by Paul Korzeniowski
A major shift is under way in the telecom industry.
People increasingly use cell phones rather than landlines. And businesses and consumers are cutting their telecom costs by installing voice over Internet protocol links.
As a result, calls are moving from the public switched telephone network, or PSTN, to next-generation communications, such as wireless networks and the Internet.
While these newer technologies offer many benefits to users and carriers, they have a limitation: They often don't work well with emergency 911 services.
"Unfortunately, users may not know a network does not support 911 services until they make those calls," said Bob Egan, president of the consulting firm Mobile Competency.
Problem In Crisis
In March, a family in Houston tried to call police during a break-in and found their service provider couldn't connect 911 calls.
Spurred by such events, the telecom industry is developing a new emergency-calling system, dubbed e911. This service works with new technology and could give additional data to emergency responders.
The system could give callers' location information and support video transmissions. That means callers could transmit video of a house fire. Responders would be better prepared to offer help.
For all its promise, the e911 system still faces plenty of hurdles.
The challenges stem from how emergency calls are transmitted. Here's how the system works: Calls start off in the user's device, which can be a wireless or wireline phone, a computer or a personal digital assistant. They're sent to a call routing system, such as a private branch exchange, or PBX, switchboard or a voice communications server.
Next, the call is handed off to a telecom service provider who delivers it to one of 6,000 911 emergency call centers throughout the U.S. These centers are known as public safety answering points, or PSAPs.
Emergency operators then work with local responders, such as fire and police departments, to ensure that the caller gets help.
Not 'Location' Designed
The old 911 system works smoothly because the network end points are fixed. The public network carries the caller information -- caller ID data, such as name and address -- along with the call throughout the transmission. That's not as easy with the new telecom networks.
Unlike the public network, Internet protocol and wireless networks were not designed to identify callers' locations. Instead, they locate the switch or server that's controlling the call.
"Problems in pinpointing where a call is coming from can arise as users move from one wireless PBX or (local area network) access point to another," said Matthias Machowinski, an analyst at Infonetics Research.
Theoretically, an ambulance could be routed to a company data center while a 911 caller actually is a mile away in the branch office.
In 2000, the government stepped in to address such problems. The Federal Communications Commission began by focusing on enhancing wireless networks so they could support e911 services.
It's a critical issue, since U.S. wireless users already place 50 million 911 calls each year. Those calls account for 30% of total 911 calls.
The FCC embarked on a five-year plan that is scheduled to be completed in December. Once finished, emergency personnel should be able to identify wireless users' locations within 1,000 feet.
The cellular industry has been working on different ways to meet this goal. The most popular technique aligns cellular and global positioning system technology.
GPS systems transmit information from remote devices to satellites revolving around the Earth. During the past few years, cell phone makers have included GPS capability in their products.
Qualcomm Unit Involved
Wireless service providers, meanwhile, have signed agreements with firms like Cell-Loc Location Technologies and SnapTrack, a unit of Qualcomm. They provide GPS tracking services.
That means that when 911 is dialed from a cell phone, the caller's number can be matched to a GPS location. That data can go to a public safety answering point and on to emergency service providers.
While helpful, this solution is not foolproof.
"GPS systems only work within certain ranges," said Mobile Competency's Egan. "If a user is inside a building, the system may not be able to see him."
Another concern: Cellular carriers already have missed a few of the FCC deadlines.
They were originally supposed to complete the e911 work by the end of
2004, but they were granted an extension. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were more deployment delays at the end of this year," said Neil Strother, an industry analyst with In-Stat/MDR.And only recently -- in May -- did the FCC turn its attention to voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP.
In the long term, the federal agency wants VoIP service providers to offer similar capabilities as the public network -- including emergency services.
The FCC is requiring VoIP providers to warn customers about the lack of
911 capabilities.The Telecommunications Industry Association, an ad hoc standards-making group, has been trying to make it possible for wireless and VoIP networks to transmit location data in a uniform way.
The association's Link Layer Discovery Protocol-Media Endpoint Discovery standard, which is in draft form, is designed to make it easier to share information within the VoIP network. The standard is expected to be added to various products during the next year or two.
So while a great deal of progress has been made in filling 911 holes, more work needs to be done.
"Equipment vendors and service providers understand the need to improve their emergency services," Egan said. "But time, money and effort will need to be expended in order to deliver those enhancements."
Copyright 2005 Investor's Business Daily
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