Central Minnesota NG911 Committee Thursday November 9th, :00 a.m. Conference Call Bridge: , Access # Agenda

Transcription

1 Central Minnesota NG911 Committee Thursday November 9th, :00 a.m. Conference Call Bridge: , Access # Agenda 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call and Introductions 3. Revisions and Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes from October12th, 2017 Meeting (P1-8) 5. Communications 6. Reports a. Updates from ECN i. FirstNet Governor Opts in (P9-11) ii. PSAP Continuity of Operations Plan (Online) iii. Text-to-911 Statewide Operational Standard (P12-16) b. Statewide NG911 Committee c. Statewide NG911 GIS Subcommittee 7. Minnesota State Patrol 8. General Discussion a. CM NG Draft Meeting Schedule (P17) b. O&O/Users CM Standards Workgroup volunteers c. SECB Strategic Planning Session Representatives for NG911 d. Other issues 9. Training Opportunities a. ARMER Radio Trainer - 2 Day Class December 5 th and 6 th Stevens County EOC 10. Upcoming Meetings a. December 14 th, 10:00 Douglas County Public Works 526 Willow Drive, Alexandria or Conference Call 11. Adjournment

2 Central MN Next Generation Committee Meeting Douglas County Public Works 526 Willow Drive, Alexandria Thursday, October 12 th, :00 AM NG911 COMMITTEE MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT: 1. Joyce Zika Benton County (via phone) 2. Tom Egan & Michael Henrion Douglas County 3. Jody Norstegard, Vice Chair Kandiyohi County (via phone) 4. Rich Christianson Meeker County (via phone) 5. Holly Martinson Mille Lacs County (via phone) 6. Victoria Ingram & Jane Holman Morrison County 7. Matthew Jensen Otter Tail County (via phone) 8. Laura Anderson Sherburne County (via phone) 9. Kathy Struffert & Megan Kampa Stearns County 10. Judy Diehl, Chair & Ross Tiegs Stevens County 11. Tracy Koosman Swift County 12. Sarah Booker Todd County 13. Erika Pennar Wadena County GUESTS: 1. Micah Myers City of St. Cloud (via phone) 2. Brandon Larson City of St. Cloud 3. Joe Zunker Douglas County GIS 4. Jeff Jelinski Morrison County Commissioner 5. Michele Burke Stearns County 6. Caitlin Christenson Stevens County GIS (via phone) 7. Dana Wahlberg ECN 911 Program Manager 8. Dan Craigie ECN 911 Program Analyst 9. Dereck Leyde Northland Business 10. Scott Wosje Northland Business NG911 COMMITTEE MEMBERS/ALTERNATES ABSENT: 1. City of St. Cloud 2. Big Stone County 3. Grant County 4. Pope County 5. Traverse County 6. Wilkin County 7. Wright County CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order by NG911 Chair Judy Diehl at 10:11 a.m. INTRODUCTIONS: Introductions were conducted. There was a quorum for the NG911 Committee. 1

