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NENA educational, operational and technical guidance

NENA DOT project enabled resources to be assigned to assist in development of various NENA educational material and courses, along with valuable operational/technical standards and informational documents to help correctly expedite the rollout of Phase I and II across the country. Also enabled was other work to help insure that wireless 9-1-1 worked properly as wireless industry technological/operational changes were made.

     Education

NENA constantly was striving to be creative so as to reach more publics and to be meaningful at the same time in its educational approaches, whether they involved PSAPs and 9-1-1 governing entities, other government agencies, telecommunications industry and, of increasing importance, the public throughout the four year NENA DOT project.

Initially, the project specifically included a video package to help proceed with Phase I and II implementations, however, it expanded well beyond that, as NENA courses were developed, special critical issues forums were held, various staff members presented at events throughout the country, articles were written for print media and web distribution (an increasing educational tool as the project proceeded at the same time as web usage escalated), special packages were developed for wireless providers and others to educate staff and distribute to consumers, and individual one-to-one assistance was provided, primarily via phone or email.

Many NENA courses, developed under the auspices of the Education Advisory Board during the four years of the NENA DOT project, were either devoted exclusively to Wireless E9-1-1 or were updated and modified to include curriculum about wireless implementation. NENA estimates that over the 54-month duration of the project, that over 4,000 9-1-1 professionals and others in public safety attended these NENA courses. Since 2003, the most well attended NENA course has been the Introduction to Wireless for PSAPs course, with over 2,000 estimated to have attended. Courses included:

This class focused on wireless 9-1-1 related issues that affect PSAPs. Beginning with Phase 0 and working through Phase II deployment this course was presented at an introductory and easy to understand level, targeted to the non-technical members of PSAPs and the 9-1-1 community at large. This course provided a straightforward approach to understanding more of the intricacies of wireless 9-1-1 technologies.

Geographic Information Systems technology is increasingly important in 9-1-1 centers around the nation. Wireless Phase I and Phase II implementations are pushing many call centers to become more aware of this technology. Being able to plot the location of a wireless, or wireline caller, on a map has tremendous benefits in emergency operations. This course demonstrated what GIS is; why GIS is needed; how to acquire, correct, and maintain your GIS data; and how to develop, maintain, and fund a GIS.

With funding to implement Phase I and/or Phase II becoming an important concern locally, grant funding has become a critical financial supplement for PSAP operations. Grant funding opportunities and awards for such programmatic areas as homeland security and emerging technology continue to increase, but how can 9-1-1 professionals locate grant opportunities and create successful grant applications? This one-day course was designed to give participants an overview to the entire grant management process. It offered participants the tools and strategies to maximize grant-funding opportunities for 9-1-1 centers through best practices and sample sections of a successful grant application.

As state/regional/local authorities examined the various aspects of implementing wireless 9-1-1 Phase I and II, increased attention was given to PSAP consolidation. Designed to assist the PSAP manager in understanding the often difficult and demanding process of considering consolidating multiple PSAPs and written from the perspective and experiences of former PSAP managers, the course emphasized those planning steps necessary to overcome doubt, opposition, and obstacles to successful consolidation. Topics of discussion included the reasons for consolidation, assessing existing conditions, determining a consolidated center's needs, the goals of consolidation, and project planning.

During the last two years of the NENA DOT project, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP -including wireless VoIP) received considerable attention. The need for its 9-1-1 access plus the need to have next generation PSAPs capable of handling additional devices, such as wireless text devices, led to the development of two new courses: this one and an Advanced VoIP course. This course focuses on the impact that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is having on the 9-1-1 community. This new wave of technology is sweeping the world, and with it comes a whole new realm of issues and problems for 9-1-1 centers and emergency service providers. VoIP is changing everything about how calls for emergency services are originated, routed, and delivered to PSAPs. This course examines issues such as the traditional 9-1-1 model, caller location, caller identity, networking infrastructure, threat-risk assessments, and a variety of other interrelated issues. The objective of this course is to help individuals objectively evaluate the impact that VoIP will have on their 9-1-1 operations, envision a proactive approach to resolving issues, and plan for the inevitable.

