Review of Services for the Capital Regional District

Transcription

1 Review of Services for the Capital Regional District Planetworks Consulting Corporation March 2011

2 CRD 911 Review Page 2 of 42 Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary Introduction Scope of Work Review Services Overview Victoria Facility Technology Staff Business Continuity Call Management Summary Saanich Facility Technology Staff Business Continuity Call Management Summary West Shore RCMP Facility Technology Staff Business Continuity Call Management CRD Contract Summary Benchmark PSAP s Strathcona Lethbridge Nova Scotia...15

3 CRD 911 Review Page 3 of E-Comm Kelowna Emerging Technologies Mid-call Location Updating (Wireless re-bid) Access by People with Hearing and Speech Disabilities Next Generation ACD Automatic Call Distribution Governance Summary Standards of Service Risks Governance Emerging Technologies Recommendations Service Delivery Options Governance Technologies Other Recommendations References Appendix 1: Terms and Definitions Appendix 2: Data Review Call Volumes Call Answer and Transfer Statistics Downstream Call Answer Statistics...42

4 CRD 911 Review Page 4 of Executive Summary The Capital Regional District currently has three centres and three fire dispatch providers (excluding DND). Over time, the number of centres was much larger but these have gradually been reduced to the current number of providers. There is a possibility that the number of centres may be further reduced as the RCMP considers consolidation of its communications centres. At the same time, centres are facing additional pressures from increased calls, particularly from cellular phones as well as a reduction in revenue which is currently tied to the number of wire line phones in the region. In addition, a next generation of is being considered to cope with IP based telephone systems as well as emerging issues such as texting, streaming video and others. At the present time each of the providers is performing at or very near to the applicable standards of service. The issue of performance standards for also need to be understood as a recent concept, for which service standards are being continuously reviewed. At some point in the future one goal will be to establish within the CRD agreed performance metrics that will support directly comparable benchmarks. Looking forward the CRD will require a plan for the modernization of its system to cope with the next generation design which is still in the process of being defined. Given the degree of consolidation that is occurring within the province, the CRD may also wish to consider marketing its services to other areas that may not be in a position to implement next-generation solutions and practices. The overall governance structure covering service in CRD should be improved to facilitate effective decision making. It is recommended that the CRD consider amending its contracts/mou s for the provision of service to include a more active user committee representing all stakeholders as well as performance standards with reporting metrics. Other suggested operational and technical improvements are described in the Recommendations section of this report.

5 CRD 911 Review Page 5 of Introduction The provision of services in the Capital Regional District (CRD) is provided by the authority of Bylaw #2468 a Bylaw to Establish an Extended Service of Emergency Response within the Capital Regional District. The CRD is clear that the scope of is limited to the time period between when a call is first answered until it is transferred to police, ambulance or fire. There are currently three Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP s) in the CRD, at Victoria, Saanich and Langford where they are managed under contract by Victoria Police, Saanich Police and the West Shore RCMP 1. The CRD s contractual role with regard to is limited to the service provided by the West Shore RCMP. The contract for this service expired in There are also three fire dispatch providers in the CRD, specifically the Victoria, Saanich and Langford Fire Departments. In this regard the CRD s contractual relationship is with the City of Langford for the provision of dispatch for a number of fire departments 2 and this contract expires in August This contract is for dispatch of the Electoral Areas in addition to Colwood, Sooke, View Royal, Metchosin, Highlands and Langford. In February 2010 the CRD issued an RFP for the review services and fire dispatch. The fire dispatch review was in partnership with the Greater Victoria Fire Chiefs Association. The scope of work includes a review of the existing systems, an evaluation of current and future technology as well as a comparison to benchmark service providers and the prevailing standards of service. There are separate technical reports for and fire dispatching in addition to separate final reports for each Scope of Work Review The scope of work for the review project was described in the RFP as follows: The scope of the 911 Call Answer portion of this project will be bound by the legislative and current responsibilities of the Capital Regional District. A full analysis of the inventory of the CRD technology and infrastructure involved with 911 Call Answer, with analysis on any recommended or required changes that will result in a more efficient, effective delivery of service. Review and explanation of all applicable code requirements for 911 call answer, including applicable legislation from CRTC or other pertinent bodies. Development of alternative models of CRD service delivery for 911 call answer measured against our current system with financial, legal, liable and operational considerations made. 1 There is also a DND center at Esquimalt which is outside the scope of this study. 2 The current fire dispatch contract is for Langford, View Royal, Metchosin, Highlands, Sooke, Colwood and the electoral areas of Juan de Fuca, Salt Spring Island and the Southern Gulf Islands.

6 CRD 911 Review Page 6 of 42 Recommendations on a communication structure among all dispatch agencies in the region to promote better sharing of best practices or solutions. Analysis of the impact of changing technologies on 911 call answer (i.e. texting, VOIP) Review of the role of CRD in the maintenance of the MSAG and recommendations on ensuring a consistent process to protect the integrity of the data in the MSAG, with comparisons of other similar regions. Preparation of documentation outlining the responsibility of the CRD in call answer and the region s role in 911. A review of fire dispatch in the region, as outlined in the terms of reference drafted by the Greater Victoria Fire Chiefs Association (Section 8) Services 3.1. Overview Emergency communications centres within the Capital Region consist of four primary Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP s) including the Department of National Defence (DND) and four secondary PSAP's including BC Ambulance. DND and BC Ambulance are not within the scope of this review. This section describes the three primary PSAPs at Victoria, Saanich and West Shore. See TM-01 A (Reference [1]) for much more detail on these centres. An overview of the CRD network configuration is shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: CRD System Overview

7 CRD 911 Review Page 7 of Victoria Facility The PSAP operated by the Victoria Police Department at 850 Caledonia Street answers and other calls from Victoria and Esquimalt (total population: 100,466), handles police dispatch functions for Victoria and Esquimalt Police departments and relays calls for fire and ambulance to Victoria Fire and BC Ambulance dispatch centres respectively. The centre is equipped with eight call taker positions, three dispatch positions, and a supervisory office. Ergonomics are industry standard. There are two diesel generators and an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) system which ensure continued operation during a power outage. Replacement of the 13-year old UPS system is planned. Additional space could be made available at this PSAP to accommodate additional call taker / dispatch positions Technology All calls are delivered from the selective routing tandem switch 3 (SR) in the Telus network to the PSAP call taker positions via a Nortel (now Avaya) Meridian Option 61 PBX located in the building. There are seven lines appearing at all positions which are equipped with a Nortel Meridian 3905 multi-line telephone with a Plantronic headset. If the first line is busy the second call will come in on the second line and so on until all lines are busy. The eighth caller will receive busy tone if all seven lines are in use at the PSAP. This is an extremely rare occurrence. The dispatch positions have a telephone to mobile radio interface which allows the dispatcher to easily switch between the two systems using the same headset. The Versaterm Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) screens are connected to a network-based provincial system with the main processor located in Vancouver. The Saanich Police and West Shore RCMP centres use the same CAD system which allows call takers from those centres to come to the Victoria PSAP and handle calls seamlessly in a backup situation. Calling number (ANI) and location (ALI) information is automatically displayed on the CAD screen. The centre uses Eventide instant recall recorders to replay recent conversations and a Nice digital voice recorder to store all conversations for one year. There is a Versaterm police Records Management System (RMS). The centre does not have a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) unit and would rely on the Telus Relay Centre service to communicate with hearing impaired callers. 3 Selective Routing is the process by which calls are sent to the correct PSAP based on the location of the caller.

8 CRD 911 Review Page 8 of Staff Personnel are cross-trained for call taking and radio dispatching. Staff numbers and costs were not provided Business Continuity The Telus Provincial network has been built for redundancy in that there are two selective routing switches (SR's); a primary switch in Victoria and a back-up in Vancouver. All the Telus central offices in the CRD have trunks that go to both SR's so that if there was a failure at the Victoria SR the call would automatically be re-routed to the back-up SR and then be presented to the correct CRD PSAP. There are also two Automatic Location Identification (ALI) computer systems used by PSAPs in the CRD. One is located in Burnaby, BC and its backup is in Alberta. The ALI database is updated every night from Telus s billing system for the latest telephone listings, including customer records from competing telephone service providers. If circumstances occurred where the City of Victoria PSAP was forced to evacuate, the call taker would contact the Saanich Police and operate the back-up "A key mounted on the wall as specified in their standard operating procedures. All City of Victoria and Esquimalt calls would then be re-routed via the back-up Selective Router Tandem located in Vancouver and answered at the Saanich Police PSAP on their five back-up lines. The Saanich Police call taker would still receive ALI information when answering the call. Because of the common CAD system the Saanich Police call taker would be able to start a CAD event and use the common CREST mobile radio system to dispatch a vehicle to the incident until a Victoria Police call taker arrived. Similarly, the Victoria PSAP is the main backup for the three other PSAP s in the region: Saanich Police, West Shore RCMP and DND. If these centres operate their backup A key all calls that they normally handle will be re-directed to the five back-up lines on the M3905 telephones located at Victoria Police via the back-up SR tandem switch located in Vancouver. The caller takers would still receive ALI information when answering the call. Victoria Police would start handling the back-up lines for the PSAP in trouble as laid out in their SOP s. In the case of Saanich Police and West Shore RCMP the Victoria Police call taker because of the common CAD system would be able to start a CAD event and use the common CREST radio system to dispatch a vehicle to incident. There is no redundancy for the Telus routers carrying ANI/ALI data or the CAD links to the West Shore RCMP centre. There is a single cable entrance to the building.

9 CRD 911 Review Page 9 of Call Management call management performance for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010 is shown in Table 1 below. A more complete discussion of call management standards can be found in TM 02 A. For complete calling statistics see Appendix Calls % Answered in 10 sec or less (Standard=90%) % Answered in 20 sec or less (Standard=95%) % Transferred in 30 sec or less (Standard=95%) Over 24 Hours 91.8% 99.1% 89.8% Busy Hour (4 to 5 PM) 92.5% 99.3% 90.1% Table 1: Victoria Performance Summary The Victoria Police PSAP provides service that generally meets or exceeds current standards and utilizes facilities and equipment that are consistent with industry best practices. Adequate back-up facilities, procedures and network redundancy are in place to ensure business continuity. Procedures for transfer of emergency calls to Air/Sea Rescue are cumbersome and could be improved Saanich Facility The PSAP operated by the Saanich Police Department answers and other calls from Saanich and Oak Bay (total population: 132,032), dispatches Saanich and Oak Bay police and relays calls for fire and ambulance to the Saanich Fire and BC Ambulance dispatch centres. The centre is equipped with six call taker positions, of which two are also dispatch positions, and a supervisory office. Ergonomics are industry standard. There is a diesel generator and an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) system both of which were installed in 2008 and ensure continued operation during a power outage. There is very limited additional space at this PSAP to accommodate additional call taker / dispatch positions Technology All calls are delivered from the SR tandem switch in the Telus network to the PSAP call taker positions via a Nortel CS1000 PBX located in the building. There are five lines appearing at all positions which are equipped with a Nortel Meridian 3905 multi-line telephone with a Jabra headset. Otherwise, the centre uses the same work station telephone and CAD equipment as the Victoria PSAP (see Section 3.2 above).

10 CRD 911 Review Page 10 of 42 Nice Systems voice recording equipment is used for both instant recall and long term storage (two years). The centre has Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) unit but it is rarely used Staff Personnel are cross-trained for call taking and radio dispatching. Staff numbers and costs were not provided Business Continuity The Saanich PSAP has two physically separate cable entrances into the building which are used to provide physical separation of the primary and back-up connections to the Telus network. Otherwise network redundancy and back-up/evacuation procedures are essentially the same as Victoria (described in Section above). The Victoria Police communications centre is the main back-up for Saanich Police communications centre Call Management call management performance for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010 is shown in Table 2 below For complete calling statistics see Appendix Calls % Answered in 10 sec or less (Standard=90%) % Answered in 20 sec or less (Standard=95%) % Transferred in 30 sec or less (Standard=95%) Over 24 Hours 96.2% 99.7% 89.0% Busy Hour (4 to 5 PM) 95.1% 99.6% 88.9% Table 2: Saanich Performance Summary The Saanich Police PSAP provides service that generally meets or exceeds current standards and utilizes facilities and equipment that are consistent with industry best practices. Adequate back-up facilities, procedures and network redundancy are in place to ensure business continuity.

11 CRD 911 Review Page 11 of West Shore RCMP Facility The PSAP operated by the West Shore RCMP takes and other calls from the following areas (total population:137,293): City of Colwood, District of Highlands, City of Langford, District of Metchosin, Town of View Royal, Songhees First Nation, Esquimalt First Nation, Central Saanich, North Saanich, Sidney, and Gulf Islands (Salt Spring, Galiano, Pender, Saturna and Mayne). The West Shore PSAP also handles police dispatch functions for the RCMP in the above areas and relays calls for fire and ambulance to the Langford Fire, Saanich Fire and BC Ambulance dispatch centres. The centre is equipped with five call taker positions, of which four are also dispatch positions, and a supervisory office. Ergonomics are industry standard. There is a diesel generator located in the parking lot and individual UPS units at each workstation that are regularly maintained by the RCMP technicians. There is very limited additional space at this PSAP to accommodate additional call taker / dispatch positions Technology All calls are delivered from the SR tandem switch in the Telus network to the PSAP call taker positions via a Nortel (now Avaya) Meridian Option 11 PBX located in the building. There are six lines appearing at all positions which are equipped with Nortel s Meridian 2216 ACD telephones with headsets. These telephones are discontinued by the manufacturer. As with the other PSAPs a caller will receive busy tone if all six lines are in use at the PSAP. This is an extremely rare occurrence. The dispatch positions have a telephone to mobile radio interface which allows the dispatcher to easily switch between the two systems using the same headset. The Versaterm Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) screens are connected to network-based provincial system with the main processor located in Vancouver. West Shore uses the same CAD system as Victoria and Saanich which would allow call takers from those centres to come to West Shore and handle calls seamlessly in a backup situation. Calling number (ANI) and location (ALI) information is automatically displayed on the CAD screen. The centre currently uses Eventide Instant Recall Recorders which allow the call taker to replay recent conversations. The voice logging equipment is also Eventide and the policy is to store recordings for two years. The centre has a TDD unit but it is rarely used.

12 CRD 911 Review Page 12 of Staff Personnel are cross-trained for call taking and radio dispatching. Table 3 shows planned staffed hours per 24-hour period during June These hours are comprised of a mix of 12, 10, 8, 6 and 5 hour shifts and equate to approximately 13 full time equivalent employees. Week Beginning Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat Sun 31-May Jun Jun Jun Jun Average Hours Average 30 working hrs/week Table 3: West Shore Staffing - June Business Continuity Telus network and ALI database operation and redundancy are the same for West Shore as for the Victoria and Saanich PSAPs. Victoria Police is the main backup for West Shore RCMP. If circumstances occurred where the West Shore PSAP was forced to evacuate, the call taker would contact the Victoria Police and operate the back-up A key mounted on the wall in the Communications Centre as laid out in their SOP s. All calls that this PSAP s handles will be re-directed to the five back-up lines on the M3905 telephones located at Victoria Police via the back-up SR tandem switch located in Vancouver. The call takers would still receive ALI information when answering the call. Victoria Police would start handling the back-up lines for West Shore as laid out in their SOP s. In the case of West Shore RCMP the Victoria Police call taker, because of the common CAD system, would be able to start a CAD event and use the common CREST radio system to dispatch a vehicle to the incident. There is a plan to start testing the back-up process at least once per month. A disaster recovery plan is currently being written Call Management call management performance for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010 is shown in Table 4 below. For complete calling statistics see Appendix 3.

13 CRD 911 Review Page 13 of Calls % Answered in 10 sec or less (Standard=90%) % Answered in 20 sec or less (Standard=95%) % Transferred in 30 sec or less (Standard=95%) Over 24 Hours 97.6% 99.8% 89.1% Busy Hour (4 to 5 PM) 96.1% 99.8% 85.2% Table 4: West Shore Performance CRD Contract Memorandum of Understanding covering the West Shore PSAP, 2008 The parties to this MoU were the CRD and the RCMP. The MoU covered the implementation and operation of the RCMP OCC as a Primary PSAP for all emergency calls originating in Langford, Colwood, Sydney, North Saanich, Sooke, View Royal, Metchosin, Highlands, Salt Spring Island, Southern Gulf Islands and the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area. It specifies that the RCMP OCC will transfer calls to the appropriate agencies for dispatch of police, fire and ambulance and that the CRD is responsible for initial and ongoing costs of the PSAP. The PSAP will answer calls within 10 seconds, 90% of the time. Two governance groups were defined for dispute resolution: a Operations (Advisory) Committee consisting of the CRD manager or delegate and delegates from the CRD and Telus, and a senior joint management group consisting of the RCMP "E" Division District Officer or delegate and a CRD delegate. These groups do not appear to be active. This MoU was not legally binding on the parties and expired on December 31, Summary The West Shore RCMP PSAP provides service that generally meets or exceeds current standards and utilizes facilities and equipment that are consistent with industry best practices. Adequate back-up facilities, procedures and network redundancy are in place to ensure business continuity. Possible improvements to be considered include replacement of telephones which are manufacturer discontinued installation of an in-line UPS system regular testing of back-up procedures

14 CRD 911 Review Page 14 of Benchmark PSAP s Following is a summary of the benchmark findings that are described in detail in TM-03 A (see Reference [3]) Strathcona Overview The Regional Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) is operated by Strathcona County Emergency Services in Sherwood Park. It is Alberta s fourth largest emergency dispatch centre. As a Primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) the ECC provides call answer as well as Fire and EMS dispatch services and down streams all police calls to the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies for dispatching. The Strathcona ECC maintains a registered ISO 9001 quality management program with regular internal and external audits. The department intends to apply to become an Accredited Centre of Excellence (ACE) under the fire dispatch centre accreditation program of the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch 4. Strathcona serves 113 (~31%) of Alberta s 359 municipalities including 53 municipalities for call answer / transfer service, 37 for fire dispatching and 89 for EMS dispatching. This represents a total served population of 400,000 including the 88,000 residents of Strathcona County. The centre currently handles over 70,000 emergency calls per year and is actively marketing its call answer and fire dispatch services to other areas of Alberta and beyond. Key Observations Through actively marketing of its services to client agencies at cost, the ECC is continuously growing its call volumes and thereby increasing call handling and dispatch efficiency. The ECC reports via the Emergency Services department to the Strathcona County council. A quarterly operations report is provided to the mayor and council. There are regular consultations with client agencies rather than a formal users group or advisory committee. The ECC recently moved into a new 2nd floor space that is fully compliant with the latest NFPA standards and incorporates state-of-the-art workstation design and layout, including a widescreen wall display of current calls and dispatch activity. Standard Operating Procedures are included in the ISO 9001 quality management system and are therefore kept up to date and regularly audited. The back-up configuration for the Strathcona ECC consists of a "triangle" with the Grand Prairie and Parkland 9-1-1/dispatch centres. This has both advantages and disadvantages as explained in TM-03 A (see Ref. [3]) 4

15 CRD 911 Review Page 15 of Lethbridge Overview Using a "tri-service" model the Lethbridge regional Public Safety Communications Centre (PSCC) provides call answer as well as fire/ems and police dispatch services to Lethbridge and other southern Alberta communities. The PSCC serves a total population of 131,000 and, during 2007, handled 33, calls, 18,569 fire/ems dispatch calls and 32,862 police dispatch calls. The PSCC provides combined / dispatch services for Lethbridge Regional Fire and Police and down streams calls to the RCMP (Red Deer) for rural areas and to municipal fire departments and other agencies. Key Observations The PSCC operates as a separate business unit within the City of Lethbridge organization and reports to a Governance Committee consisting of the Chief of Police, Fire Chief and City Manager. The PSCC manager provides regular reports at monthly meetings of the Governance Committee. The tri-service model (9-1-1 call answer, Police dispatch, and Fire dispatch) used in the PSCC is felt to be unique. It facilitates communications, information transfer and excellent service. The centre will soon be moving to a new purpose-built fire station building designed to post-disaster standards The PSCC has an up-to-date Business Plan which is being used to drive continuing improvements. There is a 3-way back-up configuration similar to Strathcona. It is felt that this could be significantly improved with common CAD systems across the three PSAPs Nova Scotia Overview The Nova Scotia provincial system architecture consists of four PSAPs located in the following major emergency dispatch communications centres: Dartmouth: the Halifax Regional Call Centre operated by Halifax Regional Municipality Integrated Emergency Services (IES) Truro: the RCMP s Operational Communications Centre (OCC) Sydney: the Regional Communications Centre operated by Cape Breton Regional Municipality Kentville: operated by Valley Communications Inc., Valley Dispatch is the largest privately owned and operated dispatch centre in Nova Scotia.

