to an IP architecture. Many jurisdictions have already made the transition, but many have not. The FCC says this is causing extra cost since local governments are having to support both the old and new protocols.

The FCC is ordering the transition in two phases.

  • New requests for connection to 911 must be provisioned using SIP trunking (session initiation protocol), and the traffic must be routed to an in-state NG911 delivery point designated by a State 911 Authority. This is an important change because there have been a lot of 911 connections sent far out of state to a distant 911 center. As the FCC notes, this change will improve the safety of the network.
  • In phase 2, a State 911 authority can order carriers to deliver 911 traffic to the in-state NG911 delivery point. Carriers must install all needed hardware and software to effectuate this change. Carriers must use the Presence Information Data Format—Location Object (PIDF-LO) or the functional equivalent. Carriers must also install any needed hardware or software needed to effectuate the change, or acquire services needed to use a Location Information Server (LIS) or its functional equivalent, which is used to verify its customer locations.

State 911 Authorities are ordered to make all changes needed to meet these new requirements and to certify their readiness with the FCC.

National cellular carriers, text providers, VoIP providers, and wireline providers other than rural incumbent local exchange carriers (RLECs) will have six months to implement a valid request from a State 911 Authority.

Small telcos, non-nationwide CMRS providers, and Internet-based TRS providers will have one year to implement a valid request to change.

Carriers are responsible for getting 911 traffic to 911 delivery points – the same requirement as today.

The FCC will allow States, local governments, or tribal governments to establish alternate transition rules as long as the end result is the same.

Interestingly, the FCC believes that moving 911 off the PSTN will reduce the risk of 911 outages. I have to wonder if that is true. After seeing the impact on 911 of some of the recent national broadband outages, putting 911 on the broadband networks carriers plenty of risk. It’s clear that the PSTN voice network has lived past its time, but its primary feature has always been reliability – particularly when carriers are required to provide redundant facilities for functions like 911. With that said, this change is needed to finally be able to dismantle the traditional PSTN. The FCC’s requirement to establish state NG911 delivery points should significantly reduce the risk of 911 outages. The idea of carrying 911 calls out of state makes no sense.

This order is also needed because some interconnection agreements with the large telcos still require CLECs and competitors to use the traditional 911 system. That means provisioning time-division multiplexing (TDM) T1 circuits between a carrier and 911 centers – an expensive and inefficient network. This order will eliminate that requirement for CLECs and other carriers and allow them to finally order SIP trunking.

The Next Generation of 911

EMRI’ve started noticing news articles talking about the next generation of 911 (NG911), so it seems the public is starting to be aware that there is a big change coming in the way that 911 works. We are in the process nationwide of migrating from the traditional 911 to a fully IP-based system that will include a lot of new features. When fully implemented, NG911 will allow interactive text messaging and for smart call routing using caller location that will consider factors such as the workload at the closest 911 center, current network conditions, and the type of call. The NG911 system will enable a data stream between callers and the 911 center so that there can be an exchange of pictures, videos (including support for American Sign Language), and other kinds of data that will enhance the ability of a 911 center to do their job such as building plans or medical information.

NG911 will be implemented in phases and many places are already experimenting with some of the new features like text messaging. But other parts of the final IP-based 911 are still under development.

NG911 is going to replace today’s circuit-switched 911 networks that carries only voice and a very limited amount of data. Today each carrier that handles voice calls must provide dedicated voice circuits between them and the various 911 centers that fall within their service area. For landlines the 911 center that any given customer contacts is predetermined based upon their telephone number.

But the number-based 911 has been having problems with some kinds of calls. There are numerous examples of where 911 was unable to locate mobile callers since they tried to use triangulation to find the location of a caller to 911. And for a number of years it’s been possible to move a VoIP phone to anywhere that has a data connection and the current 911 systems have way to identify or know the location of such callers. And identifying callers is going to get harder as we start seeing huge volumes of WiFi-based VoIP from cellphones as cellular carriers dump voice traffic onto the landline data network in the same manner they have with other data. The promise is that NG911 will be able to handle the various flavors of VoIP.

There are a lot of new standards being developed to define the operating parameters of NG911. The standards are being driven though NENA, the National Emergency Number Association. Many of these standards are now in place, but standards keep evolving as vendors try different market solutions. A lot of the new NG911 is going to be driven by the creation and use of a number of new database systems. These systems will be used to manage functions like call validation, smart routing control, and the processing of new NENA-approved call records.

The new IP-based 911 networks are being referred to as ESInets (Emergency Service IP Networks). There are managed private networks that will be used to support not only 911 but also other types of public safety communications.

The overall goal is to do a much better job responding to emergencies. Today there are far too many examples of calls to 911 that never get answered, calls that are sent to the wrong 911 center, or calls where the 911 operators can’t determine the location of the caller. Further, the new system will allow for the public to summon 911 in new ways other than through voice calls. There will be a two-way process for sending pictures and videos to the 911 center or floor plans and medical advice back to callers. When fully implemented this should be a big leap forward resulting in reduced costs due to more efficient use of our emergency resources as well as more lives saved.