NORTEL ADDRESSES VoIP E911 CHALLENGES IN PROPOSAL WITH NENA
Nortel Networks said Tues. it had submitted a proposal to the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) for an architectural framework to enable Enhanced 911 (E911) access on VoIP networks. Nortel Senior Consulting Engineer Mark Lewis told us the proposal, submitted last week, addressed “key technology challenges,” including: (1) Routing a 911 call to the correct public safety answering point (PSAP). (2) Transmitting caller’s correct location information. He said Nortel’s “technical, open-standards proposal” demonstrated “how leveraging existing wireless infrastructure can be used” to address E911 issues in relation to VoIP and “how industry can adopt it.”
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FCC Chmn. Powell last week called for industry support in development of a nationwide VoIP E911 solution (CD March 19 p4). Nortel Pres. Sue Spradley said in a statement she hoped her company’s VoIP E911 proposal would become “a useful tool for the industry” and would help it “meet technical and regulatory challenges associated with wide-scale VoIP deployment.”
At the Nortel proposal’s heart is coupling innovative VoIP interfaces with the field proven E911 technology in today’s wireless networks, the company said: “By leveraging already-proven technology, the VoIP E911 solution may be implemented more seamlessly and cost-effectively.” The proposal outlined a 2-part architectural framework that would enable PSAP operators to quickly determine the precise location of the caller, much as they do with traditional telephone networks. The proposal will be reviewed by NENA in the development of short- and long-term solutions for E911 access.
“The proposal solves some [VoIP-related 911] problems, but not all of them,” Lewis said: “There are a lot of filling-the-blanks parts” that he said Nortel was working on and hoped the industry would help address. He said Nortel worked with carriers, PSAP operators and manufacturers to create “a framework for the industry to use as a tool.”
Lewis, who also chairs the VoIP Migratory Working Group within NENA, said there had been other proposals submitted addressing VoIP E911-related issues, “but not with such level” of details.
Meanwhile, NENA called for a public policy blueprint for the advancement of Internet-based service offerings of 911. “We want to see more Nortel-type discussions out there,” a NENA spokesman said: “We want to hear more ideas. The industry has responded well, but we'd like to have more.” The spokesman said NENA had developed “an aggressive path” toward finding solutions for VoIP E911 problems. “By early April, we'd like to have a solution structure definition for migratory methods,” and by the end of the year, to come up with “final, definite guidelines” on migration to VoIP- capable systems, he said.
“What we need most is leadership, resources and above all a commitment to make significant progress in realizing the full potential for 911 and emergency services enhanced access in the digital migration,” NENA wrote in its open letter. It said although 95% of the U.S. population was covered by “some type of 911 service… we cannot rest on that achievement. With the introduction of new technologies and service offerings, and given today’s environment of heightened risk and emergency alertness, 911 will not keep pace unless we respond immediately.”
NENA called for a comprehensive longterm technical, operational and public policy strategy to match emerging short-term solution sets to address VoIP 911 capabilities. “A common vision, migratory path and public policy framework is needed to know not only what is possible in VoIP and 911, but equally what is improbable, and even unacceptable to all parties as we go forward in this critical endeavor,” said NENA Technical Issues Dir. Roger Hixson.
NENA urged all parties to follow core principles it had adopted to promote a fully functional 911 system, including: (1) Establishing a national E911 VoIP policy. (2) Encouraging vendor and technology neutral solutions and innovation. (3) Retaining consumer service quality expectations. (4) Supporting dynamic, flexible, open architecture system design process for 911. (5) Developing policies for 911 compatible with the commercial environment for IP communications. (6) Promoting a fully funded 911 system.
NENA also said it would co-host Critical Issues Forums to examine progress within the 911 community and industry groups. The first forum is scheduled April 25-26 in Baltimore.