16 CRD 911 Review Page 16 of 42 These four centres form essentially one "virtual PSAP" that answers all calls in the province, about 182,000 calls per year. Calls are also downstreamed as required to 30 other police and fire/ems dispatch centres throughout the province. Key Observations The Nova Scotia service is directly managed by the Emergency Management Office of the Government of Nova Scotia. The EMO provides the training and technology standards, sets operating policies, monitors and evaluates performance, and delivers public education programs. Bell Aliant, the incumbent Telco, provides a fully integrated and redundant network to deliver calls to all the four PSAPs Municipalities, the RCMP and a private company operate the 9-1-1/dispatch centres under contract to provide trained staff and facilities to answer calls. Each month about 400 calls are randomly monitored remotely and evaluated for 13 different parameters. Monthly reports are provided to centre managers and an annual performance report published. Nova Scotia's cost recovery legislation 5 covers collection of a monthly fee of $0.43 per month on all telephone land lines as well as cellular telephone numbers. This revenue is used to provide E9-1-1 services throughout the province E-Comm Overview E-Comm 6 is one of the larger multi-regional PSAP s in Canada serving a population of nearly 2.4 Million in the Metro Vancouver, Sunshine Coast and Squamish-Lillooet regional districts. On average E-Comm receives more than 2,800 daily calls. More than one million calls are handled annually with 70% of calls being routed to Police, 24% to Ambulance, and 6% to Fire. In addition to providing call management for the three regional districts, E-Comm also provides dispatch services for municipal police and the RCMP as well as 13 fire departments. Key Observations In the E-Comm centre the function of the call-taker is separated from the dispatch functions. Reasons for this include the delay in obtaining security clearance for new hires. Call takers can work in only, without the security requirements associated with using the Police CAD system. E-Comm s call management system is also configurable on the fly to allow Fire and Police dispatch personnel to receive and manage overflow calls when required

17 CRD 911 Review Page 17 of 42 A call-taker speaks with the person who has dialled and a dispatcher speaks with the emergency personnel in the field. In some cases, the dispatcher will speak to the caller as well. The call-taker and dispatcher work together, using computer and radio systems to share information instantly and seamlessly. E-Comm was created as a company whose shareholders are simply the various government entities that are receiving its services. In addition to providing and dispatch service for its shareholders, E-Comm also provides services on a cost-recovery basis for other client agencies in BC and the Yukon 7. The E-Comm governance model provides for direct input to the Board of Directors via user committees representing Police, Fire and Ambulance agencies. E-Comm publishes current financial statements and performance statistics on its web site Kelowna Overview The RCMP Southeast District (Kelowna) OCC 8 provides call answer and police dispatch services to the Regional Districts of Central Kootenay, Central Okanagan, Columbia-Shuswap, East Kootenay, Kootenay Boundary, North Okanagan, Okanagan-Similkameen, Squamish- Lillooet and Thompson-Nicola. The Kelowna OCC serves a total population of 660,000 and, from January to mid-october of 2009, handled 179, calls, 63,974 police dispatch calls, 24,629 fire calls, 50,780 ambulance calls and 37,610 hung-up or abandoned calls. The Regional District of Central Okanagan (CORD) administers the general operations of the Communications Centre in partnership with the RCMP (Kelowna OCC). Kelowna OCC has moved away from a combined / police dispatch service model to a answer then transfer to the police, fire and ambulance agencies. The Kelowna centre down streams calls to the RCMP for the Southeast District and Penticton, Kelowna, Kamloops fire departments as well as BC Ambulance. See TM-03 A (Reference [3]) for more detail on this centre. Key Observations The service model used in the Kelowna OCC is being considered by other Regional Districts as the RCMP are continuing to amalgamate their Operations Centres and stepping away from primary answer. 7 These services include the BC Nurse Line; also Fire CAD and RMS for multiple clients using an ASP model; for CAD and RMS these include Saanich Fire Department and its dispatch clients as well as Coquitlam Fire. 8

18 CRD 911 Review Page 18 of 42 This service model also assists in benchmarking the call answer and transfer times of a call and provides clear distinctions between the service and police services for funding purposes. Due to increased economies of scale from new members joining the service since its establishment, the cost of operating the E911 for OCC clients has decreased significantly. There are two Telus DMS-100 switches providing the selective routing function. These switches are in separate locations (Kelowna and Prince George) thus providing a totally redundant and diverse telecommunications network. The three call answer positions are using the Telus Alberta ACD feature (see Section 3.6.4) with only one key on the telephone which they log in to receive calls. If the Kelowna OCC lines were busy or logged out all Kelowna OCC calls would be re-directed to the Prince George RCMP OCC. Kelowna OCC is the main backup for Prince George RCMP OCC. The OCC room is divided into three sections; call takers, RCMP call takers and RCMP dispatchers. There are two Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems: Versaterm CAD for Police and Telus PC CAD for the call takers. Call takers are cross-trained on both the and police CAD systems. The training program is effective and the centre maintains good employee retention. Calling statistics can be obtained either by the Telus Provincial web page or the Regional District supplied Genesis system for reporting purposes. Kelowna OCC has a mandate that 90 per cent of all 911 calls must be answered within 10 seconds 3.6. Emerging Technologies See TM-02 A (Reference [2]) for a complete description of current standards and technological developments. This section lists three developments that will impact operations and facilities in the near future Mid-call Location Updating (Wireless re-bid) This feature provides updated location information to the call taker when someone calling using a cell phone moves to a different location while the call taker is on the line. The new official name for this feature is Wireless Phase II E9-1-1 In-Call Location Update or ICLU. It is often referred to as "wireless re-bid". The CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) / Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) was tasked with developing a technical solution for providing ICLU and has recommended the "manual pull method whereby the call taker initiates a request for updated location during the call. This is referred to as a PSAP Initiated Request or PIR. Deployment of this method will be completed by September In the interim, PSAPs 9

19 CRD 911 Review Page 19 of 42 will continue the use of the wireless service providers' 24/7 emergency access numbers. These centres will be used to verbally obtain the required ICLU information. The manual pull method will use a query function hosted by equipment located at the PSAP that enables the PSAP call taker to initiate ICLU when required. The WSP s mobile location determination platform returns the updated location information to the PSAP over the ALI data path. With this method, the ALI-to-PSAP interface and the ALI application must be modified to support bi-directional communications Access by People with Hearing and Speech Disabilities In order to improve access to emergency services for people with hearing and speech disabilities the CRTC directed the CISC ESWG in 2009 to develop a technical solution to replace the old Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) devices. The ESWG concluded that standard text messaging such as Short Message Service (SMS) and Instant Messaging (IM) would not work for current emergency services because they do not support automatic routing to the appropriate PSAP or the automatic provision of caller location information to the call taker. Also, IM does not provide automatic subscriber identification information, such as a telephone number. In addition, the ESWG noted that Next Generation standards and technologies (described in the following section) are currently in development and could enable users to access PSAPs via multiple methods of texting to The implementation of these capabilities will depend on the maturation level of IP networking and NG networks and platforms. The CISC ESWG indicated that it would monitor these technologies and make recommendations on them when they meet enhanced service criteria. In the short term, the ESWG proposed further investigation of a potential work-around solution referred to as "SMS T9-1-1 via silent wireless voice call." With this solution, when a preregistered person with a hearing or speech disability initiates contact with a PSAP by dialling on a cellphone, that person's contact and location information would automatically be transmitted in the same way it is for other cell phone users, but the call would be flagged as coming from a person with a hearing or speech disability. Upon receiving a flagged call, the operator would respond by sending an SMS text message to the caller, thus enabling the caller to text back and forth with the operator. However, this solution would not enable people to initiate a call via text message or to text directly to 9-1-1, and would require PSAPs to change their call handling procedures The ESWG proposed to undertake a technical trial of the SMS T9-1-1 via silent wireless voice call solution by conducting various activities identified in the report. The CISC ESWG expects to take 12 to 18 months to implement and operate the trial. The ESWG recommended this technical trial on the basis that the SMS T9-1-1 via silent wireless voice call solution: Supports the automatic routing of calls to the appropriate PSAP;

20 CRD 911 Review Page 20 of 42 Enables the automatic provision of the caller's contact and location information to the PSAP; and Uses existing network infrastructure, which would reduce implementation time. In April 2010 the CRTC approved the CISC ESWG recommendations 10 and directed the group to: Immediately begin the activities required to implement the technical trial of the "SMS T9-1-1 via silent wireless voice call" solution recommended in their report, including completing the investigation into the various technical specifications, along with wireless carriers, service providers, and the public safety community; File a status report with the Commission, every six months from the date of this decision, outlining the progress of activities undertaken to implement the technical trial and identifying the remaining activities and time frames required to complete the trial; and File a final report on the outcome of the trial, including any further actions that would be required to implement the service. As of May 2010 the ESWG is actively working on the T911 SMS Gateway which will provide a PSAP-initiated text-to-sms inter-working function including auto routing to the home wireless service provider based on the caller's number. After the ESWG has made recommendations based on the information generated by the trial and on the related technical specifications, the Commission will determine what further process, if any, is required regarding policy issues. This could include how registration for use of the service would be carried out and proposed methods of funding Next Generation Current and E9-1-1 systems are not able to handle the text, data, images and video which are increasingly common in personal communications devices. The Next Generation (NG 9-1-1) initiative will establish the foundation for public emergency communications services in a wireless mobile society. NG is being developed and promoted by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). NG is expected to allow transmission of text, photos and/or video along with voice for calls from many types of communications devices. It will also support locationindependent call access, transfer, and backup among multiple PSAPs and between PSAPs and other authorized emergency organizations. A simplified overview of NG architecture compared to current E9-1-1 is shown in Figure 2: Transition to NG

21 CRD 911 Review Page 21 of 42 Today s E9-1-1 Dispatch Centers Telephones Telephone and Cell Networks Selective Router PSAP Police Cell Phones VoIP Devices VoIP Providers Call Center ANI/ALI Database CAD System Map / Address Data Fire Ambulance Next Generation Legacy Phone & Cell Networks SR Gateways Dispatch Centers Voice IP PSAP Text Images Video Internet Firewalls ANI/ALI Database CAD Systems Map / Address Data Emergency Services IP Network Figure 2: Transition to NG There are very few NG systems in operation however many are in the planning stages and there are several trials and feasibility studies in progress. NENA has published a number of technical and operational standards related to NG Vendors such as Solacom 11 have developed IP-based, stand-alone emergency service platforms that could enable transition to NG These platforms have the required interfaces to both legacy and IP-based networks and PSAPs. 11

22 CRD 911 Review Page 22 of 42 Deployment of NG is dependent primarily on availability of funding and is also somewhat dependent on the rate of conversion of the legacy circuit switched telephone and cell networks to IP-based technology. This network conversion has not yet occurred on a large scale. A major driver for NG may be the increasing shift from voice calling to text messaging by cell phone users. The State of California has recently issued a NG Strategic Plan 12. It describes the overall direction and approach to implementing NG within the state. California currently has 412 primary PSAPs handling over 55, calls per day ACD Automatic Call Distribution ACD is a technology that is commonly used in many types of call centres including PSAPs. It consists of a device or system that distributes incoming calls to a specific group of call taking positions. Calls are held in a queue until they can be answered. The potential use of ACD in the CRD has been partially achieved with Saanich Fire which recently implemented it. The further implementation of ACD is recommended for consideration by the CRD as well, however there are a number of options for this that are offered by Telus. The following section provides a brief discussion of the similarities and differences among the Telus options. Telus ALBERTA ACD Telus Alberta s system is designed using the Nortel DMS 100 selective router in an Automatic Call Distribution (Network ACD) environment. Telus programs a unique ACD queue in the selective router for each primary safety answering point (PSAP) and each secondary safety answering point (SSAP). Each workstation telephone at both the primary or secondary centres will have an analog (POTS) line wired directly from the selective router. At the start of each shift the call taker ensures that the analog (POTS) line is logged into their unique Network ACD queue allowing calls to be directed to their position. This feature is called 2500 ACD which allows the call taker to process ACD calls with a standard analog line connection. The call taker also has the capability of logging off which stops calls being directed to their workstation telephone set. Because each workstation has its own unique line the selective router can tell the ALI computer which call taker s screen to send the ALI/ANI information to. Telus Alberta has set up an arrangement with three PSAP s in each geographical area to answer each other s calls using central office Network ACD and an ACD feature called overflow when busy to its back-up Network ACD PSAP queue. If all the PSAP s call takers are busy on calls rather than providing busy tone to the next caller the caller will be answered at the designed overflow Network ACD PSAP. The call taker at the overflow PSAP will answer the call then dial the ten digit back door number at the original PSAP informing 12

23 CRD 911 Review Page 23 of 42 they have received an overflow call. Some of the problems identified with this type of process are that the overflow agency may not be able to handle the volume of calls from the other agency and there is no common CAD system to start an incident report or radio connection to start the dispatch. In the case of a PSAP there will be a back-up Nortel DMS 100 selective router which will be programmed the same as the primary selective router using Network ACD with back-up 2500 ACD lines wired to a designated location. These lines could be on the same telephone or a back-up telephone. If there was a problem with the primary lines the call takers would log these lines out and log in the secondary lines. Logging out the primary lines closes the primary Network ACD queue and re-directs all calls to the secondary lines. Figure 3: Telus Alberta ACD Telus BC ACD Telus BC s system is designed using two Nortel DMS 100 selective routers. One is designated as the primary and the other is its back-up in case of a failure in the network. In 1999 when the BC Provincial system was rolled out throughout the province the lines were designed using a linear hunt group programmed at the selective routers. The first call into the hunt group is presented on line 1 at the PSAP s PBX and so on until all the lines are busy. Once all lines are busy the subsequent callers will hear busy tone until one of the lines becomes idle. The selective router in this type of operation does not know

24 CRD 911 Review Page 24 of 42 which call taker answered the call so a Key System Interface (KSI) is used to tell the ALI computer which call taker s screen to send the ALI/ANI information to. Telus working with the PSAP s has modified the Telus Alberta ACD option to enhance the BC solution. A Network ACD queue is programmed in the selective router and the lines are re-programmed from linear hunt to 2500 ACD. Unlike the Telus Alberta ACD solution (one line - one workstation) all lines can appear on all the call takers telephones, the difference being the KSI is used in BC. At the start of each shift a call taker ensures that the all lines are logged into the PSAP s unique Network ACD queue by selecting each line on the telephone and dialing a special code. The call taker also has the capability of logging off each line which stops calls being directed to their PSAP and these calls will now be re-directed to a back-up solution using the secondary selective router. Several of the RCMP Operations Communications Centres (OCC) have made arrangements to back each other up (Kelowna OCC with Prince George OCC and Nanaimo OCC with Courtenay OCC). Using the ACD feature overflow when busy if all the PSAP s lines are busy, the next caller will be answered at the designed overflow Network ACD PSAP. The call taker at the overflow PSAP will answer the call and because the RCMP are on a common radio and CAD system (Versaterm) can start an incident report or using the radio connection start the dispatch. If the PSAP does not have an agreement for back-up and is using Network ACD a central office recorded announcement (RAN) could be provided if all lines were busy indicating the call takers are on calls and to please hold. The numbers of calls waiting in the queue can vary depending what the PSAP s feel comfortable with. Telus has indicated that if the queue is greater than 0 it is possible to install a logic circuit from the primary selective router to indicate waiting calls in the queue.

25 CRD 911 Review Page 25 of 42 Figure 4: Telus BC ACD Telus E-COMM ACD Telus BC s system is designed using two Nortel DMS 100 selective routers. One is designated as the primary and the other is its back-up in case of a failure in the network. In 1999 when the BC Provincial system was rolled out throughout the province the lines were designed using a linear hunt group programmed at the selective routers. The first call into the hunt group is presented on line 1 at the PSAP s PBX and so on until all the lines are busy. Once all lines are busy the subsequent callers will hear busy tone until one of the lines becomes idle. The selective router in this type of operation does not know which call taker answered the call so a Key System Interface (KSI) is used to tell the ALI computer which call taker s screen to send the ALI/ANI information to. E-Comm due to the number of call takers and size had decided they needed to manage the call flow process using the ACD software available on their Nortel PBX. Instead of the KSI solution being used, the Nortel PBX, as part of the ACD software can generate a CDR Q record that tells the ALI computer which call taker s screen to send the ALI/ANI information to. The lines are connected to the Nortel PBX when a call is presented to one of the lines it goes into the ACD queue and if a call taker is available presents the calls to the next available call taker automatically. If no call taker was available the caller would receive a recording from the Nortel PBX indicating they had reached the 911 centre and to please hold. E-Comm has been concerned that in a catastrophic incident too many callers would receive busy tone while trying to reach the call takers. Telus working with E-Comm has

26 CRD 911 Review Page 26 of 42 changed their lines from a hunt group configuration to 2500 ACD lines with a Network ACD queue programmed in the selective router. This allows multiple simultaneous calls to without receiving a busy tone. The Network ACD queue has been programmed to receive 100 calls. While waiting in the central office ACD queue callers receive a recorded message indicating that have reached the centre. The 2500 ACD lines terminate on E-Comm s Nortel PBX. Unlike the Telus Alberta ACD and Telus BC ACD descriptions there is no direct connection between the 2500 ACD lines and the call takers. To resolve this problem the lines are terminated on phone blocks mounted in the Operations Communications Centre (OCC). The Team Manager has a modified telephone set with a ground start button and uses this to log each line into the selective router ACD queue. Telus has provided a PC based Management Information System from Perimeter Technology also located in the OCC which displays the activity of the Network ACD queue at the selective router. Figure 5: Telus E-Comm ACD 3.7. Governance The governance structure for emergency services communications facilities is critical to maintaining successful operation over the long term, particularly when multiple agencies, governments and communications centres are involved. The governance structure must provide overall oversight of management and operations. All key stakeholders must be represented. The governance structure must consider and incorporate: Clearly defined responsibilities; Effective decision-making processes;

27 CRD 911 Review Page 27 of 42 An adequate legal structure and legal agreements between the stakeholders; Appropriate stakeholder input and influence; Neutrality with respect to stakeholders; and Governing Provincial Acts and regulations. Within the governance structure the functions of oversight and management should be clearly separated. The senior governance body (e.g., Board of Directors) typically: Decides on changes to the management / operational structure; Decides on changes to cost sharing arrangements; Approves strategic plans and overall budgets; Reviews performance reports and takes appropriate action; and Decides on issues that cannot be resolved by management. The management organization reports to the senior governance body and deals with: Operational issues with user agencies and suppliers; Service quality (delivered to users and from suppliers); Strategic and tactical planning; Initiating system additions and changes; Administration; Preparation of annual budgets; Human resources and labour relations issues; and Training, disaster recovery plans, etc. Other required aspects of governance include (i) demonstrated accountability with regular audits, (ii) transparency and disclosure such as publicly available reports and (ii) legal liability. These aspects are covered to a large extent by federal and provincial laws. Many governance problems can be avoided by establishing a clear stakeholder voting formula rather than relying on unanimity, and ensuring that necessary agreements between the parties are developed, approved and kept up to date.

28 CRD 911 Review Page 28 of Summary 4.1. Standards of Service All three primary PSAPs provide service that generally meets or exceeds current industry standards Risks Adequate back-up facilities, procedures and network redundancy are in place to ensure business continuity. The lack of formal agreements between CRD and the various service providers is a risk factor over the long term Governance Overall governance of in the CRD is informal and somewhat fragmented. There is a lack of formal agreements between the parties and no established mechanism to review performance reports and take appropriate action. The contract when it is renewed should also be revised to include performance standards and methods of measurement Emerging Technologies All three primary PSAPs are equipped with telecommunications and CAD technology that is commonly used in the industry including display of Wireless Phase 2 location information. There are currently no plans to introduce Next Generation technology.

29 CRD 911 Review Page 29 of Recommendations Service Delivery Options a) The CRD may wish to consider some changes to the call taking role. One of these could be as a separate operational and business unit similar to the Lethbridge PSCC or E-Comm. A second variation could be to relocate the function from a police centre to one or several of the fire dispatch agencies as is done in Alberta and other areas and which is now being considered in B.C. The reasons for this are several including the seeming reluctance of the RCMP to continue with PSAP management, however this matter is currently very much in flux. A third variation could be to consolidate the function into one or two of the three existing police centres. This could reduce ongoing training and administration expense but would require one-time costs for network rearrangements. Also, call takers would require knowledge of geographical areas outside of the centre s police dispatch coverage area. b) The CRD may want to consider active marketing of call answer and dispatch services to additional municipalities on Vancouver Island along the lines of the Strathcona ECC and E-Comm. An appropriate cost recovery rate per capita could be charged in addition to the land line telephone fee. c) CRD should review the protocol to address the concerns of some of the users regarding the routing for motor vehicle incidents and other call types. It should be noted that this issue is being considered in other regions and that pilot projects have been proposed in the case of motor vehicle accidents to amend the response protocol based on a trial agreed between fire departments and the BCAS. Regardless of changes, the protocol for call triage is not fully understood or supported by some of the agencies, in particular the fire departments and an opportunity to make them part of a user committee discussion and review would be prudent Governance a) Overall governance of and fire dispatch services in the CRD is informal and somewhat fragmented. There is a lack of formal agreements between the parties and no common mechanism to review performance reports and take required action. In the comparison, the benchmark centres visited each have a clear, centralized governance and reporting structure. The governing body provides guidance, resolves issues and receives regular performance reports. b) Since the majority of calls now originate from cell phones, but there is no CRTCapproved process for collecting call answer fees from cell providers, the CRD could pursue municipal, regional or provincial legislation to collect such fees. This could result in additional revenue (with benefits to taxpayers) and/or a fairer distribution of call answer costs across cell and telephone customers.

30 CRD 911 Review Page 30 of 42 c) The CRD should implement a Users Group or Advisory Committee that included representatives from each of the PSAPs as well as downstream emergency services agencies. d) The CRD could consider having a CRD Representative join the Canadian National PSAP group who would liaise the information from the National PSAP group to the Users Group Technologies a) The CRD may want to consider a call overflow (ACD) configuration across their three PSAPs as used in Alberta and Nova Scotia to increase system robustness and avoid possible busy signals on calls. This may be relatively easy to set up in the CRD due to commonality across their CAD systems. The Telus BC ACD option described in Section could be implemented in CRD. b) The West Shore PSAP would benefit from a telephone upgrade and installation of an inline UPS system to ensure service continuity. c) The CRD should consider upgrading CAD software applications used by the PSAPs in order to provide enhanced caller location information and other real time data useful to the call takers and dispatchers. One option would be addition of a CTI solution for the call takers while retaining the existing Versaterm CAD system for police dispatch. Also, introduction of new IP-based telecommunications switching components (e.g., IP PBX) could ease future transition to Next Generation technology and standards. As a CTI option, CRD could purchase a stand-alone NG9-1-1 compatible switch (e.g., Solacom) which would terminate all calls from the primary Victoria SR for the West Shore, Victoria and Saanich PSAPs. Each PSAP would have its own unique trunk group as shown in the upper half of Figure 6. If, for example, the Saanich PSAP had an overflow condition the NG9-1-1 switch could redirect the call to the Victoria PSAP. The Versaterm CAD screens would have separate TELUS CAD ports and would sit on the workstation alongside the new CTI solution. (This is very similar to a configuration that Alberta Health Services is currently turning up). As shown in Figure 6 the back-up lines would come from the Trinity SR and terminate directly into the existing PBX switch at each location. Versaterm CAD would be the ALI display when in back-up mode. It should be stressed that significant design work would be required to confirm the feasibility of this option In discussions with Solacom it was noted that they have a switch site in the United States that uses a mapping system connected to it called InterAct which only has the mapping module. See In reviewing their web page it appears that they can interface to a third party such as the CRD. In this case the CRD mapping group could manage their own map data which would

31 CRD 911 Review Page 31 of 42 Figure 6: NG9-1-1 CTI Configuration d) CRD must consider Next Generation in all decisions affecting current PSAP facilities and operations and must begin planning its move to a Next Generation PSAP using the latest communications and mapping technology Other Recommendations a) Communications and Information Sharing Among Dispatch Agencies Although lack of communications among the PSAPs and dispatch agencies was not identified as a significant problem by the PSAP managers, an improved governance also allow them to have control of adding new features in a timely fashion (e.g. T9-1-1 or Re-bid) and not rely solely on enhancements to Versaterm / Prime.

