Sea Change Coming for Public Safety in FirstNet, NG-911, APCO Told

"Next-gen is going to slap us in the face with that almost overnight,” said APCO Director of Communication Center and 911 Services Jay English during a Sunday session, highlighting the flood of media dispatchers will face. “How do you talk someone through CPR via text?” That question will face APCO members as text-to-911 moves forward and other multimedia begin to come into public safety answering points, he said. Many 911 dispatchers have heard a suicide on the phone, but not many have seen a live suicide as they might when video comes into centers, he said. “How do I train her to be ready for that? I can’t,” English said of a potential staffer witnessing a suicide. “All I can do is train her that it can be possible, for her to see it.” He said the 911 user experience will undergo a “paradigm shift” with NG-911, occasionally “a big step backwards” in cases such as when 911 call-takers will no longer know where callers are.

FirstNet poses a huge shift for APCO members, speakers said. FirstNet promises a new nationwide interoperable network for first responders that will allow data and video to come into 911 call centers but not mission-critical voice, at least initially, said Andy Seybold, APCO Broadband Committee vice chair and a wireless consultant. Like English, he has talked to PSAP staff about “types of video” that dispatchers “may not be ready to look at,” he said during a separate Sunday session. But with the $7 billion budgeted for FirstNet likely not to be sufficient, the network probably will not be available for many years and coverage initially will not be as strong as commercial networks, Seybold said. Communities should start preparing for FirstNet by tapping commercial broadband networks and investing in relevant devices and apps, Seybold said. English doubts FirstNet will be ready for five years, he said.

Verizon and Motorola together released the in-vehicle VML 700 LTE Vehicle Modem R1.1 this month, said Verizon Vice President-Public Safety Policy Don Brittingham at Monday’s opening general session. The modem is intended “to better respond to emergencies and routine activities by tapping into the power of mobile broadband” and is “built to be forward-compatible with FirstNet,” he said. He praised the power of collaboration in the face of increasing complexity. “Technology and innovation fill the void of limited budgets and scarce staffing,” he said. Seybold and English praised the role vendors play. They “want your continued business” and will “work with you,” Seybold said, specifically pointing to AT&T and Verizon’s support for public safety broadband. PSAPs should tell the major companies what they need, especially in the development of apps, English said: “The vendors aren’t the enemy.”

APCO has “had enormous success this past year in working with emerging technologies,” said President Terry Hall Monday. He cited APCO’s partnership with the National Emergency Number Association and several carriers on advancing text-to-911 and praised the relationship with the FCC. Hall signed an agreement two days earlier calling for any standards coming out of the National Public Safety Telecom Council to go through the APCO standards process, he added. The APCO Broadband Committee is working on defining public safety-grade, and looking at specific questions on site hardening, Seybold said. He described a two-hour broadband committee meeting with NPSTC Sunday on those issues. Both English and Seybold flagged APCO’s AppCom clearinghouse of apps. “The future will be all about apps,” English said, highlighting the important feedback APCO will receive from the clearinghouse. Seybold described some disappointment at AppCom since it did not seem to feature as many apps for public safety agencies so much as the public, he said. FirstNet will need to certify every app used on its network, Seybold said.

Commercial networks are not perfect, Seybold said. “They do the very best they can but during major incidents, you may not have access to a commercial network -- when you need it most, it may not be there,” he said, pointing to the moments after the 2011 Washington, D.C., earthquake or the Boston bombing in April. “We're certainly going to use them even after FirstNet’s up and running but we have to understand the limitations.” Seybold cautioned against equipping all first responders at once and suggested vehicular models as “the best place to start.” He encouraged realistic expectations and advised APCO attendees to adjust attitudes and be ready for different public safety agencies to share the same network, in which they all will fight for priority. “Put together a citywide buy or lease and get units for everybody at the same time,” not purchases divided by public safety agency, he recommended. Seybold gave examples of modems and tablets hardened for these purposes, urging any modem purchased now to be FirstNet-capable or upgradeable. He criticized smartphones’ performance during emergencies: “Today’s smartphones are not one-handed devices.” Keep land mobile radio for voice communications, he said.

NG-911 and FirstNet “will have to work hand in hand,” English added. “We're already seeing folks try to set up a plan for a secure broadband network.” Security is the big challenge, he said, pointing to the legal questions about how health data are transferred. “We're really talking about setting up” an emergency services IP network,” English said of secure networks. “It’s a network of networks. It’s really defined by what you need.” He called FirstNet “a series of ESInets, for data initially,” that can be separated by discipline and function and be statewide, with smaller ESInets folded into a larger statewide one. Some states are moving forward faster than others, he said, praising the next-gen work happening in Tennessee and Colorado. English distinguished between the i3 standards NENA has put together -- and which many PSAPs are using to build next-gen capabilities -- from the IP multimedia subsystem architecture he said FirstNet will be built on. “i3 and IMS are not the same,” English said. “However, i3 and IMS have to talk.” Training will have to follow these changes, particularly challenging and crucial with cops and firefighters, English said.