3 APPROVAL OF AGENDA Stevens County made a motion to approve the NG911 Committee Agenda. Douglas County seconded, motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Morrison County made a motion to approve the August 10, 2017 NG911 Committee minutes. Todd County seconded, motion carried. Communications None. REPORTS: Updates from ECN: Text-to Deployment (Dana Wahlberg) Dana Wahlberg reported that 5 of the 7 regions are deployed in a soft launch for text to 911. Next week we will do the Metro, and the week following on the 24 th of October will be the Southwest Region. Once those two are done we will remain in a soft launch another 30 days so that the Southwest has the same amount of time to be in a practice mode before we do the public education campaign. Communications at the state is responsible, we will be meeting with them tomorrow morning. We will meet with Health and Human Services next week. There will be a video to help the deaf and hard of hearing. A couple of aggressive reporters have contacted us. One in Grand Forks, ND was diligent and wanted to put something out. A story was done in North Dakota which did not cause any harm, but it was not how we would have liked it to be done. There have been legitimate text calls received intermittently. Part of our message will be to discourage people from making test texts. There is a state statute that is prosecutable for making hoax calls to 911. Campaign will be early in December. Things are going as we anticipated location accuracy is pretty close. With AT&T, a text may be as accurate as or more accurate than a voice call, but in other cases it is not. We have to rely on the caller for location. The calls have been routing to the correct PSAP. In your region it is Mille Lacs. We went into every county in Mille Lacs and tested. They are working on a couple of issues with Verizon, there will be a maintenance window from 2-5 a.m. on Tuesday October 17 th to work on a patch to fix the issue. Verizon calls have gone to a different state based on where the mobile switches are located. They have been engaged with us more than other carriers. We are confident it will be taken care of. RRRDC in MN and Oakland County, MI dispatch centers are aware they may be receiving texts. They have been cooperative and are experiencing similar things. Kathy tested Stearns County with Mille Lacs and they all showed up in Mille Lacs as coming up as Stearns County. We will be going up to Detroit Lakes to do more testing. The border perpetually has calls going to the wrong side due to the river, colleges, etc. Dana stated in this region there has been concern with RFAI deployment for texts. There has been enough confusion so Dana said she tried to lay this out with an NG9-1-1 Information Brief. Dana felt like there was a need to provide the history and education about these two different protocols. Dana will send this to Judy this afternoon. History: NENA (the National Emergency Number Association) is the technical organization that guides the direction of the industry. Developing standards and guidelines for PSAPs to have a good path to deploy Next Gen 911. The most anticipated document is the NENA i3 standards. The state division for achieving deployment across the country. It has not yet been approved, but has gone through comment periods. Close to being finalized, but something causes more research. In the meantime while waiting, NENA has endorsed a transitional standard RFAI (Request for Assistance Interface) by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) recommendation. ATIS has approved this as a transitional standard, and NENA has endorsed it. 2

4 REPORTS: (Continued) Updates from ECN: Text-to Deployment (Dana Wahlberg) (Continued) PSAPs can adopt and use to help with training before the i3 standard is approved. That is the choice MN made. Years ago when doing RFI, we worked with Mission Critical. Helped to make determination to use RFAI. This allowed us to complete the ESINet. It replaced the old legacy network that is just analog. It will be completely exited out. Other states have chosen to go with RFAI. Minnesota is recognized nationally as the top 5 as an early adopter, a leader in deploying Next Gen 911. We have every intention of adopting the i3 standard to move into a true end state i3 solution. Right now it is not an option. RFAI and the i3 standard is different, RFAI does not use a traditional ALI database that we use today. That MSAG and ALI database was developed for routing calls. It is plugged into the wall and cannot be removed. The phone will be in the same place and the location. Phone number goes to the PSAPs, sends back to database and that worked great for years in the wireline environment. Now 80% of calls are wireless and VOIP calls, phones can be moved around. Traditional MSAG the way we use it is not going to last a whole lot longer. Adam Iten is aware of this with his project to work with every local agency in State of MN to receive their data, work with it, aggregate it, standardize it, so he can take all of that clean data and have one huge dataset of information all stitched together on a statewide level. Dana said I bet there is not anyone here who has not received a call for another agency. Calls do not know to go to the PSAP that will dispatch for them. Geospatial is the alternate to the MSAG. Location will come right from the handset and arrive at the PSAP. PSAP will know based on the location of the device of the call. Having GIS dataset in place is a requirement for being an i3 PSAP or environment. Our GIS data is not ready but we are working on that. IP-based to flow seamlessly from the public to emergency responders. We do not have any of that today, but the public does not understand that. They assume since they can text to each other that they can text 911. We are trying to catch up to their smart phones. 911 is a journey it is not a flip of a switch. We have been going through it for 10 years. There are states that have not even started. This transition will go on for years. An individual vender may choose to draw a line in the sand. At some point in time every PSAP will be here, so we will build to meet that MSAG environment. There are many reasons to do that, it may be costs, or where they see their customers going. The fact they choose to do that is fine. NENA recognized there has to be flexibility during that time. Some in legacy, some things in Next Gen environment. Every state is approaching it differently. North Dakota got all their GIS data together, then ESINet, then migrated to Next Gent 911. We are trying to create an interstate playbook creating a guide for other states. Wireless call transfers to include the ALI information. MN and ND were the first two states to accomplish that. Rule #1 of the playbook. Move on to Iowa and South Dakota with initiatives. Comtech or West as network service providers. Most other states will be able to emulate and move forward more quickly. There are three prerequisites necessary for a state, region or PSAP before they think about adding Next Gen: 1. ESINet have to have IP network to pass things along. 2. CPE and PSAP have to be capable of taking that in when network sends that. Share call handling system for all their PSAPs in the state. Have same switches have same servers. That is not the way we have done things in MN. PSAPs have liked to make their own decisions on purchasing their CPE. In the recent months there has been acute interest in exploring a shared CPE system. We have tried to help foster the conversation. Viper PSAPs that are the same, Viper and Vestas cannot talk to each other. Aside from telling PSAPs what and when to buy this is the reality of what we face. 3. Highly accurate 99% or higher of GIS data set. Something else we are working on in the state of MN. Before we can migrate to a true i3 environment all three have to be in place. 3