32 CRD 911 Review Page 32 of 42 structure (see 5.2) could enable more sharing of incident information across the call centres. The CRD has identified possible short term technical solutions that could provide more accurate CRD mapping and building status data as well as real-time incident response data from all agencies onto all call centre CAD screens. However without an improved governance structure it is highly unlikely that consensus, decisions, projects and processes required to utilize this technology could be implemented. Also, these types of improvements could be implemented more easily in a Next Generation System than in the current legacy system. b) Role of CRD in the Master Street Address Guide Planetworks was requested to look at options for the CRD to have a larger role in supporting or operating the Master Street Address Guide (MSAG) database that is currently maintained by TELUS. This fully redundant database contains all land line telephone numbers and associated address information in a consistent format along with assigned emergency service zones. Inaccuracy of street addresses for calls from wireline phones was not identified by the PSAP managers as a significant problem. All MSAG databases in Canada 14 are currently operated and maintained by the incumbent telephone companies such as TELUS. The main reason for this is that the telcos are the first to know of additions, changes and releases of wireline telephone numbers and related physical service addresses as part of their business operation. This includes numbers assigned by competitive wireline service providers via the Canadian number portability database. Although regional or municipal government operation of the MSAG database is an option that could be considered by CRD, previous studies have shown that this is not viable due to higher costs and the need for agreements with the service providers to release non-listed numbers to a 3 rd party. Instead, local authorities normally work closely with the telco to improve address information in the MSAG. For wireless calls there are problems with caller location accuracy however this is not related to the accuracy of address data in the MSAG. Accuracy of wireless caller location is continually improving with implementation of Wireless Phase 2 and Rebid as described in Section 3.6 On a going forward basis the CRD should consider implementing a street naming convention/ protocol to eliminate duplicates or other variations that may lead to confusion for responding agencies. A few years ago the City of Vancouver undertook a similar initiative that has proactively managed street names and address ranges in this way. c) Outline of Regional and CRD Responsibilities 14 In the USA many emergency service jurisdictions and telecommunications carriers use a shared MSAG database operated by Intrado Inc. a commercial service provider. This provides economies of scale resulting in lower costs for the users. Intrado has agreements and data interfaces with most telecom service providers in the US to maintain accurate and up to date number/address data for

33 CRD 911 Review Page 33 of 42 In B.C. Letters Patent dated 1987 and amended in 1988 the CRD was granted a function to finance, install, operate and maintain a emergency telephone service within all or part of the participating member municipalities. In CRD Bylaw #2468 (Emergency Response Telephone Extended Service Establishment Bylaw No. 1, 1997) this function was defined to cover a service area conterminous with boundaries of the CRD. The bylaw also specified that net revenue requirements would be covered by a property value tax in the service area and that costs would be shared by the member municipalities based on population. Unfortunately an effective governance structure involving the affected municipalities was not established resulting in the issues described in Section 5.2 above. Currently most functions are performed by the three police PSAPs (RCMP, VPD and SPD) and TELUS. Functions currently performed by the CRD include: CRD provides staff (3.5 FTE) to handle calls at the Langford PSAP. CRD IT/GIS provides civic addresses to Telus for the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area, Salt Spring Island Electoral Area and Southern Gulf Islands Electoral Area. CRD pays for PSAP equipment required for service, accommodation costs of CRD call answer staff and other cost items. The scope of this study did not include possible changes to CRD responsibilities 15 other than those discussed in the previous sections. 15 As stated in the terms of reference the scope of the 911 Call Answer portion of this project will be bound by the legislative and current responsibilities of the Capital Regional District.

34 CRD 911 Review Page 34 of References [1] TM-01 A - CRD Situation Analysis, Planetworks Consulting Corp, November 2010 [2] TM-02 A- CRD Standards and Developments, Planetworks Consulting Corp, November 2010 [3] TM-03 A- CRD Benchmarking, Planetworks Consulting Corp, November 2010

35 CRD 911 Review Page 35 of Appendix 1: Terms and Definitions ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ALI Automatic Location Identification ANI Automatic Number Identification APCO Association of Public Safety Communications Officials ASP Access Service Provider CAD Computer Aided Dispatch CIIDS Computerized Integrated Information and Dispatch System CISC CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee CLEC Competitive Local Exchange Carrier CPE Customer Provided Equipment CRTC Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission CTIA Cellular Telephone Industry Association CWTA Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association DSL Digital Subscriber Line E9-1-1 Enhanced ECNS Enhanced Community Notification System ELIN Emergency Location Identification Number EMD Emergency Medical Dispatch EMS Emergency Medical Service ERA Emergency Response Agency ERL Emergency Response Location ESWG Emergency Services Working Group ESZ Emergency Response Zone FCC Federal Communications Commission GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System ICLU In-Call Location Update ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier IP Internet Protocol LDP Location Determination Platform LFD Langford Fire Department MSAG Master Street Address Guide NENA National Emergency Number Association NFPA National Fire Protection Association NG9-1-1 Next Generation OCC Operations Control Centre PBX Private Branch Exchange PIR PSAP Initiated Request PSAP Public Safety Answering Point PSN/PSTN Public Switched Network/Public Switched Telephone Network

36 CRD 911 Review Page 36 of 42 SFD Saanich Fire Department SSAP Secondary Safety Answering Point SOP Standard Operating Procedure (or Policy) SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats TDD/TTY Telecommunications Device for the Deaf T Text UPS Uninterruptable Power Supply VFD Victoria Fire Department VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol VON Voice on the Net VSP VoIP Service Provider WL2 Wireless Phase 2 WSP Wireless Service Provider

37 Total Calls (annual) CRD 911 Review Page 37 of Appendix 2: Data Review Call Volumes According to Telus call records there were 119,108 calls to within the Capital Region District during the year ending March 31, Of these, 105,674 calls were answered by the three CRD primary PSAPs; the remainder are calls to DND and back-up PSAPs and calls abandoned by the caller before they could be answered. The breakdowns of total calls and calls answered by the Saanich Police, Victoria Police and West Shore RCMP PSAPs are shown in Table 5. PSAP Calls to Calls Answered % of Calls Dropped before Answer Saanich Police % Victoria Police % West Shore RCMP % Grand Total % Table 5: calls by PSAP Calling patterns by hour of day, day of the week, and month of the year are shown in the following charts Total Annual Calls by Hour of Day West Shore RCMP Victoria Police Saanich Police Hour Figure 7: Calls by Hour of Day

38 Jan/10 Feb/10 Mar/10 Apr/09 May/09 Jun/09 Jul/09 Aug/09 Sep/09 Oct/09 Nov/09 Dec/09 Total Calls Total Calls (annual) CRD 911 Review Page 38 of Total Annual CRD Calls by Day of Week West Shore RCMP Victoria Police Saanich Police 0 Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Figure 8: Calls by Day of Week Total CRD Calls by Month West Shore RCMP Victoria Police Saanich Police 0 Figure 9: Calls by Month Table 6 below shows a breakdown of offered calls by originating municipality along with the terminating PSAP. The 71 smallest communities that originated less than 1000 calls each during the study period, as well as call records without municipality information, are included under OTHER.

39 CRD 911 Review Page 39 of 42 MUNICIPALITY CODE Saanich Police Victoria Police West Shore RCMP TOTAL CENTRAL SAANICH BC COLWOOD BC ESQUIMALT ESQUIMALT BC LANGFORD BC NORTH SAANICH NORTH SAANICH BC OAK BAY BC SAANICH SAANICH BC SALT SPRING ISLD BC SIDNEY BC SOOKE BC VIC BC VICTORIA CITY VICTORIA RURAL VICTORIA RURAL/SOOKE VIEW ROYAL BC OTHER TOTAL Table 6: Calls by Municipality and PSAP - April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 Over half of the calls in CRD originate from cell phones as shown in Figure 10. Most of the cell phone calls provided detailed caller location information (CELL-WL2) as of March CRD Calls by Service Class - March 2010 FAIL UNKN RESIDENCE BUSINESS CELL-WL2 RESIDENCE BUSINESS COIN CELL CELL-WL2 FAIL UNKN CELL COIN Figure 10: Calls by Service Class

40 CRD 911 Review Page 40 of Call Answer and Transfer Statistics call answer statistics for the CRD were analyzed and compared to NENA and NFPA standards 16. Results are shown in Table 7 and Table 8 below. The busy hour used in Table 8 is 4:00 to 5:00 PM based on the annual calling volumes by hour of day shown in Figure 7 above. Call transfer time is the time taken after answering the call to relay the call to a downstream agency it does not include the time taken for the downstream agency to answer the call. PSAP % answered in 10 sec or less (Std=90%) % answered in 20 sec or less (Std=95%) % transferred in 30 sec or less (Std=95%) Saanich Police 96.2% 99.7% 89.0% Victoria Police 91.8% 99.1% 89.8% West Shore RCMP 97.6% 99.8% 89.1% All Calls 94.8% 99.5% 89.4% Table 7: Call Answer and Transfer Total of all Hours PSAP % answered in 10 sec or less (Std=90%) % answered in 20 sec or less (Std=95%) % transferred in 30 sec or less (Std=95%) Saanich Police 95.1% 99.6% 88.9% Victoria Police 92.5% 99.3% 90.1% West Shore RCMP 96.1% 99.8% 85.2% All Calls 94.4% 99.5% 88.0% Table 8: Call Answer and Transfer Between 4:00 and 5:00 PM It should be noted that none of the PSAPs met the 95/30 transfer time objective. All other call answer standards were met. The time taken to transfer a call to the correct downstream agency is highly dependent on whether the call is from a land line phone or cell phone and whether the cell phone call displays accurate and detailed Wireless Phase 2 caller location information. This is illustrated in Table 9 16 See TM-02 A - CRD Standards and Developments. NENA standard: Ninety percent (90%) of all calls arriving at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) shall be answered within ten (10) seconds during the busy hour (the hour each day with the greatest call volume). Ninety-five (95%) of all calls should be answered within twenty (20) seconds. NFPA 1221 standard: Where alarms are transferred from the primary public safety answering point (PSAP) to a secondary answering point, the transfer procedure shall not exceed 30 seconds for 95 percent of all alarms processed.

41 CRD 911 Review Page 41 of 42 for the first three months of 2010, following partial implementation of Wireless Phase 2 in November Note that the average time to transfer a call from a land line phone (residence, business or coin) was about 13 to 14 seconds compared to 26 to 29 seconds for cell phones (shown as CELL- WL1 and CELL-WL2 in the table). This is likely due to the fact that a fixed and accurate address is automatically provided for land line calls while cell phone location information is approximate and may change during the call. The time reduction shown for Phase 2 calls (CELL-WL2) compared to Phase 1 calls (about 3 seconds) should significantly improve with increased call taker experience, resolution of some Phase 2 implementation and technical issues, and rebid capability. However, it is unlikely that transfer of cell phone calls to the correct downstream agencies will ever be as fast as land line calls. Service Class PSAP Avg. Transfer Time (Sec.) RESIDENCE ALL 13.1 Saanich Police 13.8 Victoria Police 13.9 West Shore RCMP 11.9 BUSINESS ALL 14.7 Saanich Police 12.8 Victoria Police 15.9 West Shore RCMP 14.1 CELL- WL1 ALL 29.1 Saanich Police 55.9 Victoria Police 50.7 West Shore RCMP 27.4 CELL-WL2 ALL 26.5 Saanich Police 33.2 Victoria Police 24.4 West Shore RCMP 24.4 COIN ALL 12.8 Saanich Police 14.6 Victoria Police 12.0 West Shore RCMP 13.2 Table 9: Transfer time by Service Class Jan 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010

42 CRD 911 Review Page 42 of 42 As a separate finding it was also noted that there were significant differences in average call holding times as shown in Table 10. These may have an impact on staffing costs. PSAP Average Time of Disconnect (Sec) Saanich Police Victoria Police West Shore RCMP 80.3 Table 10: Average Call Holding Time Downstream Call Answer Statistics Table 11 shows the calls that were answered by the three primary PSAPs, transferred to a downstream agency (secondary PSAP or another primary PSAP), and then answered by the downstream agency. Only those agencies that handled more than 100 downstreamed calls between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010 are shown in the table. Note that the calls shown for the Fire dispatch centres do not include MVA or first responder incidents forwarded from BC Ambulance. All of the agencies met the current NFPA 1221 standard 17 of answering 95% of calls within 15 seconds. Secondary PSAP Calls Answered Average Answer Time (Sec) % Answered in 15 Sec or less (Standard=95%) Langley Fire % Nanaimo Police % Non-PSAP Agency % Saanich Fire % Saanich Fire % Saanich Police % BC Ambulance % Victoria Fire % Victoria Police % West Shore RCMP % Grand Total % Table 11: Calls Answered by Downstream Agencies 17 Ninety-five percent of alarms received on emergency lines shall be answered within 15 seconds, and 99 percent of alarms shall be answered within 40 seconds.

43 TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM CRD-1001-TM-01A for the CRD 17 Nov 2010 by Planetworks Consulting Corp D. Mitchell, C. Thompson, D. Reid Summary: 1) The purpose of this technical memorandum is to describe the current situation in the Capital Region. This includes communications centre facilities, operations, calling statistics, costs and governance as well as voice and data communications facilities used to provide services. 2) CRD managers as well as managers and staff at all the main CRD communications centres were interviewed and each of the three PSAPs was inspected. 3) calling data for the 12 months ending March 31, 2010 was obtained and volumes as well as call answer and transfer times were analyzed for each PSAP. 4) Although for the most part call answer performance is equal to or better than accepted standards (a few exceptions are noted within the report) the lack of an effective overall governance/decision-making structure may be an obstacle to implementing future improvements and evolution of the system towards next generation technology. Distribution: Travis Whiting, CRD Planetworks Project Team

44 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page 1. Introduction Background Purpose of this Report Methodology CRD Overview Call Processes Victoria PSAP Saanich PSAP West Shore PSAP Calling Statistics Current Costs and Budgets MoUs, Agreements and SLAs Glossary of Terms References... 28

45 1. Introduction 1.1 Background This is one of three technical memos (TMs) being prepared for the CRD during the first stage of a review of services in the Capital Region by Planetworks Consulting. The other TMs describe standards and developments as well as several "benchmark" systems operated by other Canadian jurisdictions. A final report will contain options for the CRD based on this work. 1.2 Purpose of this Report The objective of this report is to describe the current situation in the Capital Region. This includes communications centre facilities, operations, calling statistics, costs and governance as well as telecommunications facilities used to provide and dispatch services. 1.3 Methodology Information for this baseline assessment was obtained from on-site visits to each of the PSAP s as well as interviews with CRD and communications centre managers and staff. Performance data for the call management process was obtained from Telus. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 3 of 28

46 2. CRD Overview Emergency communications centres in the CRD consist of four primary Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP s) including the Department of National Defense (DND) and four secondary answering points including BC Ambulance. A PSAP is a physical location (communication centre) where and other calls for service are received and routed to the proper emergency agencies (e.g., police, fire and ambulance). A primary PSAP may include both call answer as well as emergency service dispatch functions while a secondary PSAP covers dispatch only. The CRD PSAPs provide two critical public safety services - taking calls, including calls, and dispatching for public safety agencies, specifically police. An overview of the CRD system is shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: CRD 911 System CRD PSAP responsibilities are as follows: The PSAP operated by the Victoria Police Department takes and other calls from Victoria and Esquimalt (total population = 100,466, see Table 1 below), handles police dispatch functions for Victoria and Esquimalt police (as a separate function from 9-1-1) and relays calls for fire and ambulance to Victoria Fire and BC Ambulance dispatch centres respectively. The PSAP operated by the Saanich Police Department takes and other calls from Saanich and Oak Bay (total population = 132,032), dispatches Saanich and Oak Bay police (as Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 4 of 28

47 a separate function from 9-1-1) and relays calls for fire and ambulance to the Saanich Fire and BC Ambulance dispatch centres. The PSAP operated by the West Shore RCMP takes and other calls from the following areas (total population = 137,293): City of Colwood, District of Highlands, City of Langford, District of Metchosin, Town of View Royal, Songhees First Nation, Esquimalt First Nation, Central Saanich, North Saanich, Sydney, and Gulf Islands (Salt Spring, Galiano, Pender, Saturna and Mayne). The West Shore PSAP also handles police dispatch functions for the RCMP in the above areas and relays calls for fire and ambulance to the Langford Fire, Saanich Fire and BC Ambulance dispatch centres. A breakdown of the estimated 2009 CRD population (ref [1]) by municipality and PSAP is shown in the following table: Jurisdiction 2009 Population (CRD estimate) Victoria PSAP West Shore PSAP Saanich PSAP Saanich 113, ,566 Victoria 83,003 83,003 Langford 27,970 27,970 Oak Bay 18,466 18,466 Esquimalt 17,463 17,463 Central Saanich 16,597 16,597 Colwood 16,195 16,195 Sidney 11,927 11,927 North Saanich 11,427 11,427 Sooke 10,940 10,940 View Royal 9,461 9,461 Metchosin 5,043 5,043 Indian Reserves 4,806 4,806 Juan de Fuca Electoral Area 4,972 4,972 Highlands 2,092 2,092 Gulf Islands 15,863 15,863 Total 369, , , ,032 Table 1: Population Call Processes History: The CRD's first Enhanced system was installed in1989 using a Positron ANI/ALI system to display the caller s information. The ANI/ALI system was located in BCTel s central office in Victoria. When Victoria Police moved into its new building at 850 Caledonia Street in 1996, the Positron ANI/ALI system was decommissioned and a new Meridian system was installed at Victoria Police which served the CRD area. Shortly thereafter Telus introduced the Provincial platform and in 1999 the CRD was transitioned to it. As described in Section 2.6 the Meridian system is still in use at the Victoria Police PSAP. The Provincial platform uses a Telus Nortel DMS 100 central office switch with special software. This switch is referred to as a selective routing switch or selective router (SR) as shown in Figure 1 above. The Provincial network has been built for redundancy in that there are Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 5 of 28

48 two SR's, one in Victoria (Primary) and a back-up in Vancouver for geographical separation. All the Telus central offices in CRD have trunks that go to both SR's so that if there was a failure at the Victoria SR the call would automatically be re-routed to the back-up SR and then be presented to the correct CRD PSAP. Telus Land Line Call: A call dialed from a wired telephone is recognized by Telus s local telephone switching system which forwards the call together with the caller s Automatic Number Identification (ANI) to the Telus DMS-100 switch located on Yates Street in Victoria. This is the Primary SR Tandem for the CRD, Central Island and North Island systems. Selective Routing is the process by which calls are sent to a specific PSAP based on the street address of the caller. The Selective Routing software doesn t understand street addresses so these must be converted into numbers that the router can use. The street address ranges are associated with Emergency Service Zones (ESZ) that determine which agency is the responder for that address by service class (police, fire or ambulance). The call is routed automatically directly to the appropriate agency based on the ESZ. Today in the Capital Regional serving area there are 53 emergency service zones as shown in Table 2 below. The quantity of calls by ESZ is shown in Section Table 5. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 6 of 28

49 9-1-1 Calls from ESZ # PSAP SPSAP SPSAP 1 Victoria 3000 Victoria Police Victoria Fire BC Ambulance 2 Esquimalt 4000 Victoria Police Saanich Fire BC Ambulance 3 Saanich 2000 Saanich Police Saanich Fire BC Ambulance 4 Oak Bay 2500 Saanich Police Saanich Fire BC Ambulance 5 North Saanich 2034 RCMP Saanich Fire BC Ambulance 6 Sidney 2053 RCMP Saanich Fire BC Ambulance 7 Central Saanich 3500 RCMP Saanich Fire BC Ambulance 8 Langford 2032 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 9 Highlands 2031 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 10 Metchosin 2033 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 11 Sooke 2035 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 12 Galiano Island 2036 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 13 Mayne Island 2037 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 14 Pender Island 2038 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 15 Salt Spring Island 2039 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 16 Saturna Island 2040 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 17 Malahat 2051 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 18 View Royal 2054 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 19 Colwood 2055 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 20 East Sooke 2117 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 21 Willis Point 2118 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 22 Juan de Fuca (Port Renfrew, Otter 5000 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance Point, Jordan River, Shirley) 23 Becher Bay Reserve No RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 24 Esquimalt Reserve 2042 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 25 Gordon River Reserve 2043 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 26 Cole Bay Reserve 2044 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 27 Galiano Island Reserve 2045 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 28 Becher Bay Reserve No RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 29 New Songhees Reserve 2047 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 30 Mayne Island Reserve 2048 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 31 East Saanich Reserve 2049 RCMP Saanich Fire BC Ambulance 32 Union Bay Reserve 2050 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 33 Sooke Reserve No RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 34 Bare Island First Nation Reserve 2101 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 35 Fraser Island Reserve 2102 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 36 Fulford Harbour Reserve 2103 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 37 Goldstream Reserve 2104 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 38 Lamb Island Reserve 2105 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 39 Long Neck Island Reserve 2106 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 40 Pachena Reserve 2107 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 41 Pender Island Reserve 2108 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 42 Queesidaquah Reserve 2109 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 43 Senanus Island Reserve 2110 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 44 Twin Island Reserve 2111 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 45 Village Islands Reserve 2112 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 46 Whale Island Reserve 2113 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 47 Chatham Islands Reserve 2114 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 48 Deadman's Halkett Island Reserve 2115 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 49 Discovery Island Reserve 2116 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 50 Haro Strait Island Trust Area 2119 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 51 South Saanich Reserve 2120 RCMP Saanich Fire BC Ambulance 52 Saturna Island Reserve 2121 RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance 53 Sooke Reserve No RCMP Langford Fire BC Ambulance Table 2: Emergency Service Zones Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 7 of 28

