APCO Proposes Best Practices for Wireless E-911
The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials is proposing best practices to make wireless E-911 more efficient. APCO, through its Project LOCATE (Locate Our Citizens At Times of Emergency), asked for comments on a draft best practices document from wireless service providers (WSPs) and other interested parties. The group is seeking comments by June 23, with a goal of final standards in late summer.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
“Consistency of operation is what makes 911 effective and that goes both to operating practices and how 911 calls are dispatched and it also goes to how systems are set up,” said Project LOCATE Chairman Nancy Pollock said Monday in an interview. “The consistency in how systems are set up, especially when we deal with carriers whose footprints are nationwide, can be real important and can increase the effectiveness of E911 operations.”
Pollock said currently there are no best practices in place. She said APCO expects to make some changes in the language of the document after receiving comments. “I don’t know that there’s any particular area that’s going to draw a lot of criticism,” she said. “There may be suggestions of some areas where there ought to be effective practices and we haven’t written them yet.”
APCO said in the document the public assumes that public safety answering points “will have consistent and accurate location data delivered with all wireless 9-1-1 calls, not unlike that of wireline calls” and when this expectation falls short the result is often “frustration between callers and PSAP staff.” For many wireless E-911 calls, location of the caller must be “based solely upon the anecdotal information provided by the wireless caller,” contrary to the expectations of the public.
“On behalf of every caller in crisis, it is incumbent upon all public safety and wireless community stakeholders, supported by appropriate regulatory and legislative action, to continue the collaborative effort to maximize the usefulness and consistency of wireless location data provided to the PSAP,” APCO said. “The Effective Practices provided in this document serve as the first level of meaningful preparation and participation in such efforts by the PSAP.”
Among proposed best practices is that the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) would designate a coordinator for every PSAP service area. The coordinator would be “the single point of contact” within the PSAP for resolving such issues as tower site and sector call routing, default call routing decisions and questions about testing and system maintenance.
The report recommends that each AHJ make the “investment” needed to ensure that PSAP officials understand the limitations of wireless E-911. “The failure to invest in a better understanding of the nature and dynamics of wireless E911 calls exposes the PSAPs and their leadership to an expanding source of risk associated with the possibility that staff would not be able to provide adequate service to wireless 911 callers,” APCO said.
The AHJ and wireless carriers in each area also should develop a checklist that defines the roles and responsibilities of each for wireless emergency calls.” PSAPs, carriers and AHJs also should “define and develop in writing” a process to resolve issues on deployment and all related testing, APCO said. APCO also said in each area, the AHJ and carriers must maintain “open and candid communications” and that a written memorandum of understanding defining their relationship may prove helpful.