11 Sep 2019

British APCO calls for a clear Next Generation 999 technology roadmap

The British Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (British APCO) has published a white paper on the topic of “Next Generation 999” (NG999), which highlights the issues that must be addressed if the UK public is have access to an emergency call service that operates consistently well across all emergency services and regions and makes full use of available technology.

The paper summarises the discussions from the Association’s NG999 event, which took place on 11 June. It states that “To get consistency of response across the services there needs to be a clear and agreed roadmap of future development including MAIT (multi-agency incident transfer), AML (advanced mobile location), use of data, video and AI, and the demise of PSTN (public switched telephone network) in 2025. As examples, currently AML is used by all Ambulance services, nearly all Fire and Rescue services, but only about 60 per cent of Police forces.”

It also says that “It was felt that the Government should lay out a clear strategy and roadmap, acting like a private company and considering KPIs, setting clear expectations and focusing on future 999 performance, responses and consistency.”

The white paper also discusses the danger posed by “the data deluge” – the possibility that emergency call takers will be bombarded with too much information from various sources – and the absence of “no single consolidated system to centralise data – who owns it, who wants it? Who pays for it?”