International Training Program. Australia s Emergency Call Service in a changing environment

Transcription

1 International Training Program Australia s Emergency Call Service in a changing environment

2 Australia s emergency call service model Emergency Service Organisation requires additional information from caller e.g. location, nature of emergency Federal jurisdiction (legislation) State jurisdiction (legislation) If mobile or uncertain origin: Operator asks caller for suburb/state Emergency caller dials: Triple Zero 000, 112 or 106 (relay service for deaf, hearing or speech impaired) Priority call Carrier/Carriage Service Provider network Priority call Emergency Services Answering Point (Emergency Call Persons Telstra for 000 & 112 & ACE for 106) Emergency Call Person (Telstra or ACE) remains on call until connected to Emergency Service Organisation Data Emergency Service Organisation Police, Fire, Ambulance Data ECLIPS database matches personal information about subscribers in IPND with nearest emergency service organisation based on geographic location Sufficient information provided? Yes No Customer records provided by Carrier/Carriage Service Provider Data Data Integrated Public Number Database (IPND contains all public numbers & addresses) Emergency Service Organisation able to respond to emergency No location information response from Emergency Service Organisation not guaranteed

3 Key features & statistics > National operator-assisted service, free of charge > Two Emergency Call Persons Telstra and Australian Communication Exchange > Connects callers to state & territory emergency service organisations police, fire, ambulance (but does not connect to State Emergency Services or other nonemergency organisations) > Primary emergency service number Triple Zero (000) > 10.3 million calls last year to Triple Zero (000) and 112 > 3.8 million from fixed lines (40% of all calls) > 6.5 million from mobiles (60% of all calls) > 5.3 million connected to emergency service organisation (police, fire, ambulance) > 3.7 million non-genuine emergency calls

4 Governance & jurisdictions > ACMA s role responsible for administering legislation for operation/management of emergency call service > Telecommunications carriers provide priority access to emergency service numbers Triple Zero (000), 112 & 106 on their networks (federal jurisdiction/legislation) > State Emergency Service Organisations manage direct response to people in time-critical, life threatening emergencies (state jurisdiction/legislation) > Formal ACMA advisory committee Emergency Call Service Advisory Committee (ECSAC) provides expert advice to ACMA on operational & management issues of emergency call service > Current issues at ECSAC include: Audit & compliance activities, improving location information from mobiles, strategy to reduce non-genuine calls to emergency services

5 Key legislative framework > Telecommunications Act 1997 > Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 2001 > Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2002 (currently being reviewed) > Telecommunications (Emergency Call Person) Determination 1999 > IPND Industry Code & Guideline

6 What is an emergency service call? > Emergency call is a call made to an emergency service number (Triple Zero 000, 112 or 106) seeking a response from an emergency service organisation (Police, Fire, Ambulance) to deal with a time-critical event: (a) that is seen to threaten life; or (b) that the organisation is set up to respond to > Level of awareness of Triple Zero ( 000 ) as emergency service number

7 Key features of emergency call service regulations > Describe obligations on key players: carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons in relation to provision of emergency call services > e.g. call answering targets > Operator-assisted service available 24/7 > Carriers/CSPs give priority access to emergency calls on networks > Requires customer records to be provided to Manager of Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) by carriers/carriage service providers > Accurate IPND data is important to Emergency Service Organisations (Police, Fire, Ambulance) because they rely on the data to respond to emergency calls from the public in a timely manner > Emergency Call Persons (Telstra & Australian Communication Exchange) are first answering points before transferring callers to Emergency Service Organisations (Police, Fire, Ambulance)

8 Role of the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND)? > IPND data is used by emergency services to help in locating callers who need time-critical assistance from emergency service organisations (Police, Fire, Ambulance) > IPND is a database of all business and residential phone numbers (both listed and unlisted) and associated customer information > IPND established and maintained by Telstra as condition of carrier licence > All carriage service providers (CSPs) who supply services to public number customers are obliged to provide customer information to IPND Manager (i.e. Telstra) > Access to IPND restricted to approved purposes, including: > Operation of the emergency call service > Assist law enforcement agencies or safeguarding national security > Operation of emergency warning systems > Publish public number directories

9 What type of information does the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) contain? > Telephone number > Name and street address of the customer > Customer s public directory requirements (ie, listed entry, unlisted entry, or suppressed address) > Whether the number is used for business, charity, government, or residential > Type of service (eg, fax, fixed, freecall, local call, mobile, pager, premium, etc)

10 Current review of emergency call service regulations > ACMA currently conducting broad review of emergency call service regulations to assist in meeting community expectations and to cater for rapid pace of technological change > Review found a number of improvements could be made to take account of technological change, especially from increasing IP-based telephony (e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP services) > Key changes in proposed draft regulations include: > New obligations on the providers of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Out Only services either to provide access to Triple Zero or to adequately inform their customers that access is not available > Revised customer information provisions to align obligations on mobile communication providers with those that already exist for other types of service providers > New requirements on carriers and Telstra (in its capacity as the emergency call person for Triple Zero and 112) to take steps to minimise the number of nongenuine calls to the emergency call service from mobile phones

11 How location information is relayed from a mobile in an emergency call > Mobile call received by operator-assisted emergency services answering point > Only mobile service area information is transferred automatically to operator > Operator uses mobile service area details and further questions caller ( Emergency: Police, Fire or Ambulance? ) to determine the appropriate Emergency Service Organisation to transfer the call to > Caller nominates either Police, Fire or Ambulance and provides response location information, if possible > Operator connects caller to nominated Emergency Service Organisation and waits for connection before disconnecting the call > This is the point of transfer from Federal to State jurisdiction/legislation > The call is now transferred to the nominated Emergency Service Organisation (Police, Fire, Ambulance) and is beyond the jurisdiction of ACMA > The Emergency Service Organisation provides the emergency response to the caller

12 Setup of mobile location information project > ACMA recently established small project team to determine whether there is an effective, consistent, justifiable solution to enhance mobile location information associated with calls to emergency services from mobile phones > Project team focusing on enhanced location information from mobile phones but will also cover other potentially nomadic or moveable services (i.e. VoIP) > ACMA has sought information/evidence from industry of situations where improved ability to locate caller would have assisted the emergency > ACMA s Authority will consider recommendations of project team in December 2009

13 What s the problem with location information? > The increasing use of IP-based services (including VoIP) raises a number of issues for the current emergency call service arrangements e.g. many VoIP services are able to move between different locations which affects reliability of information about the location of an emergency caller > ACMA s review is examining approaches overseas > The success of any regulatory intervention by the ACMA would require complementary action and investment by the state-based Emergency Service Organisations that provide the emergency response activities which go beyond ACMA s regulatory jurisdiction

14 Regulatory challenges: next steps > Improving location information from mobile phones & certain VoIP services > Feasibility of developing and implementing SMS access to emergency services for Deaf community > Continuing to reduce the number of non-genuine emergency calls > Working with State/Territory Emergency Service Organisations (Police, Fire, Ambulance) to improve management of emergency calls during high calling events (e.g. natural disasters fire, floods)

15 More information > Ms Niki Platis, Assistant Manager, Community & National Interests Section >