Providing additional technical depth, this course examines IP technology, voice networking, migratory (i2) and long term (i3) solutions, NG E9-1-1 and more. The objective of this course is to help individuals evaluate the impact that VoIP will have on their 9-1-1 operations, and to help them further plan a proactive approach to resolving these issues while preparing for inevitable changes.

This course provides the "simplified" issues with wireless and VoIP that the public need to understand. Messages that need to go out to the public, our legislators and elected officials are reviewed. Specific examples are discussed describing successful public education campaigns and ideas for getting these messages to the public. Without public education, these technologies and solutions will never be completely successful!

Another avenue of education is the NENA Critical Issues Forum. Those held during the NENA DOT project included one reaching representatives from 22 states on the topic of Phase I and II implementation. Current guidance materials and presentations were provided, along with bringing in representatives from the various appropriate wireless providers and vendors involved in the implementation process. Three CIF's focused on GIS issues as GIS use was becoming increasingly important for many PSAPs considering implementation, particularly with Phase II.

Throughout the four years of the NENA DOT project, a major benefit was having appropriate staff members involved in various technical, operational and policy issues and work, while also using the same personnel for providing valuable information from that work to the PSAP community, via not only NENA's annual conferences, but other organizations' conferences, along with regional/state chapter conferences and meetings. With the increasingly rapid identification of issues followed by preparing written solutions, standards and other documents, it was of value that the appropriate people be given current and accurate knowledge.

Also becoming of increasing importance during the four years was the need to educate the telecommunications industry and others regarding 9-1-1, as a means to expedite wireless E9-1-1 deployments and be sure that other changes in that industry were not negatively impacting such access. One of the avenues to accomplish this was to attend, actively participate and offer presentations at various telecommunications-related conferences and meetings, beyond the more traditional 9-1-1 related ones. This approach was another benefit from the NENA DOT project.

While written articles in various publications, including NENA News and ENP Magazine, were of value, it became increasingly apparent that providing articles and other dissemination methods via the web were also of increasing value, primarily because of timeliness.

Two unique consumer education projects that were directly created within the NENA DOT project involved wireless Phase II and wireless number portability.

The first, addressing wireless number portability (WNP, which will be more clearly explained in the "Telecommunications industry involvement" section of this report), involved a combined group of PSAP representatives and industry people (some not normally involved in 9-1-1 topics but more involved in the complex WNP issues). They basically developed a package to be used by wireless providers for educating their sales and marketing staff regarding WNP and its 9-1-1 implications along with consumer education for those customers involved in porting (changing providers and keeping phone number). Without any mandate, these materials were posted on wireless providers' web sites and voluntarily distributed to consumers, addressing the 9-1-1 call back limitations during the multiple days of the porting process.

Following the success of this program, NENA public education committee members and wireless industry representatives met, utilizing NENA DOT project resources, and developed a Phase II consumer education package. This included providing materials to consumers (particularly as they bought Phase II capable handsets) regarding what that meant to them for 9-1-1 access and its limitations. Also included were materials for wireless provider web sites and for training of marketing and sales associates, including local ones, national call center ones and others. In addition to increasing consumer awareness regarding location (and call back number) not always being provided with a wireless 9-1-1 call, the materials addressed the need to not continue driving while accessing 9-1-1 and to not use the handset auto-dial one-button feature for 9-1-1 access. This was another way to minimize the noticeable problem of inadvertent calling of 9-1-1 via wireless phones. Another way used by NENA, with the resources of the NENA DOT project, was to work with manufacturers so that this feature was not pre-programmed prior to marketing/selling handsets.

Less visible to many were the countless direct phone calls to NENA staff involved in the NENA DOT project, from PSAPs, wireless providers and vendors, and many others throughout the four years, seeking various levels of assistance and guidance.

     Operations

With the assistance of resources (including additional staff), NENA was able to restructure its operations committee in early 2003. Prior to this time, most formalized NENA documents, such as standards and informational documents were created within the technical structure. However, particularly because of wireless 9-1-1 needs, including implementation and ongoing operational needs, it was apparent that more than less-formalized white papers and such were essential with an operational focus.

