AT&T has recently publicised what it calls ‘end-to-end’ architecture, combining a nationwide emergency services IP network (ESInet) with cloud-based PSAP applications. What benefits do you anticipate to control rooms?
The goal of Next Generation [NG] 911 is essentially enabling users to do the same with an emergency call-taker as they can with their family and friends. That is, texting, escalating a voice call to a video call, sending attachments, streaming and so on; what we all do – and take it for granted – every day.
In the States, I would say that public safety is about five to 10 years behind where the consumer industry is in relation to this. What our industry has been working on is changing out the ‘plumbing’ and building the actual IP network.
We’ve built an emergency services IP network [ESI net] across the country, operating out of strategically located data centres. That’s been our mission for the past three to five years and we’re now finally at the point where we’re entering the second phase. That’s where the cloud really starts to come in.
What is the benefit of moving to the cloud from a PSAP perspective?
It comes back to the NG 911 discussion. The thing that’s really exciting to me about the ESInet infrastructure, particularly moving into the second phase, is the ability to bring different applications into the call centre.
That said, only half the puzzle has been completed. While I’m now able to send IP packets, the people answering the phone don’t necessarily have the technology to utilise them. That’s where the cloud is really critical to us, so we can bring in the applications [they might want to use].
This space is traditionally referred to as call handling, but we call it PSAP solutions now.
Other than providing the public with increasing ways to get in contact with the emergency services, what are the likely benefits of the PSAP solutions from an organisational perspective?
When we bring call handling into the cloud, several things take place. Firstly, implementation time goes down because you’re not shipping hardware. There doesn’t need to be an on-prem technician to light up the equipment.
At the same time, we’re able to layer different solutions on top of each other, which makes it more integrated for the customer. The thing I love is that we can bring it through this public-safety-grade, high-security network that the customer has already bought.
What is the anticipated impact on public safety operations themselves?
I think the real excitement from an operational perspective is this layering of innovative applications. For example, we’re looking forward to seeing how much more situational awareness we can provide to the call-taker. Obviously, there’s the basic call-taking information, such as location, but there’s also potential additional data that can be provided.
Developments taking place in the automotive industry are a good example of that. Launching a 911 call from your car, which in turn also sends information about the vehicle itself. How many seatbelts were buckled? Did the airbags go off?
From that, you begin to get an idea of how serious the incident is, and what resources need to be mobilised to it. Then there’s information about the highway itself, providing the best way to approach a scene and so on.
Other applications include home security. Traditionally, if your home alarm went off, it would call the security company who would have to turn up and validate it, and call 911. The 911 call-taker would then have to transcribe everything.
What we’re seeing now are applications that can launch a 911 call straight from the event. That information comes in like a voice call, as well as text [which doesn’t have to be transcribed]. We anticipate it will take a three- or four-minute dispatch event down to about 30 seconds.
Going back to ESInet, it’s obviously intended to exist and function in parallel with FirstNet…
It is in parallel, yes. When a member of the public, for instance in Dallas, makes a 911 call, it hits their carrier and is then passed to AT&T ESInet. It then goes to the 911 agent, who determines what emergency service is required and then dispatches the first-responder. That begins the use of FirstNet.
At the same time, we’re also trying to bring FirstNet into the ‘911’ part of the process, providing wireless backup in order to ensure diversity and continuity. An agent could theoretically operate a laptop with a FirstNet SIM, leveraging the cloud service, and answer that 911 call from anywhere.
The concept of teleworkers for 911 is not really acceptable, but in the case of an emergency where they can’t actually be in the control room, it’s absolutely a viable option. Better that than not getting the call answered. If that takes place over FirstNet, it’s secure and prioritised.
Can user organisations pick and choose their IP network/cloud provider? I assume – as with emergency services radio comms in the US – it’s still based around a competition model.
Our traditional networks would have been very regional-based, which meant you didn’t really have an option regarding who was your 911 provider. By contrast, with this generation, it truly is a competition, and states are buying in.
It’s nationwide, but we still have to go and win the business in South Carolina or wherever. All the states have their own timeline, based on funding and so on.
What I can now do is go to them and say, look, I can bring in this COTS [commercial off-the-shelf] application, so you can better utilise the investment you made. It makes managing the infrastructure easier for whoever is doing the administration inside that PSAP.
When you have a cloud type of environment, people are more willing to adopt it because they’re not having to integrate hardware on prem, and they’re not patching it together. ‘I went with vendor A and bought this product, so now I need to make sure that it fits in with the router from vendor B…’ That’s not an issue with the cloud.
Is security still a concern when it comes to emergency services’ adoption of the cloud? Organisations have been reticent, for instance because of the potential server location.
Some organisations are still reticent about using the cloud, absolutely. Everyone has been talking about the cloud in public safety for the last five years, but no-one trusted it.
From our perspective, we’re now seeing potential early adopters actually starting to ask for it. States will send out RFPs [requests for proposals] now, and these bids are actively mentioning the cloud for the first time ever.
It really doesn’t have to be prem-based any more. They’re open to a cloud solution. The last three or four bids I’ve seen have contained that openness to the cloud.
One thing that has helped us is companies such as AWS, with their government portal located in the cloud. That’s starting to be understood by everyone as an ‘extra secure’ cloud offering. Having said that, it’s still early in the adoption, and you can’t expect this to just spike in the next 12 months.
I don’t want to sound like I’m just being super-positive, but there is an element where the cloud is actually more secure. If I have 2,000 customers [on prem], those are 2,000 endpoints that I have to keep secure, versus two instances of AT&T cloud. I’m absolutely going to be able to safeguard that.
Going back to the ‘physical’ aspects of on-prem, there are updates where I would need to roll a technician out, which is something that could take months. In the cloud, that’s done across the universe within seconds, and it hits everybody.
There are things that I would argue are actually more secure. But it’s a mentality that you have to get people comfortable with.
The AT&T network outage from February of last year was the result of an update. While it’s not quite the same context, what impact has that event had on the confidence of your customers?
We had a very prem-based solution for many years, and then it became this hybrid. And that slowly got people used to the concept of not all their equipment being on premise.
So, we have those early adopters, and that’s helping us because they’re getting comfortable with it. And because a lot of the extra functionality – the feature set that they want – is only available in the cloud, that’s going to help them get over any reluctancy.
Regarding the outage in February, honestly, the wireless side is not my expertise. But I will say that I’m absolutely expecting my customers to try to draw that linkage. And we absolutely have to be prepared to have that conversation.
Ultimately, we have to try and explain what occurred, which certainly adds [complexity] to the conversation. But I honestly haven’t seen an overwhelming influx of calls about it. The silver lining with something like that is that it’s an opportunity to learn.
