In today's rapidly digitizing world, there is clearly a real crisis in the traditional 911 infrastructure that cannot be ignored. Emergency services are expected to pinpoint their location, further support seamless communication across a variety of commonly used digital channels in addition to voice, and intelligently coordinate and quickly deploy assistance.
The next generation, 911, or NG911, is a logical new phase in the development of emergency communications centers such as public safety answer points (PSAP), using the best tools and information available to help people connect to emergency response services. Inter-system interoperability ensures rapid data sharing for greatly faster response times; optimized situational awareness down to building floors or room numbers to make people and emergency responders safer; and enhanced call overload management and emergency call forwarding help improve call processing time. At the same time, NG911 does not ignore the fact that now, calls to 911 are more from mobile phones than traditional landline phones.
According to crTC's NG911 schedule, PSAP Canada must successfully complete the transition by March 2024, and preparations need to begin immediately.
How does Avaya become the best helper?
For the next three years, starting in June 2021, PSAP Canada must do all the work, set up, integrate, test, and operate to ensure that they work seamlessly and do not cause any loss of life when they are officially put into service. The Canadian NG9-1-1 Alliance recommends that PSAP bid farewell to legacy systems by March 2024, maintain strategic technology solutions, and actively embrace new technologies.
Avaya has long been involved in the Canadian Emergency Services Task Force (ESWG) and has worked closely with numerous telecommunications service providers, PSAP, 911 industry experts, etc. to address 911 service assurance, as well as NG911 operational and technology-related issues. We have a rich history in this field and have dominated the market for decades.
In addition to actively contributing behind the scenes, we are also moving to the front line, focusing on cutting-edge public safety solutions, bringing together the power of Two powerful vendors, Avaya and Komutel, a longtime member of the Avaya DevConnect ecosystem.
The industry's strongest NG911 partnership was formed. Avaya is the undisputed leader in next-generation contact center and collaboration solutions. We have a long reputation for providing highly resilient communications for mission-critical operations in basic industries such as public safety, government, and healthcare. At the same time, Komutel is recognized as a leader in reputable 911 solutions, offering a wide range of dedicated 911 solutions for call answerers and dispatch desktops (911 and non-911), voice logging, radio, CAD integration, 911 reporting, missed call management, 911 network interfaces, and industry-specific workflow automation. In response to the specific situation of the Canadian market, Komutel did not directly migrate from other markets, but specifically designed a new solution.
PSAP Canada leverages this integrated platform infrastructure to address a variety of different use cases, including NG911 for emergency response, non-emergency omni-media communications for citizen interaction, and unified communications for management functions and mobile employees, while enjoying lower costs and TCO. The system is also designed to be flexible, ensuring that PSAP can evolve with different phases of digital transformation and evolve to meet new operational needs.
How does PSAP Canada leverage avaya solutions?
Together, Avaya and Komutel have created several key milestones for the Canadian NG911 transition program and have served the largest number of Canadian PSAP, including:
● In July 2020, the Ontario Police Department successfully conducted Canada's first NG911 test call transfer using a commercial finished solution supported by Avaya. Among them, the call is sent from the Bell Emergency Services IP network in Canada to the OPP headquarters in Orillia, and then to PSAP in Quebec via the new network. This is a major milestone in the development of NG911 in Canada.
Previously, in October 2019, we also completed Canada's first NG911 emergency test call in 2019. In a test with Bell Canada, Komutel-Avaya's NG911 call processing infrastructure successfully received an NG911 test call from bell's 911 ESInet network.
Earlier this year, the Ontario Department of Health selected Avaya and Komutel through a competitive tender process to serve their industry-leading multi-site ambulance dispatch communications PSAP organization. It will be equipped with the state-of-the-art NG911 CHFE (Call Processing Functional Component) in collaboration with Avaya business partner Combat Networks to support the future transition to NG911.
The transition is urgent. Avaya is fully committed to helping our customers move towards NG911, tailored to meet their unique needs, and doing their best to mitigate risk and disruption. Click "Read the original article" to learn more about Avaya's Canadian NG911 solution.
Brian Silverstone
Brian Silverstone is currently Vice President of Sales for Avaya, responsible for public safety related operations in the Federal Government of Canada, Eastern Ontario, Atlantic Province and across Canada. A success-focused, business- and customer-focused professional with over 25 years of experience in sales, business development, product line management, and marketing, he has held a number of key roles at Nortel and Avaya.