Episode 97: At Its Core: ECC

Narrator: You're listening to Public Safety First, a podcast to help you learn about the First Responder Network Authority and how you can be part of the future of public safety technology.

And now, your host.

Molly Hahn: Hello and welcome to a long awaited, At its Core episode, where we detangle and demystify technical topics for anyone to understand. I have been looking forward to this podcast recording this topic for a very long time. As kids were always taught when the emergency starts to call 911. I think it's a universal thought in our heads when we think about public safety in times of crisis. And so today, we're going to sit down with an expert in communication centers. And what happens when you call 911. Welcome, Jennifer. Can you give your name and a little bit about yourself for our audience?

Jennifer McIntyre: Wonderful. Thank you, Molly, appreciate you having me. My name is Jennifer McIntyre. I am a senior public safety advisor on the Stakeholder Collaborations Division of the FirstNet authority. I've been here for about two and a half years now, and I am part of the team that supports the Boulder Lab tours at our Boulder, Colorado facility. I also do a lot with our stakeholder collaborations division for the experiential centers and booths that we do. My previous life, I was a 9-1-1 telecommunicator for a little over 23 years. I retired and hung up my headset after being a supervisor at Broomfield Police Department, and that is where I found my love and passion was assisting the public in their time of need. Answering those calls for service, and supporting all of the telecommunicators that are still out there doing the hard work today. So excited to be at the Authority and sharing my area of expertise and happy to talk to you today about anything and everything 9-1-1 related.

Molly Hahn: Amazing. And this is very exciting because I think we all know the concept of 9-1-1 from the person calling, but to the people answering the call, it's a whole different experience. So why don't we start with the basics? I've heard ECC. I've heard communication center. I've heard 911 operations. What is an ECC? What is an emergency communications center?

Jennifer McIntyre: Yeah, there's a lot of different terminology out there, but an ECC is an emergency communications center, and it's basically a facility that's designated to receive and process requests for emergency assistance, which may include 9-1-1 calls. The telecommunicators there determine the appropriate emergency response based on what available resources they have, and coordinate everyday emergency responses and large scale events according to a specific operational policy.

Molly Hahn: Gotcha, okay, so this is, a facility that's really set up and ready to answer the call when needed. I've heard this term sap, SAP. Is that the same as an sec or is there a difference there?

Jennifer McIntyre: So a PSAP is a public safety answering point. And technically that is where the 9-1-1 calls are delivered by the 9-1-1 service provider. So these can be both physical and virtual entities. The telecommunicators that are working in the PSAP typically dispatch to your first responders like law enforcement, fire and medical. The two terms themselves are not technically the same, yet they tend to be used interchangeably. ECCs are becoming the more common terminology as agencies begin migrating over to the Digital or Internet Protocol, IP based 9-1-1 systems or ESINets. Now you might be wondering what an ESINet is, but an ESINet is an emergency services IP network, which is a state of the art network that will enable NextGen 9-1-1 or NG9-1-1. And that's the data that is to be shared between emergency communication centers. Next Gen 911 communications and data handling beyond just voice calls. It's faster, more resilient emergency response by allowing enhanced digital information like caller location, text messages, photos and videos with the ultimate intent to have this data flow seamlessly from the public into the ECC and to the first responders.

Molly Hahn: This is interesting. Okay, so there's a lot more than just my voice going into an ECC or into that person who's answering the call. I'm just curious, what was it before we had the IP based 901-1? Was it, I think of it, old timey switchboard, and we're clicking and popping all sorts of cables in. What was that like before we had this IP based 9-1-1 system?

Jennifer McIntyre: Yeah, so when you think back to 9-1-1, the first 9-1-1 call was made back in the late 1960s on a legacy copper landline technology. And that is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain. It can also be easily destroyed, and it only supports that voice call. And there's no capability to reroute those 91--1 calls. So when you think about it, it's really time to upgrade that technology into the modern day that our public is already used to using. They share their videos back and forth, data back and forth all the time. So the 9-1-1 community and those ECCs are raising to meet those technological needs.

Molly Hahn: Yeah, the world is changing constantly. And as you go through experiences, you kind of realize how much more information you can provide. And when I think of all of this more information, I think about what ways can the FirstNet network or FirstNet technologies support an ECC and make it so that they're able to handle this kind of, increase in capabilities?

Jenn McIntyre: Yes, absolutely. I'm so excited that FirstNet can support the ECC community. One of the ways is through a wireless redundant solution to their ESINets. FirstNet can function as the wireless redundant solution to back up the ECC’s regular ESInet. If the network experiences a maintenance window or a fiber cut, FirstNet can be on active standby to automatically provide connectivity, even if there's a 9-1-1 call already in progress. Because FirstNet is a network, it can provide wireless transports for an ESInet, as well as public safety enterprise network. Think of the network, the agency network or CAD system uses. FirstNet priority, and preemption offers reassurance that connectivity will prevail, even when there is network congestion. FirstNet is actually provided backhaul for the ECC connectivity in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene obliterated a lot of that infrastructure.

Molly Hahn: So, Jen, it sounds like FirstNet is great for backup. What's another way that FirstNet can support an ECC? Maybe when they're trying to find a new way to move calls around, even.