5 REPORTS: (Continued) Updates from ECN: Text-to Deployment (Dana Wahlberg) (Continued) Text to 911: The FCC and the deaf and hard of hearing are pushing text to 911. Many states are being sued by the deaf and hard of hearing because they do not believe they are working fast enough. Our deaf and hard of hearing in MN have been patient, about a year ago they started getting impatient, 6 months ago they put their foot down. They said if you do not prove to us we will bring a lawsuit against MN. They use their smart phones and it becomes an ADA issue when they cannot communicate with their resources. We have a commitment to deploy text to 911, SMS or short message service. The method being deployed for text to 911. Limited to 160 characters. May not come in the same order, they may get the messages instantly, or several hours later. It is possible that the PSAP may not respond as it may not have reached the PSAP. In the course of testing we have received bounce back messages when the text could not get through, that text to 911 is not available in this area. SMS messaging will eventually be augmented with MMS (multimedia messaging service); the photos and video things. Today none of that are reaching the PSAP. Will make a decision with the Next Gen 911 Committee. Real time text is where we want to get to with text to 911. That is not yet available either. No one in the country is doing it yet. We want to make things as easy for PSAPs as we can. RFAI and MSRP (message session relay protocol) are different methods for delivering. RFAI and West services endorses RFAI as a method for delivering 911. Benefits to the PSAPs is it does not have to be direct SIP, less complex to deploy, less costly, integrated in CPE. It is really not sufficiently integrated in CPE, it is more web-based text. It is an interim solution. MSRP in contrast is a long-term industry solution. Airbus elected to use MSRP, requires SIP. Have to do upgrades to CPE that comes at a cost. For Vesta, PSAPs have a more complicated deployment. A more CPE integrated solution. In MN, our desire was in the Strategic Plan identified using at least one PSAP in each region. Opted to use MSRP without considering TTY or web browsers solution. Meant to not be long-term. Wanted to use Viper and Vesta supported PSAPs, most commonly used in MN. And in being timely with deaf and hard of hearing. After we got the RFP and West was awarded, we went to Airbus and West for the Vesta/Viper PSAPs and asked them what their process was for bringing customers up-to-date. Century Link sales team was not able to, advised later in 2018 before MSRP was available. Choice to wait, or let Viper PSAPs go RFAI. Chose option #3, not enough willing Vesta PSAPs in all 7 regions to do it for the whole state. That is the choice we made. Some PSAPs deploy MSRP and some RFAI. RFAI continue to be aggressive asking for quotes to upgrade to MSRP. We have since learned MSRP was made available, but that was not shared with us. Working with West to bring Century Link up to speed. Dan and Dana are meeting with both West and Century Link for a step-by-step process for what PSAPs need to do to request that. Go back and redeploy PSAPs migrated to test to MSRP platform. Going forward for those that want to migrate do so with MSRP. Advantages in MSRP when Lat/Long they go into the Ali portion of the screen which in turn will replot them into the map. Today all those PSAPs are seeing it and it has to be typed into a translator, entered in and plotted on a map. There was no advantage for PSAPs or the state, we did not seek out to do RFAI to make it harder for anyone, we did it for the reasons shared. There may be concern, how will I get a transcript? There are three ways it can be done: 1. Printed in directory out of CPE package. Al Fjerstad printed out every one of the texts that we did. Century Link techs know how to do that. Other PSAP managers that deployed know how to do that. Emily in St. Louis County and Melissa in Olmsted County have been helpful to others. 2. Transcript obtaining by TCC (Text Control Center). Standard will include how to access it that way. Few PSAPs did not purchase recording practice. 4

