NEW YORK-Key participants in a just-completed, 100-day trial of wide area enhanced 911 service in New Jersey pronounced the project a success at a teleconference held May 21 to coincide with Wireless Safety Week.
On average, the pilot project-covering 350 square miles around the 50 southernmost miles of the New Jersey Turnpike-came close to meeting the Federal Communications Commission requirement for caller location within 410 feet 67 percent of the time. That is the FCC’s Phase II requirement for deployment of E911.
“In Phase I, you have to route calls by cell site, and cell sites often cross municipal boundaries, so you’ll often route the calls to the wrong [Public Safety Answering Point],” said S. Robert Miller, executive director of the New Jersey Office of Emergency Telecommunications Services.
Consequently, Miller said state public-safety officials planned to ask the FCC to support their contention that skipping over Phase I and going directly to Phase II requirements is a better option. As demonstrated by the recent trial in New Jersey, Phase II “takes the search out of search and rescue,” thereby making public safety response far more efficient and effective, he said.
The pilot involved 3,500 spontaneous emergency calls placed by the general public and 81,000 test calls placed by emergency services personnel and other representatives of corporate and government entities participating in the project.
Of the four sectors into which the coverage area was divided for the trial, caller location accuracy was best where the ratio of location receivers is highest relative to cell sites, said Louis A. Stilp, general manager of the Associated Group Inc., also known as TruePosition Inc., Bala Cynwyd, Pa. Associated Group developed and supplied the TruePosition wireless location system used in conjunction with the 911 communications network of Bell Atlantic-New Jersey and the analog cellular service of Comcast Cellular Communications Inc., Philadelphia.
“The manner in which the location receivers was deployed geometrically was parallel to the Turnpike in a long, narrow corridor-much the way cellular networks evolved,” Stilp said. “We need to build out more in a mesh, or circular pattern.”
Although the 100-day trial officially ended April 30, all participants in it are continuing their respective roles in providing and improving the E911 service through additional technology deployment and other enhancements, Stilp said. The state of New Jersey already has installed additional trunks sufficient to permit statewide handling of E911 wireless calls, Miller said.
Kenneth Sander, president of the Associated Group, said discussions involving Comcast Cellular and other participants are taking place to develop a long-range funding source for the E911 system.
The New Jersey government has the authority to require wireline and wireless carriers to impose a consumer surcharge for emergency services, but it doesn’t do so, Miller said.
“If we make (the carriers) do it, the advantage is all would do it and do it equally,” he said. “If the carriers do it voluntarily, New Jersey doesn’t have to get into a debate over what percentage is to be paid by different states.”
Another factor in carrier consideration of an Enhanced 911 system capable of identifying the physical location of a person placing a wireless call involves other types of revenue-generating services it can provide, Stilp said. Accurate positioning via location sensors within buildings would, for example, permit pricing discounts for wireless calls made from a caller’s home or office. The technology also can enhance fraud detection efforts and aid in fleet management, he said.
