A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 18-125, regarding a report on improvements in Enhanced 911 and Smart 911 technology

1 December 5, 2018 Louis A. DePasquale City Manager Re: Council Order 2018 O-12 from, dated November 19, 2018 Dear Sir: I am writing in response to the recent Council Order, O-12, in response to recent improvements in Enhanced 911 and Smart911 technology. The department has continued to pursue and implement technology to aid residents and first responders during an emergency. Reporting an emergency is one of the most stressful actions a person may encounter when calling for help. Most Emergency Communications Centers (911 Centers), today are more involved with emergency services than in previous times where they performed the role of conveyors of information between the person who needed help and the first responders. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State 911 Department, which is under the authority of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPS), is tasked with coordinating and implementing enhanced 911 service, as well as administering such service in the commonwealth according to the provisions required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (M.G.L. c. 6A, § 18B). All municipalities in the Commonwealth, under the requirements of chapter 150E, staffs and operates a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) on a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, and must utilize the equipment provided by the State 911 Department to process all incoming 911 Calls. Enhanced 911 Improvements In 2017, the department converted to the new 911 service platform for the Commonwealth to improve emergency communication services and changes created by our increasingly mobile society. The State 911 Department contracted with General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. (GDIT) to develop, implement, and operate the Next Generation 911 (NG-911) system in Massachusetts. The replacement of Enhanced-911 services with NG-911 systems in the Commonwealth began in August of 2016 in Boxborough, MA. The City of Cambridge Emergency Communications Department was the first large communications center, as an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) site to be converted to the new technology in June of 2017. Cambridge Emergency Communications Department 125 Sixth Street, Cambridge MA 02142 Phone: [phone removed] Fax: [phone removed] www.cambridge911.org Christina Giacobbe Director of Emergency Communications and 911 Louis A. DePasquale City Manager

2 The NG-911 system is an upgrade from the analog, copper line system to digital technology, using Internet Protocol (IP) based system to process emergency reports. This upgrade will allow for incremental changes to the way information is received within the communications center and improve routing and location information for wireless callers. One particular area to note is the enhancement of wireless calls to 911 Centers. The FCC mandates that cell phone carriers (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.) transmit all 911 calls to a PSAP, regardless of whether the caller subscribes to the provider's service or not. This means that even when a cell phone is not connected to a service network it can still call 911 and be connected to the appropriate communications center. The FCC also has rules with regards to what location information is provided to 911 centers from cell phones. As a result, there have been incredible enhancements to location information and this continues to develop. Currently, there are two types of cell phone routing described as Phase 1 and Phase II. Wireless Phase I rules require wireless service providers (Sprint, AT&T, Verizon etc.) to provide the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) with the telephone number of the originator of a wireless 911 call and the location of the cell site or base station transmitting the call. This type of routed call has a larger area of location information. Wireless Phase II rules require wireless service providers to provide the latitude and longitude of callers to PSAPs. This information must be accurate within 50 to 300 meters depending upon the type of location technology used. This routed call has a greater degree of confidence in location information. The FCC is currently working on updating these rules to help ensure that during an emergency situation, people can dial 911 and be quickly located by first responders, regardless of the type of service that is used to make the call. Until these rules change, the State 911 Department has been working with General Dynamics (GDIT), current provider of the Next Generation 911 System to improve the current systems and to incorporate private contractor program and/or information into the NG-911 System. Currently, the State 911 Department is working with RapidSOS to increase efforts in providing accurate location information for callers in Massachusetts. RapidSOS began as a small start- up that originated in Cambridge that was focused on improving 9-1-1 software to better locate callers during emergencies. RapidSOS launched their first product which was the smartphone app known as Haven. However, this required the user to utilize the application to call 911, and it was not very successful. Since then, RapidSOS has developed working relations with companies such as Android, Apple, Uber, Rave and Waze, and their software has been imbedded in the operating systems to give the NG-911 System secondary location information. The newest location sharing technology, now imbedded in the operating system of cellphones, comes up automatically on the NG-911 Screen. This is a tremendous advancement as callers or subscribers are not required to sign up for the service.