6 REPORTS: (Continued) Updates from ECN: Text-to Deployment (Dana Wahlberg) (Continued) 3. Some logging recording vendors accommodate either or both RFAI and MSRP option. Where this is problematic, and in your region you use a shared logger recorder with a number of PSAPs Viper and Vesta, as long as you remain in that combined environment it will be challenging for your logger recorder vendor to record both. There is not any PSAP that will elect to stay RFAI for long-term. The ones we are working with now are discouraged they were not given accurate information to get through the process. Dana noted that she did the packet at 6 a.m. this morning. Questions: Brandon Larson, Central Region Logger Committee Chair, stated there was a topic at the Logger Committee meeting pertaining to Mille Lacs County. Our vendor is Verint logging system which is Northland Business Systems. The whole region is not on the Logger. The question to clarify is on the first page of the i3 standard reading is that RFAI is the transitional one the state went with, does that mean the MSRP is the standard not approved yet? MSRP is a delivery protocol. Likely the long-term protocol that everyone will want to use to deploy to transfer text. It offers more flexibility. Part of it is what your CPE is capable to accept. Viper CPEs today cannot accept. Dan Craigie stated the only interaction is in the text control center, not on the consumer side. You are just SMS. Comtech or West or your PSAP. Larson said for RFAI and MSRP it is not that the state went with the best decision, it is not an infrastructure piece, it is a CPE. If updated it will be MSRP. It only affects Viper. Dana Wahlberg stated Airbus will not deploy without a PSAP migrating to SIP or going to MSRP. Viper gave them the option, when Viper PSAPs make the determination they will need to migrate to SIP. If they do not have the make/model server they will need to get those. Larson noted Viper is thinking first quarter 2018 will have to consider pricing. Dana Wahlberg responded that is the meeting we are having tomorrow. We have a disagreement of how fast it can be done. Larson said from our meeting it was determined Mille Lacs County does have the logging capability. Less loss of messages, was this something reliant of the state s rollout, or the CPE with the PSAP making the upgrade and decision. Larson stated the membership present at the time understood that Mille Lac County is able to capture the text messages. Logging package on CPE? Dana replied that is part of the CPE. Would suspect Stearns County has that. Typically the very small PSAPs. PSAP can call TCC to obtain it. We tried that in testing and it worked. Dan Craigie wanted to thank Brandon for bringing this issue up. We do a statewide rollout, it is hard to know what PSAPs are doing. Making a much better effort to ask these questions. Craigie also feels Scott and Dereck where helpful and thanked them for bringing it up. Good exercise for asking the questions and with Northland getting involved. What type of impact? Craigie said he was thinking Snapchat. We will meet the citizen where they are at. Ten years from now who knows what we will be implementing. Dana added we are always playing catchup. Dana has received two calls from citizens frustrated trying to purchase Wi-Fi at home. Gave carriers the information and it did not work for 911. They do not know what to do, they call the post office, it is not just PSAPs that are challenged, and vendors are challenged. Vendors cannot just write and develop for every single option out there. We have some PSAPs who s CPE is not Viper or Vesta and may not be able to participate at all. Scott Wosje from Northland Business thanked Dana for putting that summary together. Tomorrow it may change. In the Central Region we are tasked to try to catch the text on the logger. The term Century Link and West seem to be used interchangeably. What is the relationship? Dana replied they have different hats with the CPE, West has developed the product. Century Link is the sales team to sell the Viper developed by West. 5