50 Simultaneously, the central office switch sends the caller s telephone number (ANI) to Telus s Automatic Location Identification (ALI) computer, which decodes and queries its database to retrieve location (ALI) information related to the number that generated the call. There are two ALI computer systems used by PSAPs in the CRD. One is located in Burnaby, BC and its backup is in Alberta. The ALI database is updated every night from Telus s billing system for the latest telephone listings. When the voice call is delivered to the PSAP s Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system, additional information is required from the PBX terminal equipment to support the ALI feature. This additional information includes the line number of the facility connecting the PBX to the Selective Router and the position number of the telephone set used by the call taker to answer the call. This information is to be sent immediately on answer of the line and is then combined with the data record from the Selective Router to enable the ALI Computer System to populate the CAD Packet Position field (answering agent s position number at the PSAP). The CAD Packet is then sent to the CAD system to display the caller s information on the correct call taker s CAD screen. Cellular Call: When a local cell phone caller dials 9-1-1, the call is picked up by a cellular tower and sent to the cellular company's Mobile Switching Centre (MSC). The MSC recognizes the call as and forwards it to the Victoria Primary Tandem switch (Selective Router) described above. The Selective Routing software is required to transfer cellular callers to the closest PSAP. The Selective Router in Victoria uses the number supplied by the MSC as a key, and checks a specialized Selective Routing Database (SRDB) for routing instructions. The call is then forwarded to a predetermined PSAP for voice connection. In this case the City of Victoria cellular customer is answered at the City of Victoria Police Department PSAP located at 850 Caledonia Street, Victoria. The call taker, realizing this is a cellular call, must interrogate the caller to determine where they are located. Also, the ALI computer on initial answer sends the caller s call back number, address of the cell tower site and which cellular company routed the call to the call taker s CAD display screen. Several seconds later the ALI computer will send a second CAD packet to the CAD system and the display screen will redisplay with the Longitude, Latitude and Uncertainty factor in meters for the caller. (See reference [2] for a full description of these Wireless Phase II impacts). CLEC Land Line Call: Competition in local telephone service was approved in Canada in The CRTC specifies that Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) must provide service and must also send end-customer information to the ALI database via an interface provided by the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC). Only the CLEC can alter its endcustomer records. When an end-customer decides to move from the ILEC to a CLEC for service, a service order is issued from the CLEC to the ILEC and a date is assigned for the change. On that date a telephone installer will remove the service from the ILEC's central office switch and re-terminate it on the CLEC's entrance facilities. Entrance facilities are the connections between a CLECdesignated location (Point of Presence or POP) and the ILEC's central office serving that location. The end-customer will then be receiving local service dial tone from the CLEC. As part of the CRTC's ruling the CLEC must then create an ALI record that contains the end-customer's name, address and service provider information. The CLEC, through a Service Agreement, has direct access to the ILEC's ALI database. Normally during the night the CLEC's record system will send a data file containing the end-customer information to the ILEC's ALI computer. A call dialed by a CLEC customer routes in the same way as a Telus customer as shown in Figure 2 below. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 8 of 28

51 Figure 2: CLEC Routing Shaw Subscribers: As with other CLECs, when an end-customer decides to move from Telus to Shaw s VoIP service for local service a service order is issued from Shaw to Telus, a date is assigned for the change and ALI records are supplied by Shaw to the Telus database as described above. However, unlike the land line CLECs, Shaw and other cable TV companies have their own network cable facilities that connect directly to the end-customer's home. Other VoIP Subscribers: When an end-customer decides to move from Telus to a non-fixed VoIP service provider such as Vonage or Primus for local service a service order is issued from the VoIP provider to Telus and a date is assigned for the change. Unlike with Shaw and the land line CLECs there are many issues with using this service for as described in TM-02A section 2.4 (see Reference [2]). The CRTC has mandated that calls originating from VoIP users must have their location verified by a certified emergency service operator. As an example, when a Victoria end-customer using the Vonage service dials the call is routed to a call centre operated by Northern911, a third party answering service, located in Sudbury, Ontario. The Northern911 operator will download the initial customer location information provided by Vonage and then verify the physical location of the emergency with the caller prior to dispatching the appropriate emergency service provider. Because the third party operators do not have direct access to the individual networks across Canada they must look up the ten digit non-emergency number for the correct PSAP, call the PSAP and then conference in the caller. This procedure has the following drawbacks and risks: It takes longer to process the call; Answering a non-emergency number at the PSAP may not be highest priority; Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 9 of 28

52 Non-emergency numbers may not be answered if the PSAP is in back-up mode; the third party answer service may not have the correct PSAP number; the call may be transferred to the wrong PSAP the caller may not know where they are The CRTC has not made significant progress 1 in improving this procedure for handling calls from nomadic VoIP users. 2.6 Victoria PSAP The City of Victoria s Communications Centre is located at 850 Caledonia Street, and is an intrinsic part of the Victoria Police Department. This centre is a Primary PSAP which means that it receives the initial call for service in the city for police, fire and emergency medical service (ambulance) response areas and directly dispatches Victoria Police and Esquimalt Police services as shown in Figure 3 below. Figure 3: Victoria PSAP The Communications Centre has the capability of staffing 8 call taker positions, 3 dispatch positions, 1 administration switchboard position and a Supervisory office. The Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) screens are connected to the network-based provincial Prime-BC system with the main processor housed in Vancouver. This has the advantage of allowing a call taker from Saanich Police or West Shore RCMP to come to the centre and handle calls seamlessly in a backup situation. A disadvantage is that when the main computer in Vancouver has a problem the Communications Centre loses the ability to see the caller s information on the screen and the capability to electronically store the information. The dispatchers are cross-trained for call taking and radio dispatching. The CAD software product was purchased from Versaterm and is administered by BC PRIMECorp - Police Records Information Management Environment. This vendor also supplies the police Records Management System (RMS). The Telus SR has seven specialized trunks that are connected to a Meridian 1 Option 61 PBX located at the centre which was installed in See Reference [2] TM-02A - CRD Standards and Developments Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 10 of 28

53 Telephony: The call taker and dispatch positions have all been upgraded to Nortel s Meridian 3905 ACD telephones with a Plantronic headset. In the dispatch positions there is a Radio to Telephone interface which allows the dispatcher to continue to use the headset and easily switch between the two systems. Figure Position - Victoria PSAP On the M3905 phones all seven of the lines appear on the telephone and if the first line is busy the second call will come in on the second line until all lines are busy. The eighth caller will receive busy tone from the central office if all seven lines are in use at the PSAP. Telus's technician has indicated that the centre has access to individual outgoing trunks on copper wire separate from the PRI trunks used by Administration telephones in the case of a failure of the PRI fiber link. Victoria Police have installed a Key Set Interface (KSI) to monitor the progress of incoming calls. The KSI collects the information of the various lines such as the agent position answering the call and the termination of the call. This information is sent to the ALI system for further processing. The KSI has been upgraded from MCK (discontinued) to ALGO which is now being supported by Telus. PSAP Back-Up System: Victoria Police is the main backup for the three other CRD PSAP s: Saanich Police, West Shore RCMP and DND Fire. If these centres operate their backup A key all calls that these PSAP s handle will be re-directed to the five back-up lines on the M3905 telephones located at Victoria Police via the back-up SR tandem switch located in Vancouver. The caller takers would still receive ALI information when answering the call. Victoria Police would start handling the back-up lines for the PSAP in trouble as laid out in their SOP s. In the case of Saanich Police and West Shore RCMP the Victoria Police call taker because of the common CAD system would be able to start a CAD event and use the common CREST radio system to dispatch a vehicle to incident Calls - Foreign Language: Victoria Police use Language Line Services/AT&T in California to assist them in over 175 languages if they are not able to interpret the caller. Evacuation: If circumstances occurred where the City of Victoria PSAP was forced to evacuate, the call taker would contact the Saanich Police and operate the back-up A key mounted on the wall in the Communications Centre as laid out in their SOP s. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 11 of 28

54 All City of Victoria and Esquimalt calls would be re-routed via the back-up Selective Router Tandem located in Vancouver and answered at the Saanich Police PSAP on their five back-up lines. The Saanich Police call taker would still receive ALI information when answering the call. The Saanich Police call taker because of the common CAD system would be able to start a CAD event and use the common CREST radio system to dispatch a vehicle to the incident until a Victoria Police call taker arrived. Power Supply: The centre is supplied by an two emergency 13 year old Cummins diesel generators located in the basement. The emergency generator adequately serves the needs of the centre and is run every 30 days. The 350 KW generators start up simultaneously then one shuts down immediately afterwards so there is redundancy in place. The fuel capacity is 2,000 liters. The centre has an in-line Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). A UPS is important for three reasons: UPS will filter the power to ensure that power spikes that are common on a standard power grid do not damage equipment; UPS ensures that there is a constant power supply while the generator cycles up to full speed; and In the event that the generator fails to start, the UPS can ensure that the equipment continues running until the backup centre is activated, or until the generator is serviced. The main in-line UPS system in being reviewed for replacement as it is 13 years old. There are also several individual UPS units at the radio consoles. Administrative Telephone Lines: The Meridian Option 61 is configured to handle regular telephone lines on the system and has Primary Rate Interface (PRI) trunks with Direct In Dial (DID) capability assisting the Operator in reducing the call volumes to the main telephone number. Instant Recall Recorders: Instant Recall Recorders allow the call taker to replay recent conversations in the event that the original conversation could not be understood and must be replayed. An example of this would be a call where the caller was in a panic and spoke too quickly. The call can be replayed for more clarification. The centre currently uses Eventide Instant Recall Recorders. Voice Logger: The Voice Logging equipment records all telephone and radio conversations to be archived. These conversations can be used in a Court of Law as evidence. The logger in use is a Nice digital voice recorder and the policy is to store the information for one year. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD or TTY): The centre does not have a TDD unit and would rely on the Telus 711 Relay Centre service to communicate with hearing impaired callers. Ergonomics: The centre is equipped with 11 workstations that are height adjustable (reducing visual and muscular strain causing fatigue for the Communications call taker) and are equipped with a cable management system for power wiring, monitor screen cables, etc. There are 11 chairs in the centre which are varied due to the different requirements of the call takers but are all top-of-the-line 7/24 dispatch chairs. Space for Possible Future Expansion: There is sufficient space at this PSAP to accommodate possible future consolidation of call taking in the CRD. Call Taker Shifts Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 12 of 28

55 4-12 hour shifts - 6 AM to 6 PM 2-8 hour shifts - 8 AM to 4 PM 2-9 hour shifts - 9 PM to 6 AM 2-11 hour shifts - 5 PM to 4 AM Shortcomings identified by Communications Centre staff: The Communication Specialist mentioned that the CAD system was down for 2 hours on May 6, 2010 and the centre had to revert to pen and paper until resolved; No redundancy for Telus routers (ANI/ALI data); No redundancy on CAD links to West Shore RCMP; WL2 software not yet loaded on Genesis; Information on WL2 rollout was lacking; Los of cell calls not going to correct PSAP; Telemarketers coming into 10D back-up lines; Latitude and Longitude not reliable (esp. Rogers), and not usable in downtown core; 10 to 15 calls per day showing as caller number 2 ; Complicated call transfers to Air / Sea Rescue; and Noted that the BC Ambulance dispatch centre has a back-up site but no back-up trunks. 2.7 Saanich PSAP The Saanich Police Communications Centre is located at 760 Vernon Avenue, Saanich (near Victoria). It is a Primary PSAP receiving and other calls for police, fire and ambulance (EMS) services from Saanich and Oak Bay. The centre directly dispatches Saanich Police and Oak Bay Police services and transfers calls for fire and EMS to Saanich Fire and BC Ambulance respectively as shown in Figure 5 below. Figure 5: Saanich PSAP Routing The Communications Centre has the capability of staffing 6 call taker positions, of which 2 are also dispatch positions, and a Supervisory office. The CAD screens are on a network-based provincial system with the main processor housed in Vancouver. This has the advantage of allowing a Saanich Police call taker to go to the Victoria Police s communications centre to handle 2 This means that the call taker has no way of reaching the caller if the call is dropped. Solutions to this and other call back number problems have recently been developed by a CRTC working group as described in Reference [2]. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 13 of 28

56 calls seamlessly in a backup situation. A disadvantage is that when the main computer in Vancouver has a problem the Communications Centre loses the ability to see the caller s information on the screen and the capability to electronically store the information. The dispatchers are cross-trained for call taking and radio dispatching. The CAD software product was purchased from Versaterm and is administered by BC PRIMECorp - Police Records Information Management Environment. This vendor also supplies the police Records Management System (RMS). The central office Selective Router has five specialized trunks that are connected to a Nortel CS1000 PABX located at the centre which was installed March The five specialized primary trunks and the five specialized back-up trunks are run in separate cables and enter the building from separate manholes for redundancy in case of a cable cut. Telephony: The call taker and dispatch positions are using Nortel s Meridian 3905 ACD telephones with Jabra GN2100 headsets. In the dispatch positions there is a Radio to Telephone interface which allows the dispatcher to continue to use the headset and easily switch between the two systems. Figure 6: Phone - Saanich PSAP All five of the lines appear on the M3905 phones and if the first line is busy the second call will come in on the second line until all lines are busy. The sixth caller will receive busy tone from the central office if all five lines are in use at the PSAP. Saanich Police have installed a Key Set Interface (KSI) to monitor the progress of incoming calls. The KSI collects the information of the various lines such as the agent position answering the call and the termination of the call. This information is sent to the ALI system for further processing. The KSI has been upgraded from MCK (discontinued) to ALGO which is now being supported by Telus. PSAP Back-Up System / Evacuation: The Victoria Police PSAP communications centre is the main back-up for Saanich Police communications centre. If circumstances occurred where the Saanich Police PSAP was forced to evacuate, the call taker would contact the Victoria Police and operate the back-up A key mounted on the wall in the Communications Centre as laid out in their SOP s. All calls that this PSAP s handles will be re-directed to the five back-up lines on the M3905 telephones located at the Victoria Police PSAP via the back-up Selective Router Tandem located in Vancouver. Victoria personnel would start handling the back-up lines for Saanich and Oak Bay as laid out in their SOP s and the call takers would still receive ALI information when answering the Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 14 of 28

57 calls. Because of the common CAD system the Victoria call taker would be able to start a CAD event and use the common CREST radio system to dispatch a vehicle to the incident Calls - Foreign Language: Saanich Police use Language Line Services/AT&T in California to assist them in over 175 languages if they are not able to interpret the caller. Power Supply: The centre is supplied by an Onan diesel generator located in the parking lot of the building. It was installed in The generator adequately serves the needs of the centre and is run every 5-7 days. The fuel capacity is 700 liters. The Communication Centre has an in-line Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). A UPS is important for three reasons: UPS will filter the power to ensure that power spikes that are common on a standard power grid do not damage equipment. UPS ensures that there is a constant power supply while the generator cycles up to full speed. In the event that the generator fails to start, the UPS can ensure that the equipment continues running until the backup centre is activated, or until the generator is serviced. The UPS system is supplied by Eaton Power Quality Company and was installed in There are also several individual UPS units. Administrative Telephone Lines: The Nortel CS1000 is configured to handle regular telephone lines on the system and has Primary Rate Interface (PRI) trunks with Direct In Dial (DID) capability assisting the PSAP Operator in reducing the call volumes to the main telephone number. Instant Recall Recorders: Instant Recall Recorders allow the call taker to replay recent conversations in the event that the original conversation could not be understood and must be replayed. An example of this would be a call where the caller was in a panic and spoke too quickly. The call can be replayed for more clarification. The centre currently uses Nice Systems Last Message Replay software for instant recall recording. Voice Logger: The Voice Logging equipment records all telephone and radio conversations to be archived. These conversations can be used in a Court of Law as evidence. The logger in use is a Nice voice recorder which was installed in 2008 and the policy is to store the information for two years. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD or TTY): The centre has a TDD unit but is rarely used. Ergonomics: The centre has installed 6 Watson workstations that are height adjustable (reducing visual and muscular strain causing fatigue for the Communications call taker) and are equipped with a cable management system for power wiring, monitor screen cables, etc. There are 6 Global Concorde chairs in the centre which are varied due to the different requirements of the call takers but are all top-of-the-line 7/24 dispatch chairs. Space for Possible Future Expansion: There is limited space at this PSAP to accommodate possible future consolidation of call taking in the CRD. Shortcomings identified by Communications Centre staff: None, however most of the problems reported by Victoria PD and West Shore are also applicable to Saanich. Shortcoming identified by Telus: If the PSAP back-up key is operated and calls for Saanich are rerouted via the back-up SR in Vancouver, star keys for single-button transfer of calls to downstream agencies cannot be used since the ESN tables in the secondary SR have not yet Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 15 of 28

58 been populated. The call taker must perform a manual transfer to the appropriate agency. When the ESN tables are populated, they will contain the 10 digit 911 pilot number of the downstream call centre. Transfers completed per these destination 911 pilot numbers will stay on the 911 Network and will not incur any long distance charges. Any manual transfers to the downstream PSAP s back door emergency numbers will route via the public switched telephone network and will be billed as regular CRD long distance calls. 2.8 West Shore PSAP The West Shore RCMP Communications Centre is located at 698 Atkins Avenue, Langford. It is a Primary PSAP which means that it receives and other calls for service for police, fire and ambulance (EMS) from the West Shore (five communities), Songhees & Esquimalt Indian Reserves, Gulf Islands and Central Saanich with a total resident population of 137,293 (see Table 1 above). The centre also handles police dispatching for all RCMP in the CRD well as Central Saanich Police and transfers calls for fire and EMS to Langford Fire, Saanich Fire and BC Ambulance as shown in Figure 7 below. Figure 7: West Shore RCMP PSAP Routing The Communications Centre has the capability of staffing 5 call taker positions, of which 4 are also dispatch positions, and a Supervisory office. The Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) monitors are on a network-based Provincial system with the main processor housed in Vancouver. This has the advantage of allowing a West Shore RCMP call taker to go to the City of Victoria Police s Communications Centre to handle calls seamlessly in a backup situation. A disadvantage is that when the main computer in Vancouver has a problem the centre loses the ability to see the caller s information on the screen and the capability to electronic store the information. The dispatchers are cross-trained for call taking and radio dispatching. The CAD software product was purchased from Versaterm and is administered by BC PRIMECorp - Police Records Information Management Environment. This vendor also supplies the police Records Management System (RMS). The Telus SR has six specialized trunks that are connected to a Meridian 1 Option 11 PABX located at the centre which was installed in Telephony: The call taker and dispatch positions are using Nortel s Meridian 2216 ACD telephones with headsets. Nortel has discontinued making these telephones. In the dispatch Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 16 of 28

59 positions there is a Radio to Telephone interface which allows the dispatcher to continue to use the headset and easily switch between the two systems. Figure 8: Position - West Shore PSAP On the M2216 phones all six of the lines appear on the telephone and if the first line is busy the second call will come in on the second line until all lines are busy. The seventh caller will receive busy tone from the central office if all six lines are in use at the PSAP. West Shore RCMP have installed a Key Set Interface (KSI) to monitor the progress of incoming calls. The KSI collects the information of the various lines such as the agent position answering the call and the termination of the call. This information is sent to the ALI system for further processing. The KSI has been upgraded from MCK (discontinued) to ALGO which is now being supported by Telus. Evacuation: Victoria Police is the main backup for West Shore RCMP. If circumstances occurred where the West Shore PSAP was forced to evacuate, the call taker would contact the Victoria Police and operate the back-up A key mounted on the wall in the Communications Centre as laid out in their SOP s. All calls that this PSAP s handles will be re-directed to the five back-up lines on the M3905 telephones located at Victoria Police via the back-up SR tandem switch located in Vancouver. The call takers would still receive ALI information when answering the call. Victoria Police would start handling the back-up lines for West Shore as laid out in their SOP s. In the case of West Shore RCMP the Victoria Police call taker, because of the common CAD system, would be able to start a CAD event and use the common CREST radio system to dispatch a vehicle to the incident. There is a plan to start testing the back-up process at least once per month. (Periodic back-up testing is already in place at Victoria and Saanich). A disaster plan is currently being written Calls - Foreign Language: West Shore RCMP use Language Line Services/AT&T in California to assist them in over 175 languages if they are not able to interpret the caller. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 17 of 28

60 Power Supply: The centre is supplied by a diesel generators located in the parking lot at the back of building. The emergency generator adequately serves the needs of the centre and is run every 30 days. The centre does not have an in-line Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). Instead, there are individual UPS units at each workstation that are regularly maintained by the RCMP technicians. Administrative Telephone Lines: The Meridian Option 11 is configured to handle regular telephone lines on the system and has Primary Rate Interface (PRI) trunks with Direct In Dial (DID) capability assisting the Operator in reducing the call volumes to the main telephone number. Instant Recall Recorders: Instant Recall Recorders allow the call taker to replay recent conversations in the event that the original conversation could not be understood and must be replayed. An example of this would be a call where the caller was in a panic and spoke too quickly. The call can be replayed for more clarification. The centre currently uses Eventide Instant Recall Recorders. Voice Logger: The Voice Logging equipment records all telephone and radio conversations to be archived. These conversations can be used in a Court of Law as evidence. The logger in use is an Evantide digital voice recorder and the policy is to store the information for two years. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD or TTY): The centre has a TDD unit but it is rarely used. Ergonomics: The centre is equipped with 5 Evans workstations that are height adjustable (reducing visual and muscular strain causing fatigue for the call takers) and are equipped with a cable management system for power wiring, monitor screen cables, etc. There are 5 chairs of various types due to the different requirements of the call takers but are all top-of-the-line 7/24 dispatch chairs. Call Taker Shifts Table 3 shows planned staffed hours per 24-hour period during June These hours are comprised of a mix of 12,10, 8, 6 and 5 hour shifts. Week Beginning Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat Sun 31 May Jun Jun Jun Jun Average Hours Average 30 working hrs/week Table 3: West Shore Staffing - June 2010 Shortcomings identified by Communications Centre staff The CAD system at West Shore is slow displaying the ALI information for the caller. The MOU with CRD has expired Call takers often transfer to Victoria after being trained at West Shore Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 18 of 28

61 10D non-emergency numbers are not transferred during evacuation (may be emergency calls) About 4 out of 10 cell calls do not go to the correct PSAP. Calls may be from the U.S., Duncan or Nanaimo areas. ANI/ALI for both land line and cell received 20 to 30 seconds after call. May be Versaterm and/or RCMP security software issue. Rogers location data is the least accurate Many prank calls received from expired cell phones Address changes for Shaw customers Solicitation calls on 10D numbers Calling Statistics Call Volumes According to Telus call records there were 119,108 calls to within the Capital Region District during the year ending March 31, Of these, 105,674 calls were answered by the three CRD primary PSAPs; the remainder are calls to DND and back-up PSAPs and calls abandoned by the caller before they could be answered. The breakdowns of total calls and calls answered by the Saanich Police, Victoria Police and West Shore RCMP PSAPs are shown in Table 4. PSAP Calls to Calls Answered % of Calls Dropped before Answer Saanich Police 30,491 26, % Victoria Police 50,209 44, % West Shore RCMP 37,108 33, % Grand Total 117, , % Table 4: calls by PSAP Calling patterns by hour of day, day of the week, and month of the year are shown in the following charts. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 19 of 28

