The Illinois Institute of Technology will be busy this week testing the viability of VoIP call recording for public-safety answering points. Conducted by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), this latest Industry Collaboration Event has been named ICE 8. The point of this test is to ensure PSAPs can properly log and record all potential elements taking place in the next-generation 911 (NG-911) environment.
Testing will focus on text, voice, video and sensor data. Those involved in the process will rely on real-world scenarios in a simulated PSAP to test specific interfaces, such as voice, text and video recordings; event logging by PSAP and network functional elements; and queries and retrieval/playback of events and media.
According to Michael Smith (News - Alert), chief technologist for the DSS Corp. and current chairman of the ICE 8 planning committee, this event is not a focus on the demonstration of what works well. Instead, this test is to identify what is broken. As no technology is known to work perfectly right from launch, the purpose here is to locate the warts and get rid of them. At the same time, the committee would also like to identify ambiguities in the NG-911 standards.
For those who rely on VoIP call recording on a regular basis, this testing approach is good news. Part of the test process is to generate feedback that can help in the development of better standards. At the same time, the NG-911 architecture is examined to ensure the far greater logging and recording capabilities promised are actually in place. The advancements made here can be applied across other industries and technologies to improve usage across the board.
It’s also a step up from E-911 capabilities, which presented very limited logging for a short timeframe. Identifying problems at any point in the communication was limited to one piece of the framework. NG-911 was designed so that administrators could log what happened within each individual component. Given that the PSAP has nine different components, this added capability is important.
Those involved with this process and the collaboration committee would like to see NG-911 systems generate reports on demand, providing insight into issues that occur at each point of the process. This enables PSAP officials to determine where and why a breakdown occurs. As a result, they could fix the problem as quickly as possible.
As NG-911 systems are being prepped to enable the use of video and other advanced communications, the enhancement of the network and its capabilities is critical to take PSAPs to the next level in emergency response.
Edited by Alisen Downey