7 REPORTS: (Continued) Updates from ECN: Text-to Deployment (Dana Wahlberg) (Continued) To some extent Century Link maybe have done as much homework as they should have. It used to be you bought the CPE set it and forget it. Now there is continual work to do on it, not only in PSAP, but vendors too. Sales team is not accustomed to staying on top of the product, new software upgrades, and when to apply. Dan Craigie said that is the CPE side, then you have the 911 network and core services. We cannot interface directly with West on it, we have to go through Century Link. Complexity exists in the 911 network and devices in the state. Scott Wosje questioned there is another client if they upgrade who opens that gate to allow that? We are scheduled to have a developer meet with Al Fjerstad to take the RFAI in to get into logger. Another agency we have been told by West, that we have met the specs of MSRP. Dana responded that is exactly what we are meeting about tomorrow. West is telling us we have done this all over the country. Century Link is saying it will not be available until next year. West worked with Century Link on training. Dana is not sure West is communicating with Century Link on everything. We shared the story with both, she laid out expectations on what we plan to achieve, hopefully we will have a document to Al and to Chris saying this is what you need to do next. Scott Wosje said one of Derek s developers is planning to go out there, it would be helpful to give Larson or Diehl an update after the meeting. Maybe we do not have to put in 100 s of development hours. Dana said Century Link and West are entrenched in deploying PSAPs. Every year around Thanksgiving all these companies go into shut down mode for network upgrades. We are working with short window there, January seems like a long way off, but in the queue that may be the soonest they can do it. Judy Diehl thanked Dana for the explanation. Dan Craigie reported the statewide firewall RFP is 99.9% finished, waiting for the final signature from the Department of Public Safety. Funds have been encumbered. Element Technologies is out of the Metro area. Soon we will be installing the devices. Workgroup Meeting on the 16 th on the conference bridge, Craigie has done outreach for the technically inclined. If you know anyone that wants to join let him know it will be for guidance to NG911 Committee and future deployments. Chair Diehl stated Donna Martins is from our region. Shared call handling system. We will stop calling it that. CPE is a service. You do not have to buy the hardware. Northwest Region came to them saying it is too expensive. There are two vendors. Airbus willing to offer service 5-year agreement for $12,000/year per seat. Advanced CPE equipment with mapping, recording with service. This is an option, if you want to buy equipment and have a shared solution. Meeting with Airbus in Northwest Region. Another vendor will be offering it too. Craigie is just here to make sure it is available and affordable. Statewide NG911 GIS Subcommittee We do not have an update from Adam Item he has been on the road in the Northwest region a lot doing the same as what he did with the Central Region. He will have something for the Next Gen Committee meeting next week. Craigie said for the next few weeks some will be on site doing text texting. Will not be getting anything much different than you get today. COOP training is coming up on the 25 th. Class is getting full. Did you get the template from Kelli on Tuesday of this week? Statewide NG911 Committee Chair Diehl stated the statewide did not meet in September, they are meeting next Wednesday. 6