62 Total Calls (annual) Total Annual Calls by Hour of Day Hour West Shore RCMP Victoria Police Saanich Police Figure 9: Calls by Hour of Day Total Annual CRD Calls by Day of Week Total Calls (annual) West Shore RCMP Victoria Police Saanich Police 0 Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Figure 10: Calls by Day of Week Total CRD Calls by Month Total Calls West Shore RCMP Victoria Police Saanich Police Jan/10 Feb/10 Mar/10 Apr/09 May/09 Jun/09 Jul/09 Aug/09 Sep/09 Oct/09 Nov/09 Dec/09 Figure 11: Calls by Month Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 20 of 28

63 Table 5 below shows a breakdown of offered calls by originating municipality along with the terminating PSAP. The 71 smallest communities that originated less than 1000 calls each during the study period, as well as call records without municipality information, are included under OTHER. MUNICIPALITY CODE Saanich Police Victoria Police West Shore RCMP TOTAL CENTRAL SAANICH BC COLWOOD BC ESQUIMALT ESQUIMALT BC LANGFORD BC NORTH SAANICH NORTH SAANICH BC OAK BAY BC SAANICH SAANICH BC SALT SPRING ISLD BC SIDNEY BC SOOKE BC VIC BC VICTORIA CITY VICTORIA RURAL VICTORIA RURAL/SOOKE VIEW ROYAL BC OTHER TOTAL Table 5: Calls by Municipality and PSAP - April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 Over half of the calls in CRD originate from cell phones as shown in Figure 12. Most of the cell phone calls provided detailed caller location information (CELL-WL2) as of March CRD Calls by Service Class March 2010 FAIL UNKN CELL WL2 RESIDENCE BUSINESS CELL COIN RESIDENCE BUSINESS COIN CELL CELL WL2 FAIL UNKN Figure 12: Calls by Service Class Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 21 of 28

64 Call Answer and Transfer Statistics call answer statistics for the CRD were analyzed and compared to NENA and NFPA standards 3. Results are shown in Table 6 and Table 7 below. The busy hour used in Table 7 is 4:00 to 5:00 PM based on the annual calling volumes by hour of day shown in Figure 9 above. Call transfer time is the time taken after answering the call to relay the call to a downstream agency it does not include the time taken for the downstream agency to answer the call. PSAP % answered in 10 sec or less (Std. = 90%) % answered in 20 sec or less (Std. = 95%) % transferred in 30 sec or less (Std. = 95%) Saanich Police 96.2% 99.7% 89.0% Victoria Police 91.8% 99.1% 89.8% West Shore RCMP 97.6% 99.8% 89.1% All Calls 94.8% 99.5% 89.4% Table 6: Call Answer and Transfer Total of all Hours PSAP % answered in 10 sec or less (Std=90%) % answered in 20 sec or less (Std=95%) % transferred in 30 sec or less (Std. = 95%) Saanich Police 95.1% 99.6% 88.9% Victoria Police 92.5% 99.3% 90.1% West Shore RCMP 96.1% 99.8% 85.2% All Calls 94.4% 99.5% 88.0% Table 7: Call Answer and Transfer Between 4:00 and 5:00 PM It should be noted that none of the PSAPs met the 95/30 transfer time objective. All other call answer standards were met. The time taken to transfer a call to the correct downstream agency is highly dependent on whether the call is from a land line phone or cell phone and whether the cell phone call displays accurate and detailed Wireless Phase 2 caller location information. This is illustrated in Table 8 for the first three months of 2010, after partial implementation of Wireless Phase 2 in November 3 See TM-02A - CRD Standards and Developments. NENA standard: Ninety percent (90%) of all calls arriving at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) shall be answered within ten (10) seconds during the busy hour (the hour each day with the greatest call volume). Ninety-five (95%) of all calls should be answered within twenty (20) seconds. NFPA 1221 standard: Where alarms are transferred from the primary public safety answering point (PSAP) to a secondary answering point, the transfer procedure shall not exceed 30 seconds for 95 percent of all alarms processed. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 22 of 28

65 2009. Note that the average time to transfer a call from a land line phone (residence, business or coin) was about 13 to 14 seconds compared to 26 to 29 seconds for cell phones (shown as CELL- WL1 and CELL-WL2 in the table). This is likely due to the fact that a fixed and accurate address is automatically provided for land line calls while cell phone location information is approximate and may change during the call. The time reduction shown for Phase 2 calls (CELL- WL2) compared to Phase 1 calls (about 3 seconds) should significantly improve with increased call taker experience, resolution of some Phase 2 implementation and technical issues. However, it is unlikely that transfer of cell phone calls to the correct downstream agencies will ever be as fast as land line calls. Service Class PSAP Avg. Transfer Time (Sec.) RESIDENCE ALL 13.1 Saanich Police 13.8 Victoria Police 13.9 West Shore RCMP 11.9 BUSINESS ALL 14.7 Saanich Police 12.8 Victoria Police 15.9 West Shore RCMP 14.1 CELL- WL1 ALL 29.1 Saanich Police 55.9 Victoria Police 50.7 West Shore RCMP 27.4 CELL-WL2 ALL 26.5 Saanich Police 33.2 Victoria Police 24.4 West Shore RCMP 24.4 COIN ALL 12.8 Saanich Police 14.6 Victoria Police 12.0 West Shore RCMP 13.2 Table 8: Transfer time by Service Class Jan 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010 As a separate finding it was also noted that there were significant differences in average call holding times as shown in Table 9. These may have an impact on staffing costs. PSAP Average Time of Disconnect (Sec) Saanich Police Victoria Police West Shore RCMP 80.3 Table 9: Average Call Holding Time Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 23 of 28

66 2.9.3 Downstream Call Answer Statistics Table 10 shows the calls that were answered by the three primary PSAPs, transferred to a downstream agency (secondary PSAP or another primary PSAP), and then answered by the downstream agency. Only those agencies that handled more than 100 down-streamed calls between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010 are shown in the table. Note that the calls shown for the Fire dispatch centres do not include MVA or first responder incidents forwarded from BC Ambulance. All of the agencies met the current NFPA 1221 standard 4 of answering 95% of calls within 15 seconds. Secondary PSAP Calls Answered Average Answer Time (Sec) % Answered in 15 Sec or less (Std=95%) Langley Fire % Nanaimo Police % Non-PSAP Agency % Saanich Fire % Saanich Fire % Saanich Police % BC Ambulance % Victoria Fire % Victoria Police % West Shore RCMP % Grand Total % Table 10: Calls Answered by Downstream Agencies 2.10 Current Costs and Budgets Operating cost and FTE data were requested for each PSAP. Except for the staffing numbers at West Shore (see Section 2.8) none of this requested cost data was available MoUs, Agreements and SLAs There several formal and informal agreements between and among emergency services agencies and the CRD. These include Memorandum of Understanding covering the West Shore PSAP The parties to this MoU were the CRD and the RCMP. The MoU covered the implementation and operation of the RCMP OCC as a Primary PSAP for all emergency calls originating in Langford, Colwood, Sydney, North Saanich, Sooke, View Royal, Metchosin, Highlands, Salt 4 Ninety-five percent of alarms received on emergency lines shall be answered within 15 seconds, and 99 percent of alarms shall be answered within 40 seconds. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 24 of 28

67 Spring Island, Southern Gulf Islands and the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area. It specifies that the RCMP OCC will transfer calls to the appropriate agencies for dispatch of police, fire and ambulance and that the CRD is responsible for initial and ongoing costs of the PSAP. The PSAP will answer calls within 10 seconds, 90% of the time. Two governance groups were defined for dispute resolution: a Operations (Advisory) Committee consisting of the CRD manager or delegate and delegates from the CRD and Telus, and a senior joint management group consisting of the RCMP "E" Division District Officer or delegate and a CRD delegate. This MoU was not legally binding on any of the parties and expired on December 31, Agreement on Regional Response to Calls, March 6, 2008 The parties to this agreement are the RCMP, Saanich Police, Oak Bay Police, Central Saanich Police and Victoria Police. The agreement covers the adoption of protocols by the parties to ensure a collective and consistent police response to calls within the region. The agreed protocols cover (1) misdirected calls where immediate police response is required, (2) misdirected calls not requiring immediate police response, (3) requests for operational support, (4) use of Alert tones, (5) use of "Code 4" marker and (5) operational communication. There are no terms covering fire or ambulance services in this agreement. Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 25 of 28

68 3. Glossary of Terms ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ALI Automatic Location Identification ANI Automatic Number Identification APCO Association of Public Safety Communications Officials ASP Access Service Provider CAD Computer Aided Dispatch CIIDS Computerized Integrated Information and Dispatch System CISC CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee CLEC Competitive Local Exchange Carrier CRTC Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission CTIA Cellular Telephone Industry Association CWTA Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association DSL Digital Subscriber Line E9-1-1 Enhanced ECNS Enhanced Community Notification System ELIN Emergency Location Identification Number EMD Emergency Medical Dispatch EMS Emergency Medical Service ERA Emergency Response Agency ERL Emergency Response Location ESWG Emergency Services Working Group ESZ Emergency Response Zone FCC Federal Communications Commission GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System ICLU In-Call Location Update ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier IP Internet Protocol LDP Location Determination Platform MSAG Master Street Address Guide NENA National Emergency Number Association NFPA National Fire Protection Association NG9-1-1 Next Generation OCC Operations Control Centre PBX Private Branch Exchange PIR PSAP Initiated Request PSAP Public Safety Answering Point PSN/PSTN Public Switched Network/Public Switched Telephone Network SSAP Secondary Safety Answering Point Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 26 of 28

69 TDD/TTY Telecommunications Device for the Deaf T Text UPS Uninterruptable Power Supply VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol VON Voice on the Net VSP VoIP Service Provider WSP Wireless Service Provider Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 27 of 28

70 4. References [1] Revised Estimates of Population Growth, Capital Region [2] Technical Memo TM-02A - CRD Standards and Developments, Planetworks Consulting Corp., November 2010 Planetworks TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis Page 28 of 28

71 TM-02A - CRD Standards and Developments TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM CRD TM-02A for the CRD 17 Nov 2010 by Planetworks Consulting Corp D. Mitchell, C. Thompson, D. Reid Summary: This technical memo describes current standards as well as technical and regulatory developments that will affect call centres and operations in Canada. It also describes typical funding and governance models. These factors will be considered in developing options to be considered by CRD. Distribution: Travis Whiting CRD Planetworks Project Team

72 Table of Contents Section Page 1. Introduction Background Purpose of this Report Methodology Standards and Developments Current NENA Standard Wireless E Mid-call Location Updating (Wireless re-bid) Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Competitive Local Exchange Carriers Access by People with Hearing and Speech Disabilities Next Generation Enhanced Community Notification System (ECNS) Deterring Abuse Implications for the CRD Funding Governance Governance Fundamentals Issues and Risks Governance Options Abbreviations References... 27

73 1. Introduction 1.1 Background This is one of several technical memos (TMs) being prepared for CRD during the first stage of a review of services in the Capital Region. Other TMs fully describe the current situation in CRD as well as other "benchmark" systems. A final report will contain options for CRD based on this work. 1.2 Purpose of this Report The purpose of this technical memo is to describe current standards as well as technical and regulatory developments that will affect call centres and operations in Canada. It also describes typical funding and governance models. These factors will be considered in developing options for consideration by CRD. 1.3 Methodology Information for this report was obtained from a number of sources including the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC or the Commission ). In addition the work of members of the consulting team in various projects as well as their participation with the various standards organizations have provided further information Standards and Developments 2.1 Current NENA Standard The NENA Call Answering Standard/Model Recommendation 1 document was developed to serve as a standard operating procedure for the call taking function within Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). In order to provide uniformity and consistency in the handling of 9-1-1, other emergency calls and administrative non-emergency calls, the following calltaking standards are included: Operational level of service; Order of answering priority; Answering protocol; Information gathering; and Call transfer. 1 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 3 of 27

74 The document also provides guidelines for handling non-standard calls, such as abandoned, disconnects, misdials, unintentional, prank and misrouted calls (including nomadic VoIP calls) and a recommended course of action to address data failures, such as the loss of ANI (Automatic Number Identification) or ALI (Automatic Location Identification), equipment problems and redundant calls. In the document the term "telecommunicator" means an individual whose primary responsibility is to receive, process, or disseminate information of a public safely nature via telecommunications devices call takers and fire department dispatchers are examples of telecommunicators. The main NENA standard operating procedures for call taking at a PSAP are as follows: 1. Standard for answering Calls. Ninety percent (90%) of all calls arriving at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) shall be answered within ten (10) seconds during the busy hour (the hour each day with the greatest call volume). Ninety-five (95%) of all calls should be answered within twenty (20) seconds. 2. Order of Answering Priority. It is the responsibility of on duty telecommunicators to answer all in-coming calls. All phone calls will be answered in order of priority. 1st priority will be the and emergency 7/10 digit phone lines; 2nd priority will be nonemergency lines and 3rd priority will be the administrative and/or internal phone lines. 3. Standard Answering Protocol lines. All lines at a primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) shall be answered beginning with Standard Answering Protocol non-emergency lines. When answering nonemergency lines, the answering agency should be clearly identified to the caller. 5. Non-emergency calls received on emergency lines. If a call is of a non-emergency nature and it is received on an emergency telephone line, the telecommunicator will advise the caller that they have called on an emergency line and will direct the caller to a non-emergency line. It is not recommended that the call be transferred to an administrative line, since that may tie up the trunks. 6. Standard for information gathering. The telecommunicator will obtain the basic information from the caller. At a minimum, this information should include: the address or exact location of the incident, call back number, type of emergency, time of occurrence, hazards, identity of those involved and their location. The telecommunicator will verify all addresses reported. If the address provided by the caller matches the ALI display, the address may be considered verified. In the event there is a discrepancy, additional steps must be taken to verify the location of the incident being reported, such as repeating the address twice and/or annunciating each digit of the address if necessary to clarify. 7. Transferring emergency calls. When emergency calls need to be transferred to another PSAP, the telecommunicator will transfer the call without delay. The telecommunicator will advise the caller: Please do not hang up; I am connecting you with (name of the agency). The telecommunicator should stay on the line until the Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 4 of 27

75 connection is complete and all pertinent information has been relayed to the answering PSAP. The NENA standard also specifies procedures for wireless calls, non-standard calls such as abandoned calls and disconnects, incomplete or no caller data, redundant calls and trouble reporting. The NFPA 1221 Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems (see Reference [7]) covers a wide variety of topics including: Communications centre design; Emergency response facilities; Operations; Computer-aided dispatching systems; Public alerting systems; Planning guidelines for systems. Regarding communication centre / PSAP design, the NFPA 1221 standard specifies that Each jurisdiction must maintain an alternate communications (back-up) centre that is capable, when staffed, of performing the emergency functions normally performed at the primary communications centre. The alternate centre must be geographically separate from the primary centre to ensure survivability; The communications centre must be provided with an alternate means of communication with the emergency response facilities (e.g. fire hall). The alternate means of communication must be readily available to the telecommunicator in the event of failure of the primary communications system; and The communications centre and other buildings that house essential operating equipment must be protected against damage from vandalism, terrorism and civil disturbances. Any windows must be bullet resistant. Other facility design requirements including power supplies, generators, air conditioning, lighting, communications circuits and cables, fire protection, toilets, etc. are specified in some detail within the NFPA 1221 standard. Annex C: Planning Guidelines for Universal Emergency Number (9-1-1) Service is provided with the standard for informational purposes. 2.2 Wireless E9-1-1 The CRTC has defined requirements for cellular providers to ensure that cell phones are compatible with enhanced (E9-1-1) emergency calling systems 2. The requirements have been implemented in two phases Phase I requires the delivery of a wireless (cell) call with a valid callback number and identification of the cell site/sector from which the call originated to help identify the 2 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 5 of 27

76 general location of the caller. The call is routed the call to the closest PSAP based on the cell site location. This was implemented in Phase II adds the requirement of locating the cell caller to within 50 to 100 meters of his or her location on most calls. Location information is sent to the PSAP as latitude and longitude coordinates which are displayed on a map using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The CRTC imposed a deadline of Feb 1, 2010 to complete the rollout of wireless Phase II E9-1-1 service in Canada. In practice Phase II features work with most handsets currently in use. If the caller has clear outdoor line of sight to several global positioning system (GPS) satellites the operator should get the caller s location within 50 meters. The system will try GPS mode first and if it doesn t work (e.g., inside buildings) will then go into triangulation mode making use of the signal strength at cell towers in the area of the phone. The 2010 rollout does not include several other Phase II components which will be added later. These "Phase II - Stage 2" features include the provisioning of mid-call location updates plus the provisioning of wireless Phase II E9-1-1 service for roamers and unsubscribed handsets. Wireless carriers will be required to (a) allow PSAPs to get updates on callers locations during calls (see Section 2.3 below), (b) provide for enhanced service to other carriers subscribers roaming on their networks, and (c) provide location information for users with pre-paid handsets. Work is also in progress to better accommodate cell phones from other countries (international roamers) by increasing the length of the callback number provided to the call taker. Due to technical reasons, the network cannot support telephone numbers of greater than 10 digits and therefore, wireless location cannot be automatically provided to the PSAP for an international roamer with a telephone number longer than 10 digits. The CRTC has accepted a non-automated solution using the wireless carriers' 24/7 emergency support centre for assistance in locating these wireless handsets. On October 26, 2010 a CRTC-mandated sub-working group issued draft recommendations 3 covering the procedures and formats of non-dialable Call Back Numbers (CBNs) to be delivered to the PSAP. These recommendations will be implemented by the end of the first quarter The following cell phone call types are covered: a. Uninitiated - handset has been manufactured and has some carrier information (such as a PRL) but no telephone number. This state includes any GSM handset without a SIM card. b. Unregistered - a state where the handset has not passed registration, such as immediately after power-up. The subscriber may be valid or invalid. Calls other than require the handset to first successfully pass registration. c. Active - normal operation. Handset can place and receive calls and roam but handset is operating within its home network. Wireless Phase II Stage 1 E9-1-1 locations will normally be provided to handsets in this state. 3 See Wireless E9-1-1 Phase II Stage 2 Feature Analysis - Update Report Number: ESRE0052 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 6 of 27

77 d. Canadian Roamer - a handset with a 10 digit Canadian telephone number and a valid subscription. Handset is roaming onto another Canadian WSP s network. e. North American Roamer (with a telephone number greater than 10 digits) - a handset with a 10 or 11 digit non-canadian NANP telephone number and a valid subscription. Handset is roaming onto a Canadian WSP s network. f. International Roamer(with a telephone number greater than 10 digits) - a handset with a non- NANP telephone number and a valid subscription. Handset is roaming onto a Canadian WSP s network g. Lapsed Pre-paid Subscribers - suspended by the carrier. This stage includes prepaid phones with an account balance of $0.00. The telephone number is still valid, but the handset cannot place or receive calls. The handset can call or the WSP s customer service. h. Unsubscribed - disconnected by the carrier. The telephone number has been recycled by the carrier (aged then reassigned to another handset) or the subscriber has ported the telephone number to another carrier i. Suspended - Carrier has temporarily suspended the user. The profile is active in the system. Caller can only dial and customer service. The ability to display text messages from cell phones at the PSAP and to communicate the deaf callers using text is also being introduced. These T9-1-1 features are described in Section 2.6 below. 2.3 Mid-call Location Updating (Wireless re-bid) This feature provides updated location information to the PSAP when someone calling using a cell phone moves to a different location while the call taker is on the line. The new official name for this feature is Wireless Phase II E9-1-1 In-Call Location Update (ICLU). It is often referred to as "wireless re-bid". The CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) / Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) was tasked with developing a technical solution for providing ICLU and has recommended the "manual pull method whereby the call taker initiates a request for updated location during the call. This is referred to as a PSAP Initiated Request (PIR). Deployment of this method will be completed by September In the interim, PSAPs will continue the use of the wireless service providers' s 24/7 emergency access numbers. These centres will be used to verbally obtain the required ICLU information. The manual pull method will use a query function hosted at the PSAP enabling the PSAP call taker to initiate ICLU when required. The Wireless Service Provider s (WSP) mobile location determination platform returns the updated location information to the PSAP over the ALI data path. With this method, the ALI-to-PSAP interface and the ALI application must be modified to support bi-directional communications. 4 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 7 of 27

78 2.4 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) VoIP is a technical protocol that allows telephone calls to be sent over a private data network or the public Internet. A VoIP service provider supplies a telephone number and a network translator device that permits their customer to talk via high-speed Internet connections such as cable television modems, ADSL 5 or a local area network. The caller s voice signal is encoded into data packets by the network translator device. These packets are sent over data networks such as the Internet by various routes and are reassembled into the voice signal at the final destination, allowing communication with another VoiP subscriber or a regular telephone. This is very different from the legacy telephone network which provides a fixed, circuit-switched connection for the duration of the call. Because VoIP services use Internet Protocol (IP) networks rather than traditional telephone or cellular networks, access to E9-1-1 must be provided in a different way. VoIP Service Providers (VSPs) must resolve a new set of challenges for determining the location of the caller, routing the call to the closest PSAP and automatically delivering the caller s location and call- back number to the PSAP. The challenge of locating VoIP callers using is a consequence of VoIP's flexibility. There are four categories of VoIP services: Fixed (static) VoIP placing calls from a single location; Nomadic VoIP placing calls from different locations where Internet access is available; Foreign Exchange VoIP allows users in one exchange to receive telephone calls dialled as local calls in another exchange that they have selected (e.g. a customer located in Victoria with a Vancouver local telephone number); and Mobile VoIP continuous movement within a WiFi or other wireless network. Fixed subscribers use VoIP as a landline supplement or replacement, typically using residential ADSL or TV cable service. Their VoIP phone is deployed in a fixed location and uses the standard North American Numbering Plan. Local exchange carriers can support fixed VoIP subscribers with local telephone numbers in the same way they support their wireline subscribers, i.e., by provisioning each VoIP number into the ALI database so the selective routers can recognize and correctly route the calls. But in most cases, this wireline model only supports fixed subscribers with local phone numbers. Because of the frequent use of non-local phone numbers, VSPs face challenges similar to those once faced by cellular carriers in terms of routing calls and location data through selective routing switches that don t recognize numbers from outside their area. Nomadic subscribers view VoIP as a highly portable telephony configuration that allows them to establish a telecommunication connection wherever they can obtain Internet access. 5 Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 8 of 27

