The Manager's report back on improvements in Enhanced 911 and Smart 911 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.