In the months following that reorganization, there was considerable output, including step-by-step operational guidance to assist PSAPs in implementing Phase I and II, plus several other standards and related documents which provided valuable assistance for the receiving and processing of wireless 9-1-1 calls. These standards and Operational Information Documents (OIDs) were created under a formalized process which insured input and review by those actively involved in other NENA committee work, NENA membership in general and others.

The NENA DOT project and its resources were an important component in having these documents created and available in a timely and useful fashion. The list of documents and a brief summary is as follows:

With an estimated 54 million people in the United States who have disabilities, over 28 million have hearing loss or speech impairment and may utilize TTYs (increasingly digital wireless ones) for telecommunications. This "NENA TTY Training Operational Standards Document" is a tool for PSAPs to use in the development of TTY training programs. It outlines the recommended elements to be contained within a training program to assist PSAPs with compliance of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The purpose of this document is to provide recommendations toward the implementation of a comprehensive Quality Assurance Program which includes training of call takers, conducting random, unannounced test calls, completing documentation of training and test calls, and conducting remediation activities to address identified deficiencies and equipment malfunctions.

**Wireless digital TTYs. During the first few years of the NENA DOT project, the wireless industry was implementing compliance changes to an FCC mandate requiring wireless digital TTYs to work correctly when accessing 9-1-1. Those changes increased the importance of these testing standards and recommendations. The U.S. Department of Justice has indicated that PSAPs should test their equipment and call takers to ensure compliance with the ADA's requirements for direct and equal access. Utilizing this document is a step toward compliance.

This document was developed to serve as a model standard operating procedure for those Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) that receive wireless 9-1-1 calls.

To facilitate the handling of wireless 9-1-1 calls, the following information is provided:

Since local options are varied, this document also provides sections to describe the appropriate wireless call routing configuration, wireless trunking solution, wireless service providers' emergency contact information and it facilitates access to subscriber information for ported and pooled telephone numbers along with including the procedure to obtain the contact information for roaming wireless subscribers

In another NENA and federal government participatory project, NENA and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) authorities worked together to develop procedures for Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) to notify NORAD of certain air events that may require their response.

Following that and after the NENA operational restructure, the procedures became part of a national operational standard. Recognizing that 9-1-1 call centers are likely to receive the first notification of air events that may threaten national security, NORAD proposed this procedure in 2002. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was developed between NORAD, NENA and NASNA by year's end. This procedure was included as an attachment to the MOA, and is being reissued in NENA Standard/Operational Recommendation format.

This procedure is intended to:

It is recommended that certain information be collected in the following circumstances:

This document has been developed to serve as a model standard operating procedure for handling TTY/TDD Communication (including digital wireless TTY device access) within Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). To provide uniformity and consistency in the handling of these calls, the following call-taking standards are recommended:

In addition, this document provides a description of the variations in communicating with the hearing and speech impaired, such as the acoustic coupler mode, Voice Carry Over, Hearing Carry Over and Relay Service Calls.

The intent of this standard is to provide operational guidance and recommendations regarding the identified call routing scenarios as they relate to calls processed between the mobile switching office (MSC) and the 9-1-1 selective router (SR).

Implementation of these recommendations fosters consistent operational standards across wireless E9-1-1 systems. In addition this document establishes definitions for the call routing scenarios to foster a common understanding and use of terms between PSAPs and Wireless Service Providers as the wireless deployment is being planned.

The wireless overflow, default, alternate and diverse routing operational standards' recommendations are centered on the following premises:

This paper includes information on how to best deal with wireless information coming into the Public Safety Answering Point. Any PSAP that is now, or will be, receiving wireless calls (primarily Phase II) will find this paper useful. This focus of this paper is how to best utilize Geographic Information Systems in dealing with wireless 9-1-1 calls in the PSAP.
A NENA Critical Issues Forum identified key concerns of GIS technology in the PSAP as being data quality, integration, and data maintenance. Addressing these issues will become increasingly important as the number of wireless devices making 9-1-1 requests continues to increase. These issues, and possible solutions for PSAPs, are addressed in this white paper.