8 MINNESOTA STATE PATROL Chair Diehl did have one question to bring up. We did have a chase that ended up in Stevens County. State Patrol initiated a patch. Because you cannot patch a patch resource she was staying on their Law Main. Chiefs were telling her what others were saying. Should they call this county on CMCALL? We all have those resources. They could have all been talking to each other. If State Patrol initiates the patch none of us can do anything about it. Larson said he would be curious who initiated the pursuit in Grant County. It is difficult to standardize with State Patrol. We do have non-patch capable PSAPs within the region. Add mains, but that would be adding 87 resources. Patching State Patrol might be the process it will be the counties helping him do it. It would make more sense for the counties to make the patch. Some officers wondered where the LTACs are. Larson said State Patrol is already driving fast and they patched. Douglas County agreed it goes against what they train. If patch to the Law Main to pursuit lose that Law Main for everything else. Chair Diehl said the squad car was hit early in the chase so Stevens County took over. It was a traffic stop stolen vehicle. Chief Tiegs explained the squad car hit. Lead car could not keep up due to damage of the vehicle, so it was turned over to the county. State Patrol initiated the pursuit, but Stevens County could not patch to LTAC1 because you cannot patch a patched resource. Chief Tiegs could get on CMCALL and ask State Patrol to drop and ask the county. Larson stated per standard everything flowed the way it was supposed to, but when the lead agency left, there could have been communication to State Patrol. When using a system like this there should have been more seamless ways to communicate and officer training is also an issue. It comes down to end-user training. Mille Lacs County reported that on Tuesday they received a text from someone in Kandiyohi County. It came up as texter sent no text. Al Fjerstad sent the information to ECN. GENERAL DISCUSSION a. CM NG Draft Meeting Schedule Chair Diehl asked what is the group s thought with an August 9 th in-person meeting? That is our fair week and vacations. We tried this year. Should August be a conference call? Douglas county agreed. We will look into September and October for an in-person. Is there a preference for September or October? Think about it for next month. b. CM NG911 Telecommunicator Best Practices Guide c. Other Issues TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES a. Refresher: ARMER Radio Trainer - 1 Day Class (October 17 th, Otter Tail County Operations Center) Refresher training in Otter Tail County. b. Minnesota PSAP Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) Planning Workshop, (October 25 th, St. Cloud PD Training Rooms) They are asking if you are coming that you park in the Paramount Ramp rather than the Police Department parking lot, they are saving that for customers or people with mobility issues. REGIONAL LEADERSHIP MEETING (October 23 rd, MNDOT in St. Cloud) Agenda updates from MnDOT, ECN, and Dana will be there. Update from John Dooley and Melinda for FirstNet. Updates from the regions and National Guard. It is not necessarily just about PSAPs. Coffee and rolls around 9 a.m. and end by 3 p.m. 7

9 UPCOMING MEETINGS a. November 9, :00 a.m. Conference Call b. December 14, :00 a.m. Douglas County Public Works/Conference Call ADJORNMENT: Morrison County made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Stevens County seconded and the motion was carried unanimously at 11:37 a.m. Minutes by Shari Gieseke. 8

10 From: Subject: Date: Attachments: Miller, Melinda (DPS) FW: Governor Dayton Supports Buildout of FirstNet"s Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network in Minnesota Wednesday, October 04, :19:57 PM 2017_10_04_FIRSTNET_optin_letter.pdf The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Emergency Communication Networks (ECN) division is pleased to announce Gov. Dayton s support for the buildout of FirstNet s nationwide public safety broadband network in Minnesota. Today s decision means first responders will have another option when choosing a wireless broadband provider. FirstNet offers priority and preemption and is dedicated to satisfying the unique needs and requirements of public safety responders. ECN staff began work in 2011 to define the requirements of a public safety wireless broadband network for Minnesota emergency responders. The experiences of public safety professionals proved that commercial wireless providers did not meet the reliability needs of first responders and were prone to congestion during high priority events. Major requirements were outlined in a report presented to the Statewide Emergency Communications Board (SECB) in August of In February of 2012, Congress passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act creating the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). FirstNet s mission under the law is to build, operate and maintain a mission-critical, high-speed nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to the use of public safety. In September of 2014, FirstNet kicked off their initial consultation with the states. Minnesota was the second state, following Maryland, to host a meeting. Many of you attended that first session to express your desires for this nationwide network. Over the last three years, ECN and the SECB have met with FirstNet many times, providing valuable feedback on the design and features necessary for this type of network. On June 19, a draft state plan was delivered to Minnesota. During the last few months, ECN and workgroup members of the SECB have met with AT&T, FirstNet s chosen vendor to discuss the proposed network. The SECB voted to support a decision to allow FirstNet to build this network in Minnesota on July 28. FirstNet, AT&T and its team of industry leaders are ready to deploy, operate, maintain and improve the FirstNet network in Minnesota and will assume all responsibility and costs. AT&T has a track record of deploying mission-critical networks for public safety, spanning more than 140 years. AT&T has committed to delivering the industry-leading next-generation communications products and services that Minnesota first responders require, supported by a dedicated sales and customer service team. Regards, Jackie Mines, Director Emergency Communication Networks Division Department of Public Safety