79 Nomadic users take their VoIP service with them while on the go, connecting at the airport, in their hotels, or at any available Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) hot spot. Mobile subscribers not only take their VoIP phone with them wherever they go, but they remain continuously connected. Much like cellular technologies allow today, mobile VoIP subscribers may eventually be able to roam from their home-based telephony connection throughout a continuously interconnected WiFi network. As coverage of WiFi hot spots and other wireless methods for WiFi access become ubiquitous, the number of mobile VoIP subscribers is expected to increase. Because of the mobility of nomadic and mobile VoIP subscribers, VoIP solutions are dependent upon all subscribers accurately identifying their location when they register for VoIP services, as well as every time they log in. However, since it often takes hours for subscriber location data to be updated in the ALI database, new solutions are required for rapidly updating location data. At this point these new solutions are neither deployed nor fully developed. In Canada a call from a Cable IP device (fixed computer or VoIP telephone) with a local telephone number is handled like a call made using the traditional telephone network with the ANI and ALI being displayed at the PSAP. In order to provision E9-1-1 service, the Cable VoIP provider (such as Shaw) assigns a telephone number to the customer s modem, and the modem is associated with a physical street address. This information, when conveyed to the appropriate database managers has the capability to accurately convey the physical location of a call. In the U.S. NENA and the Voice on the Net (VON) Coalition have developed three levels of solutions for nomadic VoIP subscribers Immediate (i1) Allows a VoIP service provider to directly dial calls to a 10-digit PSAP administration number. The VoIP call is delivered to a 24x7 administrative line without the caller s location; the caller s phone number is only provided when caller ID is available on the receiving PSAP phone; Immediate (i2) VoIP providers route calls through existing tandems and update the existing ALI databases. The VoIP call is delivered to the correct PSAP via a selective router infrastructure solution. The caller's location and callback number are automatically delivered to the PSAP without any required hardware or software upgrades to the existing PSAP E9-1-1 infrastructure; and Long Term (i3) IP to IP call flow to a fully VoIP enabled PSAP (see Next Generation in Section 2.7 below). The overall goal of i1 and i2 was to not require any changes to the PSAPs. During 2005 the CRTC issued several decisions affecting fixed, nomadic and foreign exchange VoIP services in Canada. In Decision the CRTC directed 6 VoIP service 6 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 9 of 27

80 providers who provide fixed VoIP service (such as Shaw) to also provide the same level of emergency service that is provided by the incumbent telephone company in the service area, i.e. either Enhanced or Basic The Commission also requires that VoIP service providers delivering either nomadic or foreign exchange VoIP services (such as Vonage and Primus) implement an interim solution which provides a level of service comparable to Basic service. This can include routing of the call to a private central call centre which in turn contacts or forwards the call to the correct emergency response centre or PSAP. At this point the caller must identify his or her location in order for an emergency response service to be dispatched. The PSAP does not receive the ANI or ALI information associated with this type of call. This additional call handling step that occurs at the very start of the communications process adds a minimum of a 30 second delay to providing assistance to the caller. All local VoIP service providers in Canada must 7 provide specific notification to current and prospective customers regarding the availability, characteristics and limitations of their and Enhanced (E9-1-1) service. As an example, Figure 1 below shows an excerpt from Primus current terms and conditions for their Talkbroadband VoIP service. 7 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 10 of 27

81 (iii) Service Limitations You acknowledge and understand that the Service is not a telephone service. The Service connects to the Internet, and not a telephone line. There are IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES between telephone service and the Service offering provided by PRIMUS as set out in these Terms and Conditions. (iv) LIMITATIONS service associated with Talkbroadband HAS CERTAIN LIMITATIONS COMPARED WITH TRADITIONAL E-1-1, WHICH ARE SET OUT BELOW THE type of service available to You depends on where and how You use Your phone. There are two types of service 1. E9-1-1 Service You will have E9-1-1 service if your Talkbroadband telephone number corresponds to your address and municipality where you permanently use your TalkBroadband Service and E9-1-1 is available in your serving area. If You dial 9-1-1, Your call is automatically routed to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) corresponding to Your address and the emergency operator will have Your telephone and address information. You may be required to verify Your name, telephone number and address with the emergency operator. 2. Basic Service Basic Service is provided in the following two situations. You will have Basic Service if your TalkBroadband telephone number does not correspond to your address and municipality where you permanently use your TalkBroadband service or if you live in a serving area in which E9-1-1 from Primus is not available. If You dial 9-1-1, You will be automatically routed to a specialized call centre that handles emergency calls. The call centre is different from the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) that would answer a traditional emergency call. You will be required to provide Your name, telephone number and address to the call centre operator. OR You will have Basic Service if You intend on using Your TalkBroadband? Service from multiple locations. You have access to service, but because You may be out of the coverage area of Your Public Safety Access Point (PSAP), whenever You dial 9-1-1, You will be automatically routed to a specialized call centre that handles emergency calls. The call centre is different from the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) that would answer a traditional emergency call. You will be required to provide Your name, telephone number and address to the call centre operator. (v) SERVICE OUTAGES. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTAND THAT DURING SERVICE OUTAGES BY YOUR BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER OR FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER, YOUR TALKBROADBAND SERVICE INCLUDING SERVICE, WILL NOT WORK. IN THE EVENT OF A POWER FAILURE, TALKBROADBAND SERVICE, INCLUDING SERVICE WILL NOT WORK. IF THERE IS AN INTERRUPTION IN THE POWER SUPPLY, THE TALKBROADBAND SERVICE, INCLUDING SERVICE, WILL NOT FUNCTION UNTIL POWER IS RESTORED. A POWER FAILURE OR DISRUPTION MAY REQUIRE YOU TO RE-SET OR RECONFIGURE EQUIPMENT PRIOR TO USING THE TALKBROADBAND SERVICE. SERVICE OUTAGES DUE TO SUSPENSION OF YOUR ACCOUNT AS A RESULT OF BILLING ISSUES WILL PREVENT TALKBROADBAND SERVICE, INCLUDING SERVICE. (vi) YOU AGREE TO IMMEDIATELY ADVISE PRIMUS CANADA IF You intend on changing the address from which You use Your TALKBROADBAND Service, TO ENSURE YOU MAINTAIN SERVICE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTAND SHOULD YOU FAIL TO DO SO, Your service will not work properly and this will adversely affect Your ability to access service. Figure 1: Primus Terms of Service for Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 11 of 27

82 The Commission directed Canadian carriers, as a condition of providing telecommunications services to VoIP service providers, to include in their service contracts or other arrangements with these service providers the requirement that the latter comply with all of the Commission's rulings. With respect to the funding of the provincial networks, the Commission considers that the Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers' (ILEC) current provincial tariffs should apply to local VoIP service providers in the same manner as they apply to other carriers and resellers. The CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) / Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) was tasked with resolving the remaining technical and operational challenges related to providing E9-1-1 with nomadic and foreign exchange VoIP services. In Decision , the Commission approved the consensus recommendation of the CISC/ESWG to adopt the National Emergency Number Association i2 standard, adjusted as necessary for implementation in Canada, as the solution for the delivery of nomadic VOIP E9-1-1 service. This is referred to as "Ci2". The Commission further requested the ESWG to file a report on a functional architecture for implementation of Ci2. During the next four years the ESWG attempted to develop a consensus on the functional architecture of the Ci2 service, as well as the roles and responsibilities of industry participants for the new Ci2 operating elements. Work on implementation costs and potential cost recovery mechanisms was also carried out. However, disagreement between the telcos and cablecos as to the best functional architecture hampered significant progress on these issues. On June 17, 2010 the CRTC issued Decision In this decision, the Commission determined that there are "no viable alternatives" to the current basic service provided to nomadic and fixed/non-native VoIP subscribers. It noted that there are currently only 200,000 nomadic VoIP service subscribers in Canada and that this number is now declining. Also, most nomadic VoIP service customers rely on other wireline and wireless services as their primary telephone service, which they can use to obtain access to emergency services. The Commission concluded that implementation of Ci2 is not viable due to Ci2 s technical limitations in the face of evolving technology, decreasing demand for and usage of nomadic VoIP service, and the high cost of Ci2 implementation. The Commission directed nomadic and fixed/non-native VoIP service providers to make certain improvements to their current VoIP service until Next-Generation service (see Section 2.7) is implemented. These service providers must (1) contact their nomadic and fixed/non-native VoIP customers each time they change their billing address to confirm their most likely physical address for emergency purposes; and (2) ensure that customers are able to update their most likely physical address online Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 12 of 27

83 The Commission also requested the ESWG to monitor developments that could lead to further improvements to the current VoIP service or lead to a viable alternative solution, and to file an annual report of its findings. 2.5 Competitive Local Exchange Carriers Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) are local telephone service providers that compete with the established telephone companies (ILECs). Like ILECs, CLECs must provide standard emergency response service (9-1-1 ERS) to their customers, In order to provide this service, CLECs are required either to enter into an agreement with the local authority such as the municipality or provincial government where the service is to be provided or to file a ERS tariff with the CRTC for approval. In July the CRTC released a ERS model tariff covering service and directed all CLECs who have not yet executed agreements for ERS with all local authorities in the territories in which they operate to file a tariff based on the model for Commission approval. The deadline for these tariff filings was August 1, Access by People with Hearing and Speech Disabilities A Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) has traditionally been a device with a keyboard and text screen, used in conjunction with a telephone, to communicate with persons who are hearing impaired or who have speech impediments. This device was also known as TTY, the historical abbreviation for teletype. To communicate via TTY, a caller types his or her conversation, which is read on a TTY display by the person who receives the call. Both parties must have TTY s to communicate. This is intended to replicate voice communications between the two parties. In Canada it is not a mandated requirement to provide direct and equal access to the PSAP s using TDD/TTY and Canadian PSAPs may not have operational TTY units in place. In order to improve access to emergency services for people with hearing and speech disabilities the CRTC directed the CISC ESWG to develop a technical solution to replace TDD. The ESWG subsequently concluded that text messaging to via SMS, IM, RTT, and IP Relay technology are not viable solutions at this time for the following reasons SMS, IM, RTT, and IP Relay do not support automatic routing to the appropriate PSAP or the automatic provision of caller location information to the PSAP; and IM and RTT do not provide automatic subscriber identification information, such as a telephone number, which is provided automatically with SMS. In addition, the ESWG considered that, in the long term, next-generation standards and technologies that are currently in development could enable users to access PSAPs via multiple methods of texting to The implementation of these capabilities will depend on the maturation level of IP networking and next-generation networks and platforms. The 10 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 13 of 27

84 CISC ESWG indicated that it would monitor these technologies and make recommendations on them when they meet enhanced service criteria. In the short term, the ESWG proposed further investigation of a potential work-around solution referred to as "SMS T9-1-1 via silent wireless voice call." With this solution, when a pre-registered person with a hearing or speech disability initiates contact with a PSAP by dialing on a cellphone, that person's contact and location information would automatically be transmitted in the same way it is for other cellphone users, but the call would be flagged as coming from a person with a hearing or speech disability. Upon receiving a flagged call, the operator would respond by sending an SMS text message to the caller, thus enabling the caller to text back and forth with the operator. However, this solution would not enable people to initiate a call via text message or to text directly to 9-1-1, and would require PSAPs to change their call handling procedures The ESWG proposed to undertake a technical trial of the SMS T9-1-1 via silent wireless voice call solution by conducting various activities identified in the report. The CISC ESWG expects to take 12 to 18 months to implement and operate the trial. The ESWG recommended this technical trial on the basis that the SMS T9-1-1 via silent wireless voice call solution: Supports the automatic routing of calls to the appropriate PSAP; Enables the automatic provision of the caller's contact and location information to the PSAP; and Uses existing network infrastructure, which would reduce implementation time. In April 2010 the CRTC approved the CISC ESWG recommendations 11 and directed the group to: Immediately begin the activities required to implement the technical trial of the "SMS T9-1-1 via silent wireless voice call" solution recommended in their report, including completing the investigation into the various technical specifications, along with wireless carriers, service providers, and the public safety community; File a status report with the Commission, every six months from the date of this decision, outlining the progress of activities undertaken to implement the technical trial and identifying the remaining activities and time frames required to complete the trial; and File a final report on the outcome of the trial, including any further actions that would be required to implement the service. As of May 2010 the ESWG is actively working on the T911 SMS Gateway which will provide a PSAP- initiated text-to-sms inter-working function including auto routing to the home wireless service provider based on the caller's number Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 14 of 27

85 After the ESWG has made recommendations based on the information generated by the trial and on the related technical specifications, the Commission will determine what further process, if any, is required regarding policy issues. This could include how registration for use of the service would be carried out and proposed methods of funding. 2.7 Next Generation Within five years it is projected that 70% of calls will be from wireless devices and at least 40% of all wireline calls will be routed through VoIP providers. This means that less than 20% of all calls could be carried over the traditional telephony network around which current technology is based. Current systems are not able to handle the text, data, images and video which are increasingly common in personal communications devices. This gap is becoming increasing critical with advances in transportation safety and mobility. The Next Generation (NG 9-1-1) initiative will establish the foundation for public emergency communications services in a wireless mobile society. NG is being developed and promoted by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). NG is expected to allow transmission of text, photos and/or video along with voice for calls from many types of communications devices. It will also support locationindependent call access, transfer, and backup among multiple PSAPs and between PSAPs and other authorized emergency organizations. A simplified overview of NG architecture compared to current E9-1-1 is shown in Figure 2. Figure 3 shows a more detailed blueprint from NENA. Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 15 of 27

86 Today s E9-1-1 Dispatch Centers Telephones Telephone and Cell Networks Selective Router PSAP Police Cell Phones VoIP Devices VoIP Providers Call Center ANI/ALI Database CAD System Map / Address Data Fire Ambulance Next Generation Legacy Phone & Cell Networks SR Gateways Dispatch Centers Voice IP PSAP Text Images Video Internet Firewalls ANI/ALI Database CAD Systems Map / Address Data Emergency Services IP Network Figure 2: Transition to NG Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 16 of 27

87 Figure 3: Proposed NG Architecture There are very few NG systems in operation however many are in the planning stages and there are several trials and feasibility studies in progress (ref [2]). NENA has published a number of technical and operational standards related to NG The State of Vermont s Next Generation system (ref [5] ) is arguably the most advanced IP-based process in the U.S. at this time. The Vermont system cut over in February 2007 and is fully deployed. Inbound calls are delivered by the carrier to the former ILEC tandems for "pass through" to the State's IP gateways. There is no selective routing on the telco side; they simply deliver the call to the gateway. The State is currently resolving regulatory issues and tariff issues arising from the new architecture and cost structure of the system. Other current initiatives are focused on optimizing the flexibility provided by an IP based system. Two PSAPs have been decommissioned based on the economy of scale provided by the new system. Efforts are underway to provide positions-ondemand through the use of non-psap based call takers, and warm-site standby PSAPs. Deployment of NG is dependent primarily on availability of funding and is also somewhat dependent on the rate of conversion of circuit switched telephone and cell networks IP-based technology. This conversion has not yet occurred on a large scale. A major driver for NG may be the increasing shift from voice calling to text messaging by millions of cell phone users. Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 17 of 27

88 Vendors such as Solacom have developed IP-based, stand-alone emergency service platforms that could enable transition to NG These platforms have the required interfaces to both legacy and IP-based networks and PSAPs. 2.8 Enhanced Community Notification System (ECNS) ECNS is a communications methodology that can be put in place to inform the public of known hazards. It uses a combination of database and GIS mapping technologies to deliver outbound notifications to communities using the E9-1-1 database. In Decision dated May 2, 2008 the Commission approved the recommendations of the ESWG for implementation of ECNS in Canada. These include a set of standard guidelines, security procedures, processes and practices. Encryption, firewalls, and transaction/audit trails will be used to ensure that confidential consumer information is protected at all times and is only available for authorized enhanced CNS users. There are still a number of unresolved technical issues including the inclusion of wireless and nomadic VoIP subscribers in the E9-1-1 database. These will require further investigation and development. 2.9 Deterring Abuse At a meeting of Federal / Provincial / Territorial (FPT) Ministers Responsible for Justice in November 2002, Manitoba advised that a recent inquest report in the province noted an appalling level of abuse of the emergency number in Manitoba. Subsequently, at the Ministers' request, in January 2003, the Deputy Ministers Responsible for Justice created an ad hoc Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee to be chaired by Manitoba and Justice Canada to examine this issue. The mandate of the Committee is to examine the scope of possible legislative responses to abuse of the system and, specifically to Consult other jurisdictions as to whether there are any concerns regarding the adequacy of current Criminal Code offences; Work together on obtaining, where available, data on the incidence of abuse, as well as prosecutions; Make recommendations to Ministers and Deputy Ministers on the issue of whether Criminal Code amendments or provincial legislative changes should be pursued; and Make recommendations on future opportunities for improving the capacity for data collection and community education. Activities of this committee got underway in May In its Revised Draft Report (ref [4]) issued on March 31, 2010, the ad hoc CCSO /PSAP Administrators Committee on Abuse of Emergency Systems concluded that: 12 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 18 of 27

89 The proportion of intentional false (i.e. malicious) calls to is very low (about 1% of calls) and the majority of abuse calls are intentional calls for information or non-emergency services or unintentional calls (e.g. a cell phone being accidentally triggered to dial the pre-programmed number or children playing with a phone). There is no need at this time for amendments to create a new Criminal Code abuse of offence or to change the existing offences in the Criminal Code or to expand the use of provincial legislation to address abuse beyond those provinces that have already introduced such legislation. Further work should be considered on developing a standard model for public education about abuse of in Canada and this issue should be left with the national /PSAP Committee for future consideration Implications for the CRD The recent implantation of Wireless E9-1-1 (Phase 2) and the deployment of wireless rebid over the next two years will have operational impacts on service within the CRD. Both should result in faster and more accurate determination of the caller's location for calls from cell phones, and further reductions in the time taken to relay the call to the correct downstream emergency agencies. If the establishment of a new consolidated PSAP is considered as an option by the CRD a cost study of using current architecture and equipment versus Next Generation technology should be carried out. A new centre might offer the opportunity to implement NG91-1, making CRD one of the first jurisdictions in Canada to do so. However a full review of costs and benefits should be undertaken before a consolidated NG9-1-1 center for CRD is seriously considered.in the meantime any planned changes to CRD PSAP facilities or procedures must take into account industry evolution to NG9-1-1 technology and standards. Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 19 of 27

90 3. Funding Funding for services is derived from a number of sources. The oldest and most common form of funding is a surcharge on wireline telephone subscribers within a given service area. In many areas, there is also a separate surcharge on wireless subscribers within the service area. Regrettably, neither of these models effectively provides the opportunity for other than wireline and wireless subscribers to participate in the financial support of public safety resources. The traveling public, remote VoIP service providers and others outside the service area make no contribution to the cost of maintenance of the services to which they route callers. While the surcharge model had a measure of appropriateness in years past, the expansion of access to service at the PSAP from other devices and technology has created a pattern of diminishing revenue amidst increased expectation of service. Consequently the need to fund service from sources other than phone bill surcharges is continually increasing, particular in areas of low population density. The telephone company costs to provide are shown between the two blue lines in Figure 9 below. In Canada the rate per access line appears as a Service line item on the subscriber s telephone bill and covers the voice and data network portion of the service. This includes central office access provisioning, network trunks to the Selective Router, selective routing software (ESZ tables), network trunks to each emergency response agency, database and computers (Address Management System), ALI data circuits to each agency, installation, as well as ongoing maintenance and support. PSAP costs to support the caller covers everything below the bottom blue line in Figure 9. A Call Answer Levy (CAL) has often been applied to help offset these costs. The CAL appears as another line item on the subscriber s telephone bill. Another approach is to have the telephone company bill the PSAP operator (e.g. local government) for network costs on a per working line basis and have this added to the PSAP costs that are billed as a charge on property tax statements. Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 20 of 27

91 Figure 4: Service Fee and Call Answer Levy In Canada the Call Answer Levy relates only to the costs of the initial response to the call and the effort to complete the downstream transfer to police, fire or EMS dispatchers. Examples of these costs are: staff wages and benefits, office space and furniture, administration overhead, PSAP customer premise equipment (as listed in Section 4) and ongoing equipment maintenance and support. The Service Agreement signatory works with the local telephone company to establish the CAL rate. Most of the telephone companies that provide this service receive $0.07 per line per month for billing, collection and disbursing a monthly cheque to the signatory PSAP operator. The following are examples of recent CAL rates in Canada. Except in Nova Scotia 13 these levies are collected from wireline carriers only. Nova Scotia $0.43 ($ $0.07) Quebec $0.47 ($ $0.07) Alberta $0.44 ($ $0.07) BC Powell River $0.69 ($ $0.07) BC Nanaimo $0.47 ($ $0.07) 13 As described in TM-03A, the Government of Nova Scotia collects a CAL from both wireline and wireless service providers resulting in a revenue stream of over $5.5 million per year. Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 21 of 27

92 4. Governance Governance is a very widely used term with a number of context-specific interpretations. It usually refers to the structure, responsibilities, policies, and internal controls by which an organization is directed and managed. It is essentially a mechanism to provide accountability for the way an organization manages itself. 4.1 Governance Fundamentals The governance structure in public safety support organizations (e.g., systems) must provide overall oversight of management and operations. All key stakeholders must be represented. Financial contributions from the stakeholders may affect the structure however ownership of the subject corporate entity and/or system assets may be entirely separate from governance. There are a number of models in Canada for a governance model that includes multiple levels of government. These include E-Comm in the Metro Vancouver area as well as the inter-regional cooperative model for the provision of a hosted and fire dispatch service in the Regional District of Fraser Fort George. The governance structure must consider and incorporate: Clearly defined responsibilities; Effective decision-making processes; An adequate legal structure; Appropriate stakeholder input and influence; Effective working relationships; Neutrality with respect to stakeholders; and Governing Provincial Acts and Regulations. Within the governance structure the functions of oversight and management should be clearly separated. The senior governance body (e.g., Board of Directors) typically decides on: Changes to management / operational structure; Selection of CEO and senior Management; Changes to cost sharing arrangements; Approval of annual budgets; Management salary scales; and Issues that cannot be resolved by Management. The executive and management organization reports to the senior governance body and deals with: Operational issues with user groups and suppliers; Service quality (to users and from suppliers); Strategic and tactical planning; Initiating system additions and changes; Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 22 of 27

