WHERE IS THE PHONE? USING GIS TO ENHANCE YOUR 911 SERVICES

911 SOLUTIONS, INC.

JACI MARIE LOUISE, ENP

KIRA DOTY

WWW.911SOLUTIONS.NET

o Geocoding Landline Telephone Numbers (TN’s)

o Address Standardization

o Emergency Notification Parameters

o Wireless History

o Phase 0

o Phase I and Phase II

o Types of Location Determination Solutions

o Wireless Phase II

o FCC Accuracy

o Confidence Factor (COF) and Uncertainty (UNCERT)

o Wireless Testing

o Current Accuracy

o Routing

o Are your Cell Towers working properly?

o Follow up with carriers

IN THIS SESSION:

911 Solutions, Inc

GEOCODING Geocoding is the process of assigning location to information. In the context of a Geographic Information System (GIS), it means assigning geographic point coordinates to a street address. More generically, it can mean taking any data with textual descriptions of town, zip code, or country, for example and making it mappable.

911 Solutions, Inc

GEOCODING LANDLINE TELEPHONE NUMBERS (TN)

• Start with the tn extract from the MSAG and any other tn extract not housed in the MSAG , such as Comcast . Currently, Century Link and Comcast charge for this data.

• Compare the addresses from the tn extract to the, GIS parcels, points and center line

• From the fallout, determine if the GIS data or the MSAG data should be corrected

• Work toward address standardization – making sure all data matches

• Point data will be very important to Next Generation 9-1-1

911 Solutions, Inc

ADDRESS STANDARDIZATION

911 Solutions, Inc

EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION PARAMETERS

• An emergency notification system is a method of quickly delivering a message to a group of people based on a geographic area to alert them to an emergency.

• Emergency Notification Systems rely on the tn extract data that is geocoded to be downloaded to their web-based program.

• Geocoding on points is the preferred method , however, some use centerline.

• It is important to assure accuracy with the emergency notification provider, so evacuation notices are properly delivered.

• Cell phone and VoIP customers must “opt in” to receive notifications.

911 Solutions, Inc

911 Solutions, Inc.

THE BRICK ORIGINALLY: THOUGHT IT WOULD NOT AFFECT 9-1-1, DID NOT ANTICIPATE WIDESPREAD USE.

Wireless 911 History

911 Solutions, Inc.

WIRELESS HISTORY

• First cellular phones could not dial 9-1-1, which quickly became a problem.

•Today:

• 70 to 80 percent of all 9-1-1 calls come from cellular telephones.

• Public perception: Dial 9-1-1, help will be on the way.

• However, if we can’t find you, we can’t help you.

• Caller location still a problem.

911 Solutions, Inc.

THE FIRST SOLUTION FOR WIRELESS – PHASE 0 •

• Wireless calls were connected to the 9-1-1 Center by assigning a ten digit number. • The ten-digit phone line was added to the 9-1-1 telephone consoles – labeled as “9-1-1” • This gave callers the same priority as land line callers • Did not provide Automatic Number Identification/Automatic Location Information (ANI/ALI) • Locating the call could be problematic

9-1-1 9-1-1

Admin Admin Admin Admin Admin Admin

9-1-1 9-1-1 9-1-1 9-1-1 9-1-1 E9-1-1 trunks

Ten digit phone lines labeled at 9-1-1

THE NEXT SOLUTION FOR WIRELESS 9-1-1 CALLS – PHASE I AND PHASE II

Phase I

• Connects the 9-1-1 call to the center via the 9-1-1 trunk, doing away with the need for the ten-digit number.

• Provides the cell tower address and the call back number of caller to the 9-1-1 center through ANI/ALI.

Phase II

• In addition to Phase I, Phase II provides the the approximate Latitude and Longitude (Lat/Long) of the caller to the 9-1-1 Center though ANI/ALI.

• Provides an Uncertainty Factor

911 Solutions, Inc

911 Solutions, Inc.

TYPES OF LOCATION DETERMINATION SOLUTIONS PHASE II – NETWORK BASED TRIANGULATION

• Uses triangulation and signal strength to determine the callers location.

• requires two or three cell sites

• Pro: Works well in Metro areas, within buildings and hard topped vehicles.

911 Solutions, Inc.

TYPES OF LOCATION DETERMINATION SOLUTIONS PHASE II – GPS HANDSET-BASED SOLUTION

• Phone handset has a Global Positioning System (GPS) chip that is activated when 9-1-1 is dialed.