3 GDIT and the State 911 Department route calls to municipal 911 centers based on the location provided by the carriers, so even though we can receive the RapidSOS data, calls are still routed based on the Wireless Phase1 and Phase2 technology at this time until modifications are made through FCC and the Commonwealth. Currently, the Cambridge Emergency Communications department receives all Wireless Phase 2 Cell Phone Calls placed within the city direct. This amounts to approximately 25-30% of the 911 cell phone calls. Wireless Phase 1 cell phone calls are continuing to be routed to the State 911 PSAP in Framingham and/or Regional Emergency Communications Center (RECC). Due to the limited location information provided and the routing rules with regards to 911 cell phone calls, the Cambridge Emergency Communications Department is working closely with the City Manager’s Office to study and evaluate the feasibility of taking all wireless calls directly. The implications of taking Wireless Phase 1 calls directly is the total number of calls received including those that could also be misrouted to Cambridge and must be transferred out to other communities. This volume would be in addition to all wireless incoming calls for Cambridge. This would significantly increase the call volume and possibly overwhelm the current staffing levels. The City of Boston currently takes all Wireless Phase 1 and Phase 2 calls directly. They have experienced a 30% increase in their total call volume compared to the previous year. With the additional advancements of accurate location information, it is our hope that all wireless calls in the Commonwealth of Mass will be routed to the appropriate PSAP jurisdiction within 2019. Text to 911 On December 3, 2018, the City of Cambridge began receiving and processing text messages to 911. The system is currently equipped with this feature and staff have been trained on the program, equipment and policy requirements. As always, calling 911 is the quickest way to get emergency services because text 911 does not provide the most accurate location. However, it does provide the disability community with another way to communicate with public safety and request emergency services. This effort was in conjunction with the Commonwealth to participate in a soft launch of the program to ensure training, equipment and policies are in place to process these calls appropriately. On December 14, General Dynamics IT (GDIT) will enable the Short Message Service (SMS) within the Next Generation 9-1-1 network which makes the functionality of Text-to-9-1-1 available throughout the Commonwealth. During this time, if citizens attempt to contact 911 via text, the appropriate PSAP will receive and be able to process this call. However, there will be no public announcement prior to January 2019 of this service. In 2019, the Commonwealth will officially announce the launch of Text to 911 once all 251 PSAPS’s are online and trained to receive text messages. Once the Commonwealth makes the program announcement we will be prepared to communicate with residents through social media, newsletters and other platforms to ensure the word gets out. The department will work closely with the Public Information Office to coordinate these efforts. The campaign will focus on promoting responsible use of Text to 911. As such, we will be utilizing the Commonwealth messaging for this program “Call If You Can, Text If You Can’t”. Text to 911 public education will begin in early January and will be targeted towards all age groups.

4 Smart911 The Cambridge Emergency Communications Department is also pleased to provide Smart911 Technology, purchased through Rave Mobile Safety. Smart911 is an application that allows residents, workers, and visitors of the City of Cambridge the opportunity to create Smart911 Safety Profiles that helps 9-1-1 call takers and first responders to make faster and better decisions about care needed, increase response times, and save lives by having specific information related to the caller. By creating a free Smart911 Safety Profile at www.Smart911.com or on the Smart911 mobile app, they can include phone numbers, home and work addresses, family member information, photos, medical conditions and history, disabilities, lists of medications and pet information. The Smart911 profile provides additional data to the Emergency Telecommunications Dispatcher (ETD) which allows for a faster, more effective response as the safety profile comes in to the 911 Center when the registered caller dials 911. This critical patient information allows first responders to prepare for the treatment of the patient prior to arriving on scene and assessing the condition. This results in better clinical care to our residents as well as responding to any emergency of the caller. The Smart 911 technology is also connected to RapidSOS, and acts as a backup to the 911 System, transmitting the RapidSOS location and Smart profile information which offers to enhance location accuracy. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Christina Giacobbe Director of Emergency Communications and 911 .