How Next Generation 911 Services Work Together to Improve Emergency Response
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5 minute read
Next Generation 911 is often talked about as if it were a single system or technology. In reality, it takes a number of different services working together behind the scenes to get emergency communication where it needs to go.
Next Generation 911 services include the IP networks, core services, location data, routing, interconnection and logging capabilities that allow emergency communication to move from an originating service provider to the right public safety answering point (PSAP). Together these services create a more connected, resilient and data rich 911 environment.
Understanding how those pieces work together is an important part of understanding NG911 itself.
Next Generation 911 Services are the network and components that support the delivery and routing of emergency communications in an NG911 environment.
Traditional, or legacy 911, networks were primarily built around voice calls and home landlines, while NG911 uses IP-based infrastructure and standards developed specifically for modern emergency communications, including cell phones, text, and video calls. As a result of the IP-based network, as communication technology continues to evolve, NG911 can evolve with it.
To be clear, getting the information to the right place requires more than just an internet connection. It requires a multi agency coordinated environment where networks, routing functions, location information, originating service providers (OSPs) and PSAPs can communicate.
This is where the individual services behind Next Generation 911 come together.
Think about what has to happen when someone contacts 911 in an emergency. Each of which relies on each other.
This is why moving from legacy 911 to NG911 isn’t as simple as replacing one piece of equipment with another, but creating an entire environment where each service can exchange information with the rest and perform its role according to NENA i3 standards.
Let’s talk about the several technologies and functional elements that work together to support a Next Generation 911 environment. While every NG911 deployment is different, there are always a few key foundational pieces that agencies should understand.
The ESInet is the secure IP-based network that is used to transport emergency communication and data between the different elements of an NG911 environment. Think of the ESInet as the Next Generation 911 highway that gets communication where it needs to go.
Rather than relying on the old circuit-switched infrastructure that is used for legacy 911, an ESInet provides the network foundation that allows NG911 systems, services, and PSAP to communicate.
But remember, the ESInet is only the network. It still needs the services to determine what should happen to the emergency call or communication as it moves through the network. That’s the job of the Next Generation Core Services.
Next Generation Core Services manage how emergency calls and communication are processed and routed through a Next Generation 911 environment. These services work with the ESInet to determine where communication needs to go. We’re talking routing, location validation, policy decisions and other processes that move communication through the network.
So far, the ESInet provides the network and the Next Generation Core Services provide the functions that make emergency call routing possible.
Telephone network infrastructure and predefined relationships between phone numbers and service areas have traditionally been relied on in a legacy 911 environment. NG911 introduced geospatial routing that changed everything.
Instead of only relying on traditional phone-based information, an NG911 system uses a caller’s location and geographic data to help determine the appropriate PSAP for the emergency communication. All within a NENA i3 environment, the Emergency Services Routing Proxy (ESRP) and Policy Routing Function (PRF) help manage those routing decisions.
Synergem’s i3-Route™ provides NG911 Core Services, including ESRP/PRF functionality, for location and ruses-based routing.
Accurate routing depends on accurate location information.
In an NG911 environment, geographic information system (GIS) data becomes an important part of determining whether a location is valid and which PSAP or emergency service boundary is responsible for it.
Two important NG911 functions help support that process:
Emergency Call Routing Function (ECRF): Uses location information to determine the appropriate emergency service or PSAP for a given location.
Location Validation Function (LVF): Determines whether a civic location is considered valid for use within the NG911 system.
Together, the ECRF and LVF help turn location information into something the NG911 environment can actually use for routing.
Unfortunately, the transition to NG911 isn’t happening everywhere all at the same time. Some PSAPs and networks may already operate within an NG911 environment while neighboring agencies, OSPs or other parts of the emergency communications ecosystem still rely on legacy technology.
That creates an important challenge: How do legacy and next generation systems continue communicating during the transition?
Here is where interconnection services help bridge that gap.
As 911 moves toward NG911, not every network or provider is making the transition at the same time. That means new and legacy technology still need to work together.
Synergem’s i3-Interconnect™ was built to support modern, SIP-based 911 calls moving into NG911 networks. But it can also connect legacy 911 traffic to NG911, helping keep communications moving as the industry transitions.
This gives providers a way to support the technology being used today while preparing for where 911 is going next.
This type of interoperability matters because the transition to NG911 can’t interrupt the fundamental purpose of 911 to get help where it is needed, quickly and reliably.
Routing a communication successfully is only part of the picture. Agencies also need visibility into what happened along the way.
NG911 logging can capture events as a communication moves through different functional elements of the network, creating a record of routing decisions, location queries, system interactions and other activity.
That information can be valuable when agencies need to troubleshoot an issue, review system performance or understand how a particular communication moved through the network.
Synergem’s i3-Log™ provides centralized, NENA i3-compliant logging across NG911 Core Services, allowing events to be traced as they move through the NG911 environment.
The technology behind NG911 is complex, but the basic journey is easier to understand when you look at the pieces together.
A simplified path might look something like this: Caller → Originating Service Provider → NG911 network → location and routing functions → ESInet → appropriate PSAP
An emergency communication begins with an OSP, such as the carrier or service provider delivering the communication into the 911 environment. From there, NG911 services determine how that communication should move through the system. Location information helps establish where the emergency is occurring. Routing functions use that information, along with established policies, to determine the appropriate destination. The ESInet provides the IP network over which the communication and associated data can travel. The PSAP then receives the emergency communication and the information needed to respond. Behind the scenes, logging services can create a record of the events that occurred throughout that journey.
No single component does all of this.
The value of NG911 comes from these services working together so emergency communications can be received, located, routed, delivered and tracked across a standards-based environment.
Next Generation 911 services work best when they aren’t treated as separate pieces.
The ESInet provides the network. NGCS provides the functional elements behind routing and processing. GIS and location services help determine where an emergency communication belongs. Interconnection keeps legacy and next generation environments connected during the transition. Logging provides visibility into what happens across the system. Together, those services create the infrastructure behind NG911.
Synergem Technologies brings those pieces together through SynergemNET™, an end-to-end NG911 solution that includes i3-Interconnect™, i3-Route™ and i3-Log™.
For agencies making the transition, the goal isn’t simply to replace a legacy 911 network. It’s to build an environment where every part of the system can work together to get emergency communications and critical information where they need to go. Contact Synergem for more information about your upgrade to Next Generation 911.