• The GPS receives the Lat/Long from orbiting satellites and transmits it to the cell site.

• If the phone does not have a GPS chip, it will be Phase I even after the wireless carrier is Phase II.

Pro - does not need more than one cell site to obtain caller position.

WIRELESS PHASE II

Cell Phone Number Carrier

Cell Site

Address

WPH2

ESN

Carrier ID

911 Center Designation

Uncertainty Factor UNCETR

Latitude and Longitude

COF %

911 Solutions, Inc

FCC ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS NETWORK BASED

FCC ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS HANDSET BASED

CONFIDENCE FACTOR (COF) AND UNCERTAINTY FACTOR (UNCERT)

COF is the abbreviation for confidence factor. Is shown as a percentage and should only be used in conjunction with the Uncertainty factor and never be sent by itself. In addition, the COF is not standard among the various location technologies. The COF is not being displayed in most centers in Colorado.

The uncertainty factor (UNCERT) represents how close the lat/long given is to the caller’s location, expressed in meters. For example, an uncertainty factor of 12 indicates that the caller should be within 12 meters of the point indicated by the latitude and longitude coordinates.

911 Solutions, Inc

WIRELESS TESTING

THE BENEFITS OF WIRELESS TESTING

o Verify cell towers are providing Phase II

o Verify cell towers are providing the address the PSAP wants displayed

o Verify sector data is displayed properly

o Verify Latitude and Longitude coordinates are within the specified distances as mandated by the FCC

o Verify cell towers and/or sectors are routing calls to the proper PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point)

o Verify there are not any Phase 0 calls

o Verify any anomalies in the system

911 Solutions, Inc

TEST CALL

iE!. _̂ _̂_̂ _̂_̂

HIG

HLA

NDS R

ANCH

FOOTHILLS CANYON

WE

ST

BU

RY

CO

VE

CR

EE

K

CASTLE R

IDG

EWHIT

ECLIF

F

WESTRIDGE KNOLLS

BRAEWOOD

WILDCAT RESERVE

FENDLEBRUSH

SPRING HILL

AUTU

MNW

OO

D

MO

UN

TAIN

DA

ISYG

OL

D D

US

T

FENDLEBRUSH

AT&TSprintVerizonT-Mobile

TrakFone

911 Solutions, Inc

911 Solutions, Inc

CURRENT ACCURACY

To determine current accuracy, run statistical analysis on the number of calls that fell within 50 meters, 150 meters and 300 meters. The example is an overall analysis of all the carriers. An analysis per carrier is helpful to determine if there are issues that may not meet the FCC accuracy requirements. In 2014, 80% of all handset based need to fall with in 150 meters or 90% of all network based fall within 300 meters.

911 Solutions, Inc

PERCENT OF PHASE II

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

Phase I

Phase II

911 Solutions, Inc

HOW 911 CALLS ARE CURRENTLY BEING ROUTED

911 Solutions, Inc

PROPER WIRELESS ROUTING

o Each Carrier provides a routing sheet with address, sector data, location of cell tower and Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) routing.

o While the sector radius does not represent exact coverage, PSAP boundaries can be used to determine which sector should route to which PSAP.

o For additional accuracy in sector routing , plotting the Phase II lat/long from call history, can verify if a sector is labeled properly or determine the where the majority of the calls are.

911 Solutions, Inc

ARE YOUR CELL TOWERS WORKING PROPERLY??

o From testing you can determine if your cell towers are delivering the proper information to 9-1-1

o Are the wireless calls being delivered on the 9-1-1 trunk, or did it ring on an administrative line?

o Did the 9-1-1 center receive at least a Phase I call on the 9-1-1 trunk?

o Did the Phase I call retransmit (rebid or refresh) to a Phase II call with a lat/long and an uncertainty factor?

o Was the call routed to the correct 9-1-1 center?

o Did the cell tower address display properly?

911 Solutions, Inc

FOLLOW UP WITH WIRELESS CARRIERS

o If there are issues, work with the carriers to correct the problems Towers displaying incorrect addresses or routing improperly can be resolved by the change request section of the routing sheets.

o If the accuracy is low, send the report to the carrier, they are usually willing to work for better accuracy

o If the accuracy does not improve and the carrier is unwilling to work with you, contact the FCC

o Testing should be done yearly, to make sure accuracy continues to improve and new issues are addressed

911 Solutions, Inc

Any Questions?

911 Solutions, Inc