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13 Text-to-911 Statewide Operational Standard 911 Standards, Protocols, Procedures Document Section (FILL IN #) State Standard Number Standard Title Title of Section x.x.x Status: Committee Date: 00/00/00 Date Established 00/00/00 SRB Approval: 00/00/00 Replaces Document Dated 00/00/00 Date Revised 00/00/00 1. Purpose or Objective The purpose of this operational standard is to standardize the method of receiving and processing Short Message Service (SMS) text-to-911 calls throughout the State of Minnesota. Use of this operational standard will promote the standardization of text-to-911 call handling among jurisdictions across the state. The purpose of text-to-911 is to provide a means of communication between the caller and the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) when it is not feasible for callers to make a traditional voice call. 2. Background Capabilities PSAPs that have Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) capable of handling text-to-911 calls and is directly connected to the statewide Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) will be allowed to take text-to-911 calls after they submit a 911 Plan Change letter to Emergency Communication Networks (ECN). Each position in the PSAP should have the ability to process all calls that require the use of SMS text-to-911 calls. Constraints Constraints of text-to-911 include caller location accuracy. Text-to-911 provides the geographical coordinates of the cell sector centroid to the PSAP. This provides a comparable accuracy factor to that of phase one wireless data. Text messaging to is a best effort service that utilizes the public SMS text network. As with any SMS texts, there is no guarantee on the speed of delivery, or if the SMS message will be delivered at all. SMS messages may also appear out of order. Accordingly, it may take longer for a call taker to process an SMS text to request than a traditional voice request, which in turn may lengthen the public safety response time. When the caller s phone is in roaming mode, the text will not go through to the PSAP. They will receive a bounce back message telling them to dial 911. Standard Name State x.x.x 1

14 The call taker should consider keeping the session open until responders have made contact with the caller. This will allow for gathering additional information if necessary. Before the call is released, a message should be sent to the caller indicating that the session will be ending. A text-to-911 session cannot be restored or initiated unless the caller messages 911 again in a new session. 3. Operational Context Callers who find themselves in a situation where they are only able to text, or individuals who are hearing or speech impaired may opt to use text-to-911. Voice communications is still the preferred medium to reach 911 and will be promoted as such throughout the state. 4. Recommended Protocol/ Standard A) Text-to-911 Call Processing Considerations 1. Calls received via SMS messaging will come into the PSAP on a designated queue. 2. The text message screen will show the latitude/longitude of the centroid of the cell sector (similar to wireless phase 1), not the location of the caller. The call taker can rebid the location information if necessary. Location information may or may not improve with a rebid. To rebid, the call taker must enter the command #L into the text box and send it. 3. Due to limitations with SMS messaging, messages shall be limited to 160 characters before sending the message. If the caller goes over 160 characters, the call will be broken up into multiple messages. It is possible for the messages to arrive out of order. 4. Call takers will process all text-to-911 messages with the same priority as they do with all other 911 calls. 5. The PSAP should have a generic opening message that does not identify the PSAP in order to avoid confusion since regional PSAPs are being used to take texts for other agencies. B) Text-to-911 Call Processing 1. The address or location must be verified on all text-to-911 calls as well as the phone number the text is coming from. A mistyped or autocorrected street name by the caller may provide the call taker with a wrong address. 2. The call taker should ask the caller if they can call in by voice (if it is safe to do so), unless it is made clear from the onset of the call that the caller is only able to communicate via text. 3. It is recommended that PSAPs have an alternative option for initiating outbound texts in situations where additional information may be needed and the text session was terminated, such as a PSAP cellular telephone. Standard Name State x.x.x 2