93 Administration; Preparation of annual budgets; Human resources and labour relations issues; and Training, disaster recovery plans, etc. Other required aspects of governance include (i) demonstrated accountability with regular audits, (ii) transparency and disclosure such as publicly available reports and (ii) legal liability. These aspects are covered to a large extent by federal and provincial laws. 4.2 Issues and Risks There are a number of key governance issues that must be addressed when establishing a governance structure. These include selection of members of the senior governing body (e.g., Board of Directors), stakeholder representation and voting and participation of directors in shareholders meetings, if applicable. Board members must understand their rights and responsibilities and should always put collective needs first. Some independent members (i.e. neutral experts) should be included. Voting rules should strike a balance between (a) equal share / equal vote (favors small members) and (b) votes based on financial contributions (favors large members). Voting procedures may be different for different types of decisions (e.g. financial vs. operational). The following are examples of governance problems that can be avoided if the governance structure is well designed. No method to proceed without unanimous agreement; Uncertain quorum levels; No method to deal with deadlock situations; No method to deal with financial shortfalls; No process for adding stakeholders (e.g., new Emergency Response Agencies); Outdated governing documents; Insufficient management / operational staff to implement board decisions; Excessive political influence; Board decisions overruled at shareholder meetings; and Board decisions on technical and user issues without proper understanding. 4.3 Governance Options A governance structure may be built around the following entities however available options may be restricted by Government statutes. Government Department / Agency; Crown Corporation; Member-owned, non-profit Corporation (several variations); Joint Venture; Society; Public Authority; and Public/Private Partnership. Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 23 of 27

94 The governance and management structure for a PSAP must include a communications centre Manager with trained call answer / dispatch staff and administrative support. Typically this Manager is a key member (perhaps ex officio) of a Management Committee consisting of involved stakeholder representatives which meets to review and resolve issues on a regular basis. The Management Committee should be created by and operated under the oversight of a governing Board consisting of executive level representatives from the main stakeholder groups (e.g. Law Enforcement, Fire, EMS) as well as neutral expert members. This Board typically approves budgets, develops and approves the strategic plan, makes key directional decisions and resolves any issues that may be escalated to it by the Management Committee. It is important to note that the governance structure required by a given project is almost always unique due to the wide variations in emergency services organizations and levels of government involved. Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 24 of 27

95 5. Abbreviations ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ALI Automatic Location Identification ANI Automatic Number Identification APCO Association of Public Safety Communications Officials ASP Access Service Provider CAD Computer Aided Dispatch CIIDS Computerized Integrated Information and Dispatch System CISC CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee CLEC Competitive Local Exchange Carrier CRTC Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission CTIA Cellular Telephone Industry Association CWTA Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association DSL Digital Subscriber Line E9-1-1 Enhanced ECNS Enhanced Community Notification System ELIN Emergency Location Identification Number EMD Emergency Medical Dispatch EMS Emergency Medical Service ERA Emergency Response Agency ERL Emergency Response Location ESWG Emergency Services Working Group ESZ Emergency Response Zone FCC Federal Communications Commission GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System ICLU In-Call Location Update ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier IP Internet Protocol LDP Location Determination Platform MSAG Master Street Address Guide NENA National Emergency Number Association NFPA National Fire Protection Association NG9-1-1 Next Generation Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 25 of 27

96 OCC Operations Control Centre PBX Private Branch Exchange PIR PSAP Initiated Request PSAP Public Safety Answering Point PSN/PSTN Public Switched Network/Public Switched Telephone Network SSAP Secondary Safety Answering Point TDD/TTY Telecommunications Device for the Deaf T Text UPS Uninterruptable Power Supply VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol VON Voice on the Net VSP VoIP Service Provider WSP Wireless Service Provider Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 26 of 27

97 6. References [1] NENA Master Glossary of Terminology [2] National IP Network and NG9-1-1 Progress - 12/13/ [3] Next Generation 9-1-1: What NENA is doing & what it means for emergency communications, Bill McMurray, NENA, January 18, [4] Report of the Ad Hoc CCSO 9-1-1/PSAP Administrators Committee on Abuse of Emergency Systems, Revised Draft, March 31, 2010 [5] Vermont's Next Generation system [6] [7] NFPA 1221: Standard for the Installation, Maintenance and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems, 2007 edition, [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] APCO9-1-1 Funding Matrix, April 7, 2008 Planetworks TM-02A CRD Standards and Developments Page 27 of 27

98 TM-03A - CRD Benchmarking TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM CRD TM-03A for the CRD 17 Nov by Planetworks Consulting Corp D. Mitchell, C. Thompson, D. Reid Summary: 1) The purpose of this technical memorandum is to describe several Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) operated by other Canadian jurisdictions and compare these to current CRD facilities and operations. Results of this benchmarking process will be considered in developing options for CRD. 2) Comparison with the benchmark centres and organizations suggests that CRD should consider the following actions. These are described in Section 7 of this report and will be used in developing several alternative plans for CRD: Improving the governance structure and agreements among the stakeholders to enable effective decision-making and future improvements to the system; Reduction in the number of PSAPs in CRD based on the population served per centre compared to the benchmark PSAPs; Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) across the PSAPs; Initiating legislation to collect call answer fees from cell phone users; Marketing call answer and fire dispatch services to other municipalities and collecting cost recovery fees for such services; Implementation of a users group in the CRD that included the users from each of the three principle agencies; Requiring formal technical and operational standards and reporting milestones for all subsequent contract and memoranda of understanding; Review of the protocol to address the concerns of some of the users regarding the routing for motor vehicle incidents and other call types; Ensuring that all centres are as near to post-disaster compliance as possible; and Ensuring that all centres have defined business continuity programs. Distribution: Travis Whiting CRD Planetworks Project Team

99 Table of Contents Section Page 1. INTRODUCTION STRATHCONA REGIONAL EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE LETHBRIDGE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE NOVA SCOTIA S EMERGENCY REPORTING SYSTEM E COMM, EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS FOR SOUTHWEST BC RCMP S.E. DISTRICT (KELOWNA) PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CRD ABBREVIATIONS REFERENCES... 27

100 1. Introduction 1.1 Background This is one of several technical memos (TMs) being prepared for the CRD during the first stage of a review of services and fire dispatch in the Capital Region. Other TMs describe the current situation in the CRD as well as external industry standards and developments. A final report will contain options for the CRD based on this work. 1.2 Purpose of this Report The objective of this report is to describe several Canadian benchmark emergency communications centres and supporting organizations and compare these to current CRD and fire dispatch facilities and operations. 1.3 Methodology Information for this report was obtained from site visits, meetings, telephone conversations, and exchanges with managers of the benchmark communications centres as well as public information and internal documents provided by the interviewees. Information was also provided based on previous work by the consultants. 2. Strathcona Regional Emergency Communications Centre 2.1 Overview The Regional Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) is operated by Strathcona County Emergency Services in Sherwood Park. It is Alberta s fourth largest emergency dispatch centre. As a Primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) the ECC provides call answer as well as fire and EMS dispatch services and down streams all police calls to the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies for dispatching. The Strathcona ECC maintains a registered ISO 9001 quality management program with regular internal and external audits. The department intends to apply to become an Accredited Centre of Excellence (ACE) under the fire dispatch centre accreditation program of the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch Clients and Services Strathcona serves 113 (~31%) of Alberta s 359 municipalities including 53 municipalities for call answer / transfer service, 37 for fire dispatching and 89 for EMS dispatching. This 1 Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 3 of 27

101 represents a total served population of 400,000 including the 88,000 residents of Strathcona County. The centre currently handles over 70,000 emergency calls per year and is actively marketing its services to other areas of Alberta and beyond. 2.3 Governance and Funding The ECC reports via the Emergency Services department to the Strathcona County Council. Although there are regular consultations with client agencies there is currently no formal users group or advisory committee. Annual client workshops will be held after ACE accreditation is obtained, A quarterly operations report is provided to the Strathcona mayor and council. For municipal customers the ECC offers call answer/ transfer service in exchange for the municipality redirecting the telephone tariff of 37 cents per land line per month to Strathcona (plus 7 cents to Telus) with no other direct charge to the client municipality. There is no tariff or contribution for cellular users. For full fire or EMS dispatching, the ECC charges a 2010 starting rate of $2.50 per capita per annum with 5% annual rate increases. Customers wanting simplified Dispatch by Call Transfer can receive this service for $1.50 per capita. These rates are "Not-For-Profit" - only $0.01/per capita more than estimated direct costs. All remaining funding is provided by Strathcona County. 2.4 Operations The ECC has a staff count of 22 of which 15 are full time. The average experience level is eight years and there is negligible turnover. All are qualified emergency medical technicians or emergency medical responders and are certified to international dispatch standards. Standard Operating Procedures are included in the ISO 9001 quality management system and are therefore kept up to date and audited. Position staffing is set up as 10-hour day shifts and 14-hour night shifts. It is felt that the 14 hour night shifts are not ideal and changes are likely to be made. It is felt by the ECC that their training and Quality Assurance (QA) programs are the "best in the business". The back-up configuration for the ECC consists of a "triangle" with the Grand Prairie and Parkland 9-1-1/dispatch centres (see Section 2.6 below). Strathcona calls may also overflow to Grand Prairie during peak periods and may be redirected back on Strathcona 10D lines for dispatch. Since Grand Prairie has only 1 call taker, a large volume of overflow calls during a peak or ECC evacuation could be problematic. The ECC down streams police calls to the Northern Alberta RCMP K Division communications centre. A full complement of spare communication centre equipment is in place for business continuity / disaster recovery. Two Telus DMS-100 selective routing switches in Edmonton and Sherwood Park provide telecommunications network redundancy. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 4 of 27

102 All statistics are obtained from the FDM CAD/RMS system. Leduc and Fort Saskatchewan can pull statistics directly from the system. 2.5 Facilities The ECC recently moved into a new space on the second floor of Fire Station No. 1 in Sherwood Park. The new centre was built to NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) standards. It has a state of the art layout with Evans sit-to-stand workstations. There are four / fire / EMS dispatch positions along with a larger supervisor's workstation that can be staffed as a fifth operating position. There is a widescreen wall display of current calls and dispatch activity. The ECC manager is located in an adjacent office. There are six lines to handle calls. Full computer aided dispatching and mapping is provided using the FDM CAD/RMS system. The ECC senior manager feels this system is superior for rural areas. All vehicles have Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL). All phone lines, radio transmissions and computer records are electronically recorded using an Eventide logger. This covers both instant call recording and voice logging. Translation is provided by the Language Line service. There is no longer a TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) device - it was removed since it was never used. The building is equipped with an emergency gasoline generator within the building and a common uninterruptable power system (UPS). The mobile radio system used for dispatch in Strathcona is a 4-site Motorola analog trunked system maintained by Westcan Wireless. This system will be interoperable with, or possibly replaced by, the new province-wide AFRRCS P25 mobile radio system within the next few years. 2.6 Telecommunications As part of its Provincial tariff Telus provides two Nortel DMS 100 selective routers referred to as Primary and Secondary tandems with redundant lines from each tandem to the PSAP. If the call takers experience a problem on their primary lines they can log them out and log into the secondary lines to receive the calls 2. Telus Alberta s system is designed using the Nortel DMS 100 selective router in an Automatic Call Distribution (Network ACD) environment. Telus programs a unique ACD queue in the selective router for each primary PSAP and each secondary PSAP. Each workstation 2 It should be noted that in the CRD Telus also provides two DMS-100 selective routers however if the call takers experience a problem on their primary lines they must operate an A key which transfers the calls to the secondary lines to receive the calls. This type of back up operation is used extensively at the U.S. PSAPs. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 5 of 27

103 telephone at both the primary or secondary centre will have an analog line wired directly from the selective router. At the start of each shift the call taker ensures that the analog line is logged into their unique Network ACD queue allowing calls to be directed to their position. This feature is called 2500 ACD which allows the call taker to process ACD calls with a standard analog line connection. The call taker also has the capability of logging off which stops calls being directed to their workstation telephone set. Because each workstation has its own unique line the selective router can tell the Automatic Location Identification (ALI) computer which call taker s screen to send the ALI/ANI information to. (In contrast it should be noted that Telus's system serving the CRD is designed using a linear hunt group programmed at the DMS-100 selective router.) The first call into the hunt group is presented on line 1 at the PSAP and so on until all the lines are busy. Once all lines are busy the subsequent callers will hear busy tone until one of the lines becomes idle. The selective router in this type of operation does not know which call taker answered the call so a Key System Interface (KSI) is used to tell the ALI computer which call taker s screen to send the ALI/ANI information to). Telus Alberta has set up an arrangement with three PSAP s in each geographical area to answer each other s calls using Network ACD and an ACD feature called overflow when busy to its back up Network ACD PSAP queue. If all the PSAP s call takers are busy on calls rather than providing busy tone to the next caller, the caller will be answered at the designed overflow Network ACD PSAP. The call taker at the overflow PSAP will answer the call then dial the ten digit back door number at the original PSAP advising that they have received an overflow call. Some of the problems identified with this type of process are that the overflow agency may not be able to handle the volume of calls from the other agency and there is no common CAD system to start an incident report or radio connection to start the dispatch. 2.7 Performance Performance statistics were not provided. 2.8 Other Transfer of EMS calls to the new Alberta Health Services call centre is planned for year-end Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 6 of 27

104 Observations by the senior manager: Call answer performance is enhanced by (a) growth in workload - keeping staff busy, (b) careful hiring - "type C" personalities are best, (c) minimum of 3 on duty if possible and (d) well defined accountability and expectations; Actions by the central IT department can adversely affect ECC equipment (e.g. centralized software upgrades); and Should aim for multi-centre, resilient network (i.e., each communications center and link has back-up in case of failure) Planned future features and services: Mobile CAD; GPS tracking; Fire hall toning; Platinum dispatching (dedicated dispatching); Annual client workshop; and Locution station alerting. 3. Lethbridge Public Safety Communications Centre 3.1 Overview Using a "tri-service" model the Lethbridge Regional Public Safety Communications Centre (PSCC) provides call answer as well as fire/ems and police dispatch services to Lethbridge and other southern Alberta communities. The PSCC serves a total population of 131,000 and, during 2007, handled 33, calls, 18,569 fire/ems dispatch calls and 32,862 police dispatch calls. 3.2 Clients and Services The PSCC provides combined / dispatch services for Lethbridge Regional Fire/EMS and Police and down streams calls to the RCMP (Red Deer) for rural areas and to municipal fire departments and other agencies. 3.3 Governance and Funding The PSCC operates as a separate business unit within the City of Lethbridge and reports to a Governance Committee consisting of the Chief of Police, Fire Chief and City Manager. The PSCC manager provides regular reports at monthly meetings of the Governance Committee. The current governance structure was established in February Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 7 of 27

105 A 48 cent per month fee on land line phone bills is collected for all served municipalities. The remaining budget is covered by City taxation and is equally shared between the police and fire/ems departments. 3.4 Operations The tri-service model used in the PSCC is felt to be unique. It facilitates communications, information transfer and excellent service. There is a lack of formalized processes and Standard Operating Guidelines that creates some inconsistency in procedures from shift to shift however Lethbridge is working with an external consultant to develop these, and this process is largely complete. There has been a lack of a time and resources to formalize a QA process. The centre has limited back-up centre capabilities and also a lack of spare equipment for backup. During a PSCC outage or traffic peak, calls overflow to the Foothills PSAP in Turner Valley. Along with Red Deer these centres form a triangular back-up configuration that is commonly used in Alberta (see Strathcona Section 2.6 above). Overflowed calls may end up being redirected back to Lethbridge on 10D lines. This could be problematic during a PSCC evacuation or a peak in calling. There are two Telus DMS-100 switches in Calgary providing the selective routing function. These switches are in separate buildings thus providing a totally redundant and diverse telecommunications network. The PSCC has 22 employees including the PSCC Manager, Operations Manager, four shift supervisors and four employees per shift. There is also a radio system coordinator and radio system technician reporting to the PSCC manager. Shifts are as follows: 7 AM- 7 PM and 7 PM- 7 AM - each with five staff, dropped to 4 during sickness/absence; A 6th person from 16:00 to 04:00 daily; Lunch relief 11:00 to 16:00 daily; and An additional call taker 23:00 to 03:00 Thursday and Friday nights. Call takers are cross-trained on both the police and fire CAD systems. The training program is effective and the centre maintains good employee retention. Telus calling statistics are used for reporting purposes. Much of the dispatch activity data is obtained manually. 3.5 Facilities and Telecommunications The current PSCC room and building meet most NFPA 1221 guidelines. There is a diesel back-up generator and common UPS system in the building. The centre will be moving to a new purpose built fire station building built to post-disaster and NFPA 1221 standards Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 8 of 27

106 The call taker/dispatch positions consist of six Bramic sit-to-stand work stations with telephones and radio dispatch consoles (configured for Fire, Police, EMS and other agency communications). There are two Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems: Intergraph CAD for Police and FDM CAD for Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Two positions are equipped with FDM CAD for fire dispatch and three positions have Intergraph CAD for police dispatch. There is a sixth position for both police and fire dispatch equipped with both CAD screens. All positions answer calls. The PSCC has recently awarded a contract for project management services to transition their fire dispatch to Intergraph CAD from the existing FDM system. Also, there are two off-site backup workstations equipped with telephones and radio consoles, off-site (for evacuation and redundancy purposes). There are seven incoming lines connected via an upgraded Norstar key system. Administration lines are on a Meridian 1 PBX with connections to the new City-wide VoIP telephone system. Both the Meridian and Norstar switches are maintained by Telus. Each workstation has its own 2500 ACD line and if not answered will busy out and hunt to the next available workstation. The call taker needs to log in again to receive calls at that workstation. (See Section 2.6 above for a full description of Telus configuration in Alberta.) Over 50% of calls are from cell phones. Wireless Phase 2 is working well although Global Positioning System (GPS) display is quite slow. Telus operates the Master Street Address Guide (MSAG) and all mapping information for CAD is provided by the City. A Harris (formerly MA/COM) EDACS 800 Mhz trunked mobile radio system consisting of one site with 10 channels is used by all City mobile radio users The centre uses a NICE system for instant call recording and voice logging. Language Line service is used for translation. There is TDD equipment in place but it is very rarely used. There are limitations in physical space (noisy etc.) which will be resolved by the upcoming relocation. 3.6 Performance Reported Key Performance Indicators include call volumes (9-1-1 and dispatch), time to answer and process calls, and Quality Assurance compliance scores. No actual performance statistics were provided. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 9 of 27

107 3.7 Other The PSCC manager and staff have an up-to-date Business Plan (see Reference [5]) with a full SWOT 3 analysis. This was provided to Planetworks and is the source of some of the information in this report. The Business Plan is being used to drive continuing improvements. It was felt that the 3-way back-up configuration could be significantly improved with common CAD systems across the PSAPs. Issues to be dealt with (per Business Plan): New building - unknowns of transitioning, coordinating the move from a technological perspective; Ever changing, rapidly evolving technology; regulatory changes pending - will impact staffing requirements, building requirements, CAD requirements; Changing technology - VoIP, digital phones, pagers - current inability to handle text massaging of 9-1-1; Provincial radio project may change our radio system requiring new equipment, training; Alberta Health initiatives will impact ambulance dispatch in the province and possibly Lethbridge; Attracting qualified staff in a tight labour market; maintaining staff as we grow; Funding - outside agencies may leave in favour of another service provider (valueadded services); Retirements pending (loss of skills and knowledge); Loss of hours for casual employees (as a result of hiring rovers); Ability of Centre to handle a large scale disaster; and Alberta Solicitor General's Police Records Management Project - may regulate which computer aided dispatch system the PSCC will use. 4. Nova Scotia s Emergency Reporting System 4.1 Overview Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of 55,284 square kilometers (21,300 sq mi). Its population of 940,397 as of 2009 makes it the fourth-leastpopulous province of the country, although second-most-densely populated. The provincial system architecture (see Ref [6]) consists of four PSAPs located in the following major emergency dispatch communications centres: 3 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 10 of 27

108 Dartmouth: the Halifax Regional Call Centre operated by Halifax Regional Municipality Integrated Emergency Services (IES); Truro: the RCMP s operational communications centre (OCC); Sydney: the Regional Communications Centre operated by Cape Breton Regional Municipality; and Kentville: operated by Valley Communications Inc., Valley Dispatch is the largest privately owned and operated dispatch centre in Nova Scotia. Roles and responsibilities can be summarized as follows: Province of Nova Scotia - provides all of the training and technology, sets operating standards and policies, monitors and evaluates performance, delivers public education programs; Bell Aliant, one of North America's largest regional communications providers, provides a fully integrated redundant network to deliver calls to the PSAPs; and Municipalities, RCMP and private sector dispatch centres under contract to provide people and facilities to answer calls. 4.2 Clients and Services The four dispatch centres listed above answer all calls in the Province - about 182,000 calls per year. Calls are also downstreamed as required to 30 other police and fire/ems dispatch centres throughout the Province. 4.3 Governance and Funding Nova Scotia service is directly managed by the Emergency Management Office (EMO) of the Government of Nova Scotia. Funding is provided by a Cost Recovery Fee. All landline and cellular carriers bill and collect $0.43 fee each month from their customers. The carriers keep $0.07 for billing and collection. The Province receives the remaining $0.36 providing net annual revenue of $5.5 million /year. Fees go into a Cost Recovery Fee Fund and unspent funds are retained for contingencies. The fee and fund were enabled by a regulation under the Provincial Act. They are administered by a cost recovery committee appointed by the Minister and chaired by the EMO. Annual audited financial statements are required. 4.4 Operations Administration is part of the provincial EMO and consists of a Director and nine staff as shown in Figure 1. The annual budget is $3.5 M. The EMO has service contracts with each 9-1-1/dispatch centre. There are a total of 80 trained call-takers. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 11 of 27

109 Figure 1: Nova Scotia Team Structure 4.5 Facilities and Telecommunications The telecommunications network is provided by the incumbent telephone company, Bell Aliant. This network delivers calls to the four PSAPs and is configured as a fully integrated platform, essentially one virtual PSAP. Two Nortel DMS 100 switches provide selective routing with 100% voice path redundancy calls are sent to the PSAP call takers using the DMS 100 Centrex ACD queuing feature which is then presented to a KML Technology Inc. Computer Telephony Interface (CTI) solution which is a technology that allows interactions on a telephone and a computer to be integrated. The CTI software using skills-based routing (assigning incoming calls to the most suitable agent, instead of simply choosing the next available agent) has been customized to enable any call taker to answer any call because of their combined call taking/dispatch duties - i.e., a call taker might be available for the longest period of time waiting for a call but be very busy on a dispatch call. Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) is a software feature of the Nortel switching system that routes a call to groups of agents (also called a 'queue') based on first-in, first-answered criteria. The guiding principle is that the caller who has been waiting the longest will be first the caller routed to the next available agent. The agent that receives the call will be either the first available agent or the agent that has been available for the longest period of time. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 12 of 27