Jennifer McIntyre: So yeah, Molly, another way FirstNet can support the ECC is by routing 9-1-1 calls to a FirstNet enabled smartphones, ten digit number, and that can serve as the last order backup effort to an opposing it. This routing approach also works for a selective router problem to get calls returned from a backup location, or in the situation where a different location exchange carrier is being used, then the ESInet provider, using a FirstNet enabled smart phone provides quality of service, priority and preemption to ensure the calls go through. Using the phone's hotspot can also keep connectivity up and running for ancillary devices or systems.

Molly Hahn: Let's say a building is completely wiped out that houses an ECC, and the only thing that we have is somebody's FirstNet phone, are we able to route 9-1-1 calls to that person's FirstNet phone?

Jennifer McIntyre: Worst case scenario? Absolutely.

Molly Hahn: Let's just hope we don't ever get to that point. But I do know that there are times that we need these ECCs to be remote and we can't have people always be coming into the office, you know, there's a snowstorm or someone is ill or, you know, isolated. How could we support remote capabilities at an ECC?

Jennifer McIntyre: That's kind of the beauty of technology is that the ECC's are no longer bound to brick and mortar limitations. Remote call taking and dispatching redefines how telecommunications respond to emergencies with broadband IP technology and FirstNet powering location independent operations, remote call taking and dispatching have become a proven model for ECC business continuity and surge staffing, allowing for immediate assistance. High priority low frequency events such as natural disasters like you mentioned, can now be addressed through flexible remote deployments. In the event an ECC is inaccessible or needs to evacuate, remote capabilities continue to evolve, offering resiliency, agility, and extended coverage during any emergency. Agencies in Virginia, Tennessee, for example, are all successfully using FirstNet to conduct remote operations.

Molly Hahn: Okay, so you are a remote call taker – how are you set up? What does that look like? 

Jennifer McIntyre: Remote workstations can operate effectively using IP consoles and secure VPN connectivity routers and hotspots with FirstNet SIMs, along with FirstNet enabled smartphones, will provide the quality of service priority and preemption. The basic connectivity can include a hotspot device, including high power user equipment or HPUE. The HPUE equipment in both hotspot and router configurations offer six times the transmit power of regular hotspots for better range, better building penetration, and higher upload speeds. FirstNet connected cellular devices, both hotspots and routers, can be used to support remote call taking and dispatching, as well as provide internet access for the center. Some of the more advanced connectivity options include mobile routers with enhanced capabilities, such as cellular redundancy like dual SIMs, bonding of SIMs, and or satellite redundancy. Another option is a go bag. A deployment kit can be created using laptops, dual monitors, headsets, smartphones, mobile routers, and VPN accessible CAD software. These can easily be scaled up or down for daily use to disaster recovery, ranging from a basic hotspot or to more advanced mobile routers in deployable cases for a larger capacity.

Molly Hahn: So, Jen, if I was a call taker and I had to go out of my call center for whatever reason, I literally could just have a bag that I would pick up and take with me and be able to work from home?

Jennifer McIntyre: You sure can. These are the kind of things that agencies should prepare and train for, so that our telecommunications can do exactly that.

Molly Hahn: That's amazing. And I just think about how much that opens up doors for more call takers to be on a team together. It sounds like we can really kind of support ECCs in a lot of different ways. Is there a time or can an ECC use a deployable, a FirstNet deployable?

Jennifer McIntyre: Yes, absolutely. If an ECC loses connectivity or needs to be evacuated, incoming 9-1-1 calls can be routed through FirstNet deployable assets. If external support is needed, FirstNet customer agencies can request support from the ROG team who can triage and provide the appropriate solution based on the location and capacity needs. And there's no charge to the agency for that. If an agency owns a compact rapid deployable or a CRD or the smaller form factor called a miniCRD, the asset can be set up anytime and anywhere it's needed to support ECC operations and keep vital systems up and running. The CRD is a cell site with a half a mile to a one and a half mile FirstNet coverage, depending on the configuration. During severe flooding in Iowa, 9-1-1 calls are routed through a FirstNet SatCOLT when they had to evacuate their call center. Any time a FirstNet deployable asset is deployed into a community, 9-1-1 calls from any carrier can be completed via the assets network. Connection agencies have deployed CRDs into areas with known cellular or landline telephone outages to ensure the public can make a complete 9-1-1 calls. The FirstNet program provides unique value to the ECC community, offering resiliency often as a backup and even in some cases as a primary means of connectivity for 9-1-1 systems and agency networks.

Molly Hahn: Wow, Jen, so it really sounds like FirstNet is there for first responders and especially 9-1-1 dispatchers who are really the people who are taking the calls when we have our most trying times, and they're the ones that stay with us until, first responders, other first responders, can get there to be with us. And so, thank you so much, Jen. I'm really glad that you were able to join us. I can't thank the people who answered the call enough. They have such a challenging job, and it's good to know that when their jobs become more challenging, FirstNet is there for them. So thank you for joining us, Jen. I can't wait to see how FirstNet continues to evolve.

Jennifer McIntyre: I am excited, too, Molly. Thanks so much.

Narrator: Thanks for listening today. We're excited to have you join our podcast community. Make sure to subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, and YouTube. You can learn more about the First Responder Network Authority at FirstNet.gov and learn about FirstNet products and services at FirstNet.com.