15 - If an alternative option is utilized, a general do not reply disclaimer should be used. (i.e. CAUTION- DO NOT REPLY TO THIS NUMBER Please call 911 if assistance is needed. This telephone is not monitored or used to reach 911.) 4. The caller will receive a Dialog has been closed by 911 message when the call taker releases the call. 5. If the PSAP does not answer the call within 30 seconds, the TCC may terminate the call and send the caller a message asking them to call and advise that 911 was unreachable. This varies according to the CPE that the PSAP uses. 6. After 30 minutes of no activity in the session, the TCC will close the 911 text session and send the caller a message advising that the 911 dialog has been closed. C) Relaying a Text to Another PSAP (without texting capabilities) 1. If a text message is received and it is determined that the emergency is occurring in another jurisdiction, all pertinent information will be gathered and relayed by phone, radio, or whatever means the PSAP has to the appropriate PSAP for dispatch if that PSAP does not have text-to-911 capabilities. 2. The appropriate PSAP will be notified of the incident as soon as the receiving PSAP is able taking into consideration factors such as the nature of the situation, priority, and when the call taker has adequate information. 3. The text session should be kept open until it is appropriate to release the call in case additional information is needed. 4. The PSAP should document the text-to-911 call according to their PSAP Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). 5. At no point should the caller be advised that they have reached the wrong PSAP and need to dial a different number to reach the correct PSAP. 6. All text-to-911 calls will be recorded and archived the same way as a voice 911 call. D) Transfer of Text-to-911 Calls 1) If the incident needs to be transferred to another PSAP that is capable of receiving SMS messages, the call taker will transfer the text-to-911 call over the TCC to the receiving PSAP. 2) When the originating PSAP drops off during a transfer conference, the caller may receive a disconnect message. It is recommended that the transferring PSAP not drop off and maintain the three way conversation, or send the caller a message saying there will be a Standard Name State x.x.x 3

16 disconnect message. When transferring a text call, the transferring PSAP will advise the caller which PSAP they are being transferred to and relay pertinent details in order to ensure a successful transfer. 3) The TCC transfers using the #T command along with a PSAP transfer code. The receiving PSAP will receive the caller s location and telephone number information. 4) The PSAP can use the private chat feature (#P) PSAP to PSAP in order to communicate sensitive information without the caller s knowledge. 5) If the PSAP is not able to transfer the text, the call taker will take pertinent information and relay to the appropriate PSAP. Once the initial response information has been exchanged, the agencies involved may choose to designate a talkgroup for continued incident communication or use telephone to relay incident updates. 5. General 1. Pre-set messages are available and configurable according to agency protocol. The use of pre-set messages is recommended. 2. When pre-set messages are being used, the following order of questioning should be used at the beginning of a text session: - What is your location? - Can you place a voice call? 3. If there is no response from the caller, the call taker will attempt to contact the caller by sending a text message back. If there is still no response, the call taker will leave the text session open and allow it to expire. - If there is an indicated emergency in the initial message with an unknown location, the call taker must use other methods in an attempt to locate the caller including: rebidding the location, contacting the carrier for pinging the phone for better location information, or retrieving subscriber information. The call taker may also place a voice call to the caller in order to obtain critical information. However, if the initial message indicated an emergency where a callback could compromise the safety of the caller, the call taker will exhaust other methods in order to locate the caller first. 4. If subscriber information is needed, the call taker should contact the appropriate carrier for that information similar to the process for a wireless caller. 5. Call takers should avoid the use of texting lingo. The call taker should only use plain language. The call taker should not use emojis when messaging a caller. 6. If the call taker experiences a language barrier with the caller, the call taker should first determine if the communication barrier is due to texting lingo by asking the caller can you use plain English? If it is determined that Language Line services are needed, a conference call will be established according to the agency s protocol. Standard Name State x.x.x 4

17 7. If the PSAP is unequipped to get their own transcripts for text calls, the call taker or supervisor should create a request to the West TCC to get that information. 6. Management The Next Generation 911 Committee of the State Emergency Communications Board (SECB) is responsible for the oversight of the standard. It is highly recommended that PSAP managers implement this standard and train their personnel accordingly. Standard Name State x.x.x 5

18 2018 CENTRAL MN Next Generation 911 Committee MEETING SCHEDULE (These are tentative dates and are subject to change.) Date Time Location January 11 10:00 a.m. Conference Call February 8 10:00 a.m. Conference Call March 8 10:00 a.m. Conference Call April 12 10:00 a.m. Douglas County Public Works/Conference Call May 10 10:00 a.m. Conference Call June 14 10:00 a.m. Conference Call July 12 10:00 a.m. Conference Call August 9 10:00 a.m. Douglas County Public Works/Conference Call September 13 10:00 a.m. Conference Call October 11 10:00 a.m. Conference Call November 8 10:00 a.m. Conference Call December 13 10:00 a.m. Douglas County Public Works/Conference Call