110 With ACD, incoming calls can be directed to the first idle or most idle agent within a group of agents. The feature works well, however it creates administrative challenges and management is questioning whether it is worth the effort. The centres are saying they would be happier with pure ACD functionality. Two Nortel Centrex phones are used for back-up at each position - one for the primary DMS and one for the secondary. The four PSAPs are logged into multiple ACD queues with overflow. These are split between the two DMS 100 switches with overflow between them. The fail over between DMS's is automatic - no manual intervention is required. The Computer Telephone Interface (CTI) software log-on protocol allows operators to log on to both DMS's through a single log-on code - this ensures no one forgets to log on to both DMS's. The 23 answer terminals are PC s with software. They are equipped with hot button transfer keys enabled once the caller location is determined. Every call is recorded and date and time stamped. There is a separate monitor and PC for mapping. The caller s location auto locates on the map display. The positions are equipped with CTI provided by KML Technology Inc. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are accessible on line. Foreign language translation is provided by Language Line service. TDD equipment is in place and operable. Bell Aliant maintains the Civic address data base (MSAG) and provides a fully monitored IPVN (Internet Private Virtual Network) data network connecting the four centres. All data is backhauled to EMO HQ through an IPVN connection. There is a remote back- up server. Bell Alliant is currently providing voice recording however this will end in Performance Each month about 400 calls are randomly monitored remotely and evaluated for 13 different parameters. Monthly reports are provided to centre managers and annual performance report published. The latest statistics show that 83% of all calls are answered in 10 seconds or less and 97% are answered in 20 seconds or less (3 rings). Following is a current breakdown of calls 29% result in medical response; 26% - police response; 7% - fire response; 6% - non-traditional response (Poison Control, Environment, Power, Natural Resources etc); and 32% - no response required - about 58,000 calls per year. Of these 25% (14,500) are abandoned and 75% (43,500) are considered frivolous or non-emergency. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 13 of 27

111 5. E-Comm, Emergency Communications for Southwest BC 5.1 Overview E-Comm 4 is one of the larger multi-regional PSAP s in Canada serving over 2.3 million people in the following regional districts: Metro Vancouver, with a population of 2,318,526; Sunshine Coast, with a population of 29,551; and Whistler and Squamish in the Squamish Lillooet Regional District with a population of 27,732. On average E-Comm receives more than 2,800 daily calls with call volumes the heaviest on Friday and Saturday nights. More than one million calls are placed annually with 70% of calls being routed to Police, 24% to Ambulance, 6% to Fire. In E-Comm the function of call agents is separated from dispatch for any other service for several reasons. One reason relates to the delay in obtaining security clearance for new hires. With the model E-Comm has employed they can work in only, without the security requirement for call takers and dispatchers dealing principally with the Police CAD system. E-Comm s call management system is also configurable on the fly to allow other members of the call taking and dispatch personnel for fire and police to receive and manage overflow calls when required. A second reason relates to limitations of physical space. 5.2 Clients and Services E-Comm provides call management service for Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), and the Squamish and Whistler areas and provides dispatch services for municipal police and the RCMP as well as fire dispatching for 13 fire departments. E-Comm also provides software such as CAD and RMS for a number of other dispatch centres and clients. 5.3 Governance and Funding The service is contracted to E-Comm by Metro Vancouver which collects for this service from each municipality in the region through property taxes. E-Comm is owned by its shareholders and is a not-for-profit organization that operates on a cost-recovery basis. E-Comm has an annual operating budget of approximately $50 million. E-Comm was created as a company whose shareholders are the various government entities that are receiving its services. In addition to providing service for its shareholders, E-Comm 4 Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 14 of 27

112 also provides additional services on a cost-recovery basis for other communications clients both within BC and most recently, the Yukon. The E-Comm governance model also provides for direct input to the Board of Directors via user committees representing Police, Fire and Ambulance on a whole range of issues including budgets, technology changes and performance criteria. 5.4 Operations E-Comm publishes its financial statements on its website and for the most recent year (2009) they note that salaries and benefits for all employees is $24.9 Million which is inclusive of staff, police and fire dispatchers and others. The published finance statements do not break these costs out further. 5.5 Facilities and Telecommunications The E-Comm centre is located at 3301 East Pender Street, Vancouver in a purpose-built facility which was designed for post disaster operation and is the PSAP for Metro Vancouver. E-Comm s Provincial Service Telus has recently changed E-Comm s lines from a hunt group configuration to 2500 ACD lines (as in Alberta - see Section 2.6) with a unique Network ACD queue at the Vancouver Selective Router. One of the reasons for this is it allows multiple simultaneous calls to without receiving a busy tone. The Network ACD queue has been programmed to receive 100 calls. While waiting in the queue callers receive a recorded message indicating that have reached the centre. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 15 of 27

113 The fifteen 2500 ACD lines terminate on E-Comm s option 81 ACD queue. Unlike the Telus Alberta Provincial System (see Section 2.6) there is no direct connection between the 2500 ACD lines and the call takers. To resolve this problem the fifteen lines are terminated on phone blocks mounted in the communications centre. The Team Manager has a modified telephone set with a ground start button and uses this to log each line into the Vancouver Selective Router ACD queue. Telus has provided a PC based Management Information System from Perimeter Technology also located in the communications centre which displays the activity of the Network ACD queue at the Vancouver Selective Router. Telephony The E-Comm switch is a Nortel Meridian option 81 using an ACD software feature with skilled-based routing that automatically distributes incoming calls to available call takers in the order the calls are received, or queues calls until a call taker becomes available. If all call takers are busy the incoming calls are queued and a recorded message is played informing the callers not to hang up. At the end of the voice message a series of Baudot tones are played informing the hearing-impaired community they have reached the centre. The call taker and dispatch positions are using Nortel s Meridian 2216 ACD telephones with headsets. Nortel has discontinued making these telephones. In the dispatch positions there is a Radio to Telephone interface which allows the dispatcher to continue to use the headset and easily switch between the two systems. E-Comm is looking to upgrade the Nortel Meridian option 81 switch to a Nortel/Avaya Communications Server (CS) 1000E with Nortel IP 1150 phones in the 2 nd Quarter of Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Two CAD systems used by E-Comm are Versaterm CAD for Police and Intergraph CAD for Fire. E-Comm also provides a hosted CAD and RMS system for other fire department dispatch centres including Coquitlam and Saanich; Saanich is a regional dispatch host and uses this system for itself, North Saanich, Central Saanich, Esquimalt, Oak Bay and Sidney. They advise that this has provided a cost-effective way to provide a standard set of fire dispatch and record management applications leading to greater operational efficiency including the ability to provide additional layers of redundancy. Back up and/or Evacuation: E-Comm has three levels of back-up. To activate them, the Team Manger would dial a ten digit phone number that is assigned to a special piece of equipment located at the Vancouver DMS-100 Selective Router central office. Depending on the subsequent series of numbers, the Team Manager can send all calls to an evacuation site located at BC Ambulance or to one of the two Nortel Meridian option 81 or option 11 PBX voice switches located at E-Comm. Today there are twelve lines from the primary Selective Router located in Vancouver and back up lines from the secondary Selective Router located in Newton (Surrey). The Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 16 of 27

114 Newton back-up lines are connected to the option 81 through a series of mechanical contact closures allowing them to be switched between the option 81 and option 11 switches. The lines from the Vancouver Selective Router are on a fiber loop that terminates on an access node in the basement at E-Comm. Attached to the access node are channels banks to convert the call back to an analog signal. The secondary Newton Selective Router has been programmed in the case of a failure of the primary lines to allow the transfer of the call back to the primary Vancouver Selective Router then to the downstream Metro Vancouver agencies. There are no lines from the secondary Newton Selective Router to the downstream Metro Vancouver agencies only from the primary Vancouver Selective Router. On answer of the transferred call at the downstream agency the call taker will receive an ALI/ANI screen display. If the secondary Newton Selective Router cannot make a trunk connect back to the primary Vancouver Selective Router there is software on the Newton Selective Router called Automatic Route Selection which allows the call to be transferred to the downstream agencies ten digit back door number. The call taker will not receive an ALI/ANI screen display. E-Comm has a fully redundant backup facility at the BC Ambulance centre approximately 2.5 Kilometres away. In turn, E-Comm provides the backup facility for BCAS Calls - Foreign Language E-Comm uses Language Line Services/AT&T in California to assist them in over 175 languages if they are not able to interpret the caller. Power Supply The centre is supplied by two diesel generators located in the basement of the building. Each generator has its own, separate fuel tank and their designed combined capacity is 150% of the total. The emergency generator adequately serves the needs of the centre and is run every 30 days. The centre has an in-line Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). Administrative Telephone Lines E-Comm has a separate Nortel/Avaya Communications Server (CS) 1000E to handle regular telephone lines and has Primary Rate Interface (PRI) trunks with Direct In Dial (DID) capability assisting the Operator in reducing the call volumes to the main telephone number. Instant Recall Recorders The centre currently uses Nice Instant Recall Recorders. Voice Logger The Voice Logging equipment in use is a Nice digital voice recorder. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD or TTY) The Centre has 9 TDD Zetron 3030 unit and they are tested regularly Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 17 of 27

115 Ergonomics The centre is equipped with 55 NL-Novalink workstations that are height adjustable (reducing visual and muscular strain causing fatigue for the call takers) and are equipped with a cable management system for power wiring, monitor screen cables, etc. There are various chair types due to the different requirements of the call takers but are all top-of-the-line 7/24 dispatch chairs. 5.6 Performance E-Comm provides its call management statistics on the web site and the most recent note is that since 2002 they have consistently met a standard of answering all calls within 5 seconds or less. Year Call Volume Service Standard Met ,024,137 96% ,013,887 98% ,037,852 96% ,089,771 96% ,248,521 97% ,258,824 95% ,252,903 95% ,200,930 96% The peak and decline over time of the call volume can be shown as follows: Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 18 of 27

116 5.7 Other E-Comm has provided leadership in the development of a number of programs including one to educate the public about calling Over time, these programs have focused on reducing nuisance or misdialed calls as well educating the public about ensuring they are aware of their location before calling. E-Comm has also developed award winning software called an Emergency Event Map Viewer (E 2 MV) which was used during the 2010 Winter Games, and which integrates information from Police, Fire and Ambulance as well as providing location information for call management. E-Comm has chosen to take a leadership position on a number of issues including the development of solutions such as the Emergency Event Map Viewer; their role with education, etc. E-Comm has also begun providing critical technology using an ASP model; as well they are providing some core technologies such as the BC Nurseline to other areas including the Yukon. In terms of advocacy, their Director of I.T. has been instrumental in forming the BC 911 User s Group. 6. RCMP S.E. District (Kelowna) Public Safety Communications Centre 6.1 Overview The RCMP Southeast District (Kelowna) OCC 5 provides call answer and police dispatch services to the Regional Districts of Central Kootenay, Central Okanagan, Columbia-Shuswap, East Kootenay, Kootenay Boundary, North Okanagan, Okanagan-Similkameen, Squamish- Lillooet and Thompson-Nicola. The Kelowna OCC serves a total population of 660,000 and, from January to mid-october of 2009, handled 179, calls, 63,974 police dispatch calls, 24,629 fire calls, 50,780 ambulance calls and 37,610 hung-up or abandoned calls. 6.2 Clients and Services The Regional District of Central Okanagan (CORD) administers the general operations of the Communications Centre in partnership with the RCMP (Kelowna OCC). Kelowna OCC has moved away from a combined / police dispatch service model to a answer then transfer to the police, fire and ambulance agencies. The Kelowna centre down streams calls to the RCMP for the Southeast District and Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops fire departments and BCAS. 5 Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 19 of 27

117 6.3 Governance and Funding This model provides clear distinctions between the service and police services for funding. In 1989 the Regional District implemented an E9-1-1 system in partnership with the Central Okanagan Regional District (CORD). An agreement was entered into in 1991 that allowed for the sharing of administrative office support to the OCC in Kelowna which is located in and forms part of the RCMP Communications Centre at 2611 Norris Road, Kelowna, B.C. CORD has been contracted by participating parties to provide management and administrative services to ensure that the RCMP is carrying out its mandate in operations of the OCC. The following regional districts participate in the E service agreement and share in the costs of operating the Kelowna OCC: Central Kootenay Central Okanagan Columbia - Shuswap East Kootenay Kootenay Boundary North Okanagan Okanagan - Similkameen Squamish - Lillooet Thompson - Nicola The Central Okanagan Regional District provides the following services to all partners: 1. Answer all calls emanating from persons utilizing the Emergency Telephone Service; 2. Assess each such telephone call and obtain the required information; 3. Dispatch the information and alert the appropriate authorities and agencies; and 4. Supply all parties a report of all dispatched incidents within their respective jurisdictions. Following is the published 6 breakdown of operating and administrative costs associated with the service: 6 Source: reement.pdf Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 20 of 27

118 2010 Annual Budget Salaries - Full Time $773,580 (per emp: $64,465) Salaries Overtime $94,000 Payroll Overhead $199,543 (per emp: $16,629) Travel $4,000 Training & Education $2,400 Telephone $4,000 Insurance $6,787 Office Supplies $6,000 Equipment Rental & Maintenance $3,318 Contract Services (RCMP Casuals) $100,000 Transfer to Reserves $0 Total Costs excluding Overhead $1,193,628] Administration 15.5% $185,012 Total Costs $1,378, Operations The service model used in the Kelowna OCC is being considered as an option by other Regional Districts as the RCMP are continuing to amalgamate their Operations Centres and stepping away from primary answer. This service model also assists in benchmarking the call answer and transfer times of a call. The three call answer positions are using the Telus Alberta ACD feature with only one key on the telephone which they log in to receive calls. If the Kelowna OCC lines were busy or logged out all Kelowna OCC calls would be re-directed to the Prince George RCMP OCC. Kelowna OCC is the main backup for Prince George RCMP OCC. The Prince George RCMP caller takers would still receive ALI information when answering the call and start handling them as laid out in their SOP s. The Prince George RCMP call taker could transfer the call back directly to the Southeast District RCMP call takers or because of the common CAD system would be able to start a CAD event and use the common radio system to dispatch a vehicle to incident if required. The Southeast District RCMP call answer positions are using the Telus BC ACD feature with seven keys on the telephone with an Algo box which they log in to receive calls. The seven lines appear on 6 workstation telephones. When all seven lines are busy and another call is placed into the Network ACD queue a blue light will start flashing until a call taker removes it from the queue. There are two Telus DMS-100 switches in Kelowna and Prince George providing the selective routing function. These switches are in separate locations thus providing a totally redundant and diverse telecommunications network. There are 106 full-time employees and casuals who work 12-hour shifts on a four-on, four-off rotation, with approximately 21 people on shift at any time. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 21 of 27

119 Call takers are cross-trained on both the and police CAD systems. The training program is effective and the centre maintains good employee retention. Call statistics can be obtained either by the Telus Provincial web page or the Regional District supplied Genesis system for reporting purposes. Kelowna OCC has a mandate that 90 per cent of all 911 calls must be answered within 10 seconds. In September 2009, the Southeast District operation met the mark 94 per cent of the time. 6.5 Facilities and Telecommunications RCMP Southeast District OCC is located at 2611 Norris Road, Kelowna, B.C. There is a diesel back-up generator and common UPS system in the building which is tested monthly. The call taker/dispatch positions consist of Steel Case sit-to-stand work stations with telephones and radio dispatch consoles. The room is divided into three sections; call takers, RCMP call takers and RCMP dispatchers. There are two CAD systems: Versaterm CAD for Police and Telus PC CAD for the call takers. There are three incoming primary lines for the initial call answer and transfer and seven incoming secondary lines for police call answer connected to a Nortel/Avaya Meridian 1 option 11 system. Also the Administration telephones are on a Meridian 1 PBX which is maintained by Telus. Each workstation has M2216 telephones which are no longer manufactured and indications are they will be upgraded to M3905 telephones. The centre uses an Eventide system for instant call recording and voice logging. Language Line service is used for translation. There is TDD equipment in place but it is very rarely used. 7. Conclusions and Implications for the CRD The following conclusions can be drawn from the benchmarking information described in the previous sections. 7.1 Overview The six CRD and dispatch communications centres serve a significantly smaller population per centre than most of the benchmark organizations. Consolidation to fewer centres should be seriously considered. This would reduce both total staffing and network connectivity costs but would require some level of capital expenditure and likely more complex arrangements between the stakeholders. 7.2 Clients and Services The CRD may want to consider active marketing of call answer and dispatch services to additional municipalities on Vancouver Island along the lines of the Strathcona ECC and E- Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 22 of 27

120 Comm. An appropriate cost recovery rate per capita could be charged in addition to the land line telephone fee. 7.3 Governance and Funding The benchmark centres each utilize clear centralized governance and reporting structure. The governing body provides guidance, resolves issues and receives regular performance reports. In comparison, overall governance of in the CRD is informal and fragmented. There is a lack of formal agreements between the parties covering their responsibilities and no established mechanism to review performance and take immediate action. The CRD needs to improve its governance structure to enable effective decision-making and future improvements to the system, such as evolution towards Next Generation standards and technology. Although the majority of calls now originate from cell phones, there is no CRTCapproved process for collecting call answer fees from cell providers. The CRD could pursue municipal, regional or provincial legislation (such as Nova Scotia's) to collect such fees. 7.4 Operations Current evacuation and back-up facilities and procedures for the CRD PSAPs are generally superior to those of the benchmark communications centres. However CRD may want to consider a call overflow (ACD) configuration across their PSAPs as used in Alberta and Nova Scotia to further system robustness and avoid possible busy signals on calls. This would be relatively easy to set up in the CRD due to more commonality across their CAD and radio systems than the benchmark centres. The CRD may also wish to consider some changes to the call taking role. One of these could be as a separate operational and business unit similar to the Lethbridge PSCC (e.g., a separate business unit within the CRD) or E-Comm. A second variation could be to relocate the function from a police centre to one or several of the fire dispatch agencies as is done in Alberta and other areas and which is now being considered in B.C. The reasons for this are several including the seeming reluctance of the RCMP to continue with PSAP management, however this matter is currently very much in flux. 7.5 Facilities and Telecommunications The buildings, power supplies, call centre rooms, workstations, telephone systems and CAD systems used by the CRD PSAPs are generally comparable to the benchmark centres. The CRD today are using Victoria Police, Saanich Police and West Shore RCMP as the primary call takers for its clients. All three PSAPs are using the Versaterm CAD system. An advantage for the CRD is it allows a seamless operation when in a back up situation as described in TM-01A section 2.6. A disadvantage is that when the main computer in Vancouver has a problem the three Communications Centres lose the ability to see the caller s information on the screen and the capability to electronically store the information. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 23 of 27

121 Also as shown in the Wireless Phase II roll out, the BC Users Group had no influence on the upgrade schedule for this CAD system. As enhanced features to the Canadian PSAPs are being implemented such as text messaging for the hearing impaired and In-Call Location Update (wireless re-bid) in September 2012, the CRD needs to consider the impact of these newer technologies on the existing systems. As an example, Alberta Health Services has made a decision to move forward and is installing a Next Generation 911 SolaCom switch. 7.6 Performance There was no evidence that the benchmark centres provided significantly better or worse call answer and dispatch performance than the CRD centres with the exception of E-Comm which has consistently had better call answer statistics. All strive to meet and usually exceed current NENA and NFPA standards. However, the benchmark centres generally have superior processes for regular reporting of performance statistics and implementing changes as noted in the Governance section above. As an example, the CRD manages accurate mapping and other data that could be made available to the PSAPs to further improve emergency services if an effective decision-making structure to implement such improvements was in place. Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 24 of 27

122 8. Abbreviations ACD Automatic Call Distribution ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ALI Automatic Location Identification ANI Automatic Number Identification APCO Association of Public Safety Communications Officials ASP Access Service Provider AVL Automatic Vehicle Location CAD Computer Aided Dispatch CIIDS Computerized Integrated Information and Dispatch System CISC CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee CLEC Competitive Local Exchange Carrier CRTC Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission CTIA Cellular Telephone Industry Association CWTA Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association DID Direct In Dial DSL Digital Subscriber Line E9-1-1 Enhanced ECNS Enhanced Community Notification System ELIN Emergency Location Identification Number EMD Emergency Medical Dispatch EMO Emergency Management Office EMS Emergency Medical Service ERA Emergency Response Agency ERL Emergency Response Location ESWG Emergency Services Working Group ESZ Emergency Response Zone FCC Federal Communications Commission GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System HQ Headquarters ICLU In-Call Location Update ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier IP Internet Protocol Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 25 of 27

123 IPVN Internet Private Virtual Network LDP Location Determination Platform MSAG Master Street Address Guide NENA National Emergency Number Association NFPA National Fire Protection Association NG9-1-1 Next Generation OCC Operations Control Centre PBX Private Branch Exchange PIR PSAP Initiated Request PRI Primary Rate Interface PSAP Public Safety Answering Point PSN/PSTN Public Switched Network/Public Switched Telephone Network QA Quality Assurance SSAP Secondary Safety Answering Point SOP Standard Operating Procedure (or Policy) SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats TDD/TTY Telecommunications Device for the Deaf T Text UPS Uninterruptable Power Supply VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol VON Voice on the Net VSP VoIP Service Provider WSP Wireless Service Provider Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 26 of 27

124 9. References [1] TM-01A - CRD Situation Analysis - Client Draft, Planetworks Consulting Corp, November 2010 [2] TM-02A - CRD Standards and Developments - Client Draft, Planetworks Consulting Corp, November 2010 [3] E-Comm website for various documents including call management statistics, financial reports, annual reports, etc. [4] Strathcona Regional Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) client presentation, Strathcona County [5] Public Safety Communications Centre Business Plan, City of Lethbridge PSCC Manager [6] Nova Scotia s Emergency Reporting System, Mike Myette, Director, Emergency Services, Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office, Presentation to Province of BC, January 2010 Planetworks TM-03A CRD Benchmarking Page 27 of 27