This document contains a list of capabilities or features that need to be supported in a public safety answering point (PSAP) using IP based 9-1-1 equipment and software. These capabilities and features should be considered a minimum level of functionality, developed in an open architecture environment that will allow interoperability at all levels of the 9-1-1 network, regardless of vendor. The open architecture will allow PSAPs to receive call-related data directly from multiple data sources such as telematics service providers or Internet based telephone service providers, rather than being restricted to access to a single database (ALI) as in the current 9-1-1 system. This should reduce overall costs and increase efficiency.

This document encourages agencies to build cooperative working relationships with wireless carriers, identify 24/7/365 contacts points within wireless carrier organizations for customer information (i.e., security), and work with wireless carriers' to address their concerns regarding confidentiality and liability.

Further, this document suggests that NENA (either at the state or national level) provide agencies support and guidance in designing an appropriate procedure that meets the needs of both public safety and wireless carriers.

Finally, wireless carriers – particularly those providing Phase I and/or Phase II location services - should provide each PSAP in their service area with a toll free (preferably) emergency contact number for public safety agencies to call to obtain emergency customer information in response to a silent, hang-up or abandoned E/9-1-1 call for service, or any event where a caller has requested assistance via a wireless device vis-à-vis a wireline one.

The purpose of this Operations Issues Document is to define how E9-1-1 Phase I and Phase II should work in a best practice operational environment, given the current technology limitations.

The reason to implement is to allow PSAPs to operate more efficiently and effectively by receiving standard data formats and common data from all wireline and wireless carriers providing E9-1-1 Phase I and II service.

The Wireless E9-1-1 deployment process requires a large amount of coordination and collaboration to be successful. Expectations need to be set and managed throughout the deployment process to prevent misunderstandings and unnecessary delays. A systematic approach to deployment as laid out in this document will help avoid problems and speed deployment since all stakeholders will know their roles. This document covers the following steps of the deployment process:

This document is intended to act as a best practice for the deployment of wireless E9-1-1 Phase I and Phase II. As such, its primary goal is to set expectations and improve communications among the many parties involved in the deployment process. Many early deployments were delayed by the lack of an understood process. The lines of communications are extremely important during the deployment of Phase I and II service.

Wireless Phase I or Phase II 9-1-1 deployments can be completed with minimal difficulty when standard processes are understood and employed. The document also includes a wireless implementation checklist to follow during the process.

     Technical

While technical standard and information document creation was already an in-place process prior to the NENA DOT project, the project did permit additional resource time to be applied in order to expedite certain work products.

This "NENA Standard for the Implementation of the Wireless Emergency Service Protocol E2 Interface" document provides explicit protocols and parameters for interoperable operation of the E2 interface over TCP/IP. This interface is between the MPC/GMLC and the EMSE as defined in TR45.2's TIA/EIA/J-STD-036. This document defines the methods that MPC/GMLC and ESME use to interact, allowing for the concept of geographically redundant nodes and the inherent link management.

The use of this standard by equipment vendors will facilitate the implementation of the E2 interface between the wireless network and an ESME. It assures that vendors implement the parameters, TCAP, TCP/IP and link management in a consistent manner which will aide in the interoperability of the network elements as each vendor and their associated carriers roll out Wireless Phase II. This document specifies implementation details not specified in TIA/EIA/J-STD-036-A down to explicit elements so that there can be no confusion regarding how parameters are to be implemented.

This document provides a framework for consideration of the various factors impacting the management of call congestion and traffic engineering for E9-1-1 networks. A network reference model is provided for use in referring to generic E9-1-1 network entities. This is followed by a section that outlines generally accepted industry practices for traffic engineering for E9-1-1 networks.

This document focuses on the use of trunking capacity between network entities as the primary means of managing call congestion. It is acknowledged that enhanced methods of managing call congestion may be developed that leverage new intelligent network capabilities. It is also acknowledged that other points within the various networks involved in delivery of E9-1-1 calls have an impact on the level of service and call volumes supported, however, these potential enhancements and other network elements are not within the scope of this version of this document.

This Standard is intended to provide a guideline for all telecommunications carriers (including local exchange carriers (LECs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), commercial mobile radio services (CMRS), satellite carriers, etc), E9-1-1 network providers, and public safety agencies for how to manage call congestion in an overall E9-1-1 network.

This document is intended to provide greater parity between any type of E9-1-1 call, regardless of the source of its origination (wireless, traditional landline, VoIP, PBX/MLTS etc.)

