The 9-1-1
National Reference Center
A Unique Online Resource for PSAPs
by Teri DePuy
| Teri DePuy is a Data Integrity Unit Manager for the National Data Services Center at SCC Communications Corp. Prior to joining the management team at SCC Communications Corp., Teri has 15 years experience in Public Safety and 6 years managing CAD operations for SCC. |
This article can be found on
page 44 of the Jan/Feb 1998
issue of 9-1-1 Magazine.
Combining the efforts of SCC Communications Corp. and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), the 9-1-1 National Reference Center (9-1-1NRC) will soon be available as a consolidated resource containing essential point-of-contact information on Public Safety Answering points (PSAPs) and telecommunications service providers. The 9-1-1NRC puts information at the fingertips of public safety agencies in their quest to deliver the highest quality 9-1-1 service to the public.
Why the 9-1-1NRC?
The introduction of competitive local access as well as the rapid growth of wireless telecommunications has created new challenges for 9-1-1 in America. Public safety agencies are searching for solutions to protect the integrity of their existing 9-1-1 systems, as well as the ability to gain access to 9-1-1 reference information on a wider scale. The 9-1-1NRC will address both of these issues. A secured Internet application that houses up-to-date information on PSAPs and telecommunications service providers nationwide, the 9-1-1NRC is a vital component for ensuring consistent delivery of emergency assistance to the public.
The services that will be available through the 9-1-1NRC are the Carrier Registry, PSAP Registry and the pANI Clearinghouse each element possessing unique services to public safety agencies, local service providers and other commercial entities. The original intent of the 9-1-1NRC was the provisioning of essential 9-1-1 reference data to PSAPs free of charge. Through payment of annual service fees, commercial entities and telecommunications service providers are granted access to the 9-1-1NRC.
Telecommunications Reform and 9-1-1
In addition to the operational changes imposed on PSAPs by the FCC wireless 9-1-1 mandate (FCC Report and Order 94-102; see May-June 1997, pp. 44-47), the explosion of local number portability (LNP) and area code growth will significantly affect the processing of 9-1-1 calls for service.
Recent LNP trials began the delivery of new information in the ALI data streams, including the company ID and RCF (directory or shadow number). These abbreviated or coded company identifiers will require dispatchers to use new means for obtaining emergency 9-1-1 services from telco service providers. That's where the 9-1-1NRC will come in to play. Because former identifiers will no longer be valid, dispatchers will be presented with a 5-digit company code to aid in the identification of service providers. The 9-1-1NRC will give PSAPs a method to obtain carrier information for the purpose of line interrupts and call traces.
The company ID reference data is housed in the Carrier Registry, allowing PSAPs online access to 24-hour emergency contact numbers for wireline and wireless carriers, alternative local exchange and dial tone service providers. With the objective of standardizing the company identifiers, the NENA Standards Committee initiated the company ID project at the 1996 Telco Vendor conference with subsequent efforts occurring in 1997. NENA launched a program for the application and registration of these identifiers via their web site. As reported by NENA, the ability to identify a relationship between a telephone number and the service provider supports the tracking of 9-1-1 data record processing and it also affords high quality data management by both the 9-1-1 serving company and the source company.
"The FCC ruling on wireless integration into Enhanced 9-1-1 services was truly a win for public safety, but one which created significant issues regarding getting the call into the proper answering point," said Bill Munn. Executive Director for Tarrant County 9-1-1 in Alabama, and last year's NENA President. "The Reference Center concept provides a data base for the routing of any call after the location is identified. Routing an emergency call based upon a sequential street numbering system and a telephone company database has been done for at least a decade in most areas of the United States. Routing a call to the proper answering point based upon a longitude-latitude location is another story... but now it's do-able, based on rapidly-developing location capability combined with the accuracy of the reference center and its definition of service areas."
Also included as a service of the 9-1-1NRC is the PSAP Registry, a table housing specific 24-hour access data for the individual PSAPs. Using similar query and lookup algorithms, PSAP contact information, voice, fax and TDD telephone numbers will be accessible for 9-1-1 Centers across the nation via this Internet application.
The pANI Clearinghouse contains pseudo-ANI records deposited by registered telecommunications providers. Recent developments in standardization of Phase I wireless delivery have dictated that cell site and sector information be provided, along with the call back telephone number of the wireless caller, to provide an estimate of geographic location of the caller. This requires that data be developed to identify tower sectors in a standard format for Phase I data delivery. This element of the 9-1-1NRC supports the ability for tracking pANIs to eliminate duplications across the carriers and identifies the relationships with PSAPs, wireless carriers and cell sector location.
Geographic Routing Data Base
The idea of a seamless polygon file representing geographic routing boundaries is critical to successful implementation of FCC's Phase II requirements, which states that wireless caller's approximate locations must be identified and delivered to appropriate answering points by October, 2001. SCC has begun work toward development of the PSAP boundary files for the NRC, which will be the seed bed for providing these routing boundaries.
Packaged to Meet Specific Needs
The 9-1-1NRC provides valuable information to those who need it most while respecting the proprietary and confidential concerns of certain aspects of data. Security elements provide users access to appropriate information relative to their needs, security access level, and work function.
Three distinct packages are available with varying degrees of access privileges. the Public Safety Package is designed for the PSAP user, while another package is designed for registered 9-1-1 telecommunications service providers. The Other Commercial Entities package has been created for the commercial members who are not local service providers.
Security
SCC recognizes the importance of protecting data exchange via an Internet application and the importance of providing a secured environment for conducting business transactions - to that end, SCC will in the future implement digital certification requirements for the production use of the 9-1-1NRC.
SCC's security program is based on 128 bit public key encryption using both trusted server and trusted client technology. Through the facilities of SSL we will provide a highly secure access point to data on the network. Users outside the United States will not be able to use this program without special State Department approval due to the export controls in place on the sophisticated encryption technology used.
Where to find the 9-1-1NRC
Plan to visit the National Reference Center soon at www.nrc.sccbldr.com. In the meantime, watch the SCC Website at http://www.scc911.com. Starting this Spring, the 9-1-1NRC will be available 24 hours a day via the World Wide Web. SCC data analysts, who are in daily contact with both telecommunications service providers and public safety agencies, continuously update information contained in the database.