This document was updated to include recommended ALI field usage and content structure for wireless E9-1-1 ALI data in general and for wireless provider interaction with wireline provider in a competitive portability environment.

This document sets forth NENA standards for all Service Providers involved in providing dial tone (or wireless equivalent access) to end users whether or not they are the 9-1-1 Database Management System Provider (DBMSP) or a SP in an Enhanced 9-1-1 area. It includes Database Maintenance, Quality measurements, INP, LNP and Number Pooling standards to be utilized for any 9-1-1 system that provides information for data display. It defines measurements that support meaningful computations to allow for a better understanding of database quality and timeliness of database updates.

This document defines the provisioning requirements for E9-1-1 data integrity, content, and call delivery regardless of dial tone provider. It is the goal of these standards to support current and future development consistent with the concept of "One Nation, One Number". It is assumed that Federal, State or Local legislation will supersede these standards.

During the NENA DOT project months some of the revisions to the data standards (02-010 and 02-011) included

Section 22 Standards for Local Number Portability to include General LNP and WNP Standards, Resolution of Failed Migrates, Resolution of Stranded Unlock Records, Wireline/Wireless Porting
Section 26 Global Changes to NENA Company ID, including wireless information
Section 28 Determining Ownership of a Telephone Number
Section 29 Wireless No Record Found Reporting Process

This document details the Company ID program and provides instructions for companies, including wireless carriers, to register their company identification. This document is posted on NENA's web page, www.NENA.org and available to all who can access the site.

This document contains standards requirements for providing the PSAP with a working callback number to all wireless phones that call 9-1-1. It brings with it the solution to a number of other open issues.

E9-1-1M transforms E9-1-1 from a fixed network service to a mobile network service. It opens the door to the delivery new mobile emergency services through new access technologies such as voice over IP, 3G wireless, WiFI/WiMax and NGN Convergence. E9-1-1M also provides new capabilities for the PSAP and wireless service provider to deal pro-actively with fraudulent 9-1-1 calling behavior. While these benefits are difficult to quantify at this stage of development, they can't be overlooked.

This document contains standards requirements for the following capabilities.

These capabilities are applicable for all access networks, wireless or landline. They are independent of access network technology and should be forward migrate able as they are applied to evolving technical standards.

This document is issued in response to a number of issues raised within the NENA Technical and Operations Committees and the Emergency Services Interconnection Forum related to providing the equivalent and most effective 9-1-1 service for fixed, mobile, wireless and landline phones [1, 23]. These concerns, in general, are for the following.

  1. Service to phones with a mobile, portable, international, private or no callback number (non-subscriber initialized, telematics units, and international roamers).
  2. Reduce the potential for 9-1-1 fraud from wireless and mobile phones.
  3. Take fullest advantage of existing standards, as well as the new network elements and interfaces recommended in this Technical Issues Document for callback and to combat fraud, by introducing new mobile emergency services.

Telecommunications industry involvement

While NENA was actively involved in some telecommunications industry groups, including those developing standards or doing similar operations/technical work, prior to the project, the active involvement increased considerably because of the NENA DOT project resources available.

Such involvement helped hasten correct implementations of phase I and II at PSAPs, while it also eliminated or minimized possible negative 9-1-1 effects for other technological and operational changes going on within the industry beyond 9-1-1. While this latter involved considerable work, its results were sometimes not noticed because there were little to no outstanding negative 9-1-1 effects when changes occurred.

One of the major industry changes was wireless number portability (WNP), which began in the top 100 metropolitan areas of the U.S. in late 2003 and in much of the remainder of the country in spring of 2004. WNP allows customers to change providers while retaining their existing phone number, regardless of whether its use with their former provider was wireline, wireless or (as also quietly began in 2003) VoIP.

In the beginning stages of the needed technical, operational and policy work to make WNP happen, it was viewed as something that would involve very large numbers quickly (possibly several million during the winter holiday season of 2003) and could/would cause significant problems regarding call delivery and receipt.

The large numbers did not materialize as quickly as some estimates. Just over 11 million wireless subscribers ported to another provider in the first 16 months, with an average over 700,000 per month continuing through the spring of 2005. Also of significance has been the wireline to wireless porting, with those being about 76,000 per month in the first half of 2004 climbing to about 99,000 monthly in the latter half of the year.13 Of importance regarding these increasing numbers is the need to be sure 9-1-1 access functions correctly during and after the porting process and the need for wireless E9-1-1 phase II as more and more consumers monthly move to wireless phone access as their primary and/or main communications access.

While WNP technical and operational processes were being developed within the telecommunications industry, NENA, utilizing the NENA DOT project resources, was able to extend its active involvement appropriately within industry groups.

These groups included:

North American Numbering Council (NANC), a federal advisory committee created by the FCC, for oversight and industry recommendations regarding various number resource topics.

Local Number Portability Administration Working Group (LNPA-WG), created by NANC as the main telecommunications entity to develop number portability (and number pooling) processes and guidelines, along with doing the key work regarding various involved issues. This group is freely open to any telecom industry participation along with other interested groups, such as NENA.

Specifically for WNP, NANC initially created a WNP subcommittee, which was to create initial recommendations to NANC. Following the WNPSC work, the Wireless Number Portability Operations team (WNPO) was created and worked closely with the LNPA-WG for its several months of existence, with it in recent months merging into the LNPA-WG. Also to assist in its work, the Wireless Testing subcommittee (WTSC) was created and continues to function today.

Independently but working as much as possible in coordination with the LNPA-WG, was the National Number Portability Operations team (NNPO). In the mid-90s, several state/regional groups were created regarding number portability and pooling issues and work. These eventually all merged, forming the NNPO, which did finally disband in recent months also.

Within the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), key groups with NENA active participation and assistance were the Ordering and Billing Forum (OBF) which primarily works on intercarrier standardized documents for various tasks, and the Industry Numbering Committee (INC), with a key task of establishing guidelines for number administration to and for the telecommunications industry. Another was the Network Interconnection Interoperability Forum (NIIF)

As part of its efforts to insure correct 9-1-1 access in these new numbering changes (portability and pooling, which is the assigning of numbers to providers in lesser amounts than a code/prefix, in order to conserve numbering resources), NENA created a special WNP subcommittee, jointly under both wireless and data technical committees. With approximately 125 members, it was one of the largest technical groups ever created within NENA at the time (later, NENA's VoIP and subsequent NG E9-1-1 work would involve even more). Comprised of a wide range of participants beyond normal (at least for NENA, which traditionally had relied on 9-1-1 technical experts), its membership ranged from wireless industry technical experts including engineers (with little to no 9-1-1 expertise) to regulatory/policy wireless legal experts.

It identified and tracked approximately 30 known issues, which were then worked and resolved within various industry groups as listed, with NENA being an active participant in all such.

Key issues included:

Also worked within various industry groups, predominately INC, during the NENA DOT project, was the use and administration of pANIs (pseudo Automatic Number Identifiers) used for routing, delivery and display of Phase I and II 9-1-1 calls at PSAPs. The use of pANIs as part of wireless E9-1-1 call processing is necessary primarily because of roaming and callers' phone numbers can therefore be from any area code in the country. In general, traditional PSAPs and existing 9-1-1 networks/databases are not capable of delivery of 9-1-1 callback numbers which may involve area codes from anywhere in the country, as traditional ANI. NENA's work in this area included having INC set aside number ranges with NANP guidelines, specifically for pANIs and to have these be non-dialable.

Created jointly in early 2002 by NENA and ATIS, the Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (ESIF), in its first several months was primarily working various technical interconnection issues involving wireless 9-1-1 and some operational ones. The NENA DOT project have helped insure that NENA is actively involved, including representatives attending all quarterly multiple-day face-to-face meetings, in this wireless 9-1-1 work.

Key issues included:

The FCC's Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC VII) took up a number of wireless related issues during late 2004 and 2005, and NENA staff and members took part in much of that work. Most notably were the issues of location accuracy and testing methods for Wireless E9-1-1 Phase II, along with several short term E9-1-1 and PSAP operational matters. These included ALI-related data base structural recommendations, network interface recommendations, and database query timing issues.

The issues and recommendations surrounding accuracy requirements included:

13 FCC 2005 annual CMRS competition market survey report.

 

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