To ALL: AGRPA in the news big time!
WOOD DALE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 1997--
Rockwell Switching Systems Division Teams With Other Vendors
In NJ Demonstration for Revolutionary Wireless Location System
Today Rockwell SSD announced its participation in a dramatic
demonstration of the first solution for locating and responding to
cellular emergency 9-1-1 calls. In cooperation with several other
vendors, the event was sponsored by The Associated Group in
New Jersey on January 22, with several notable speakers including
Reed Hunt, head of the Federal Communications Commission and
Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telephone Industry
Association (CTIA) on the program.
Responding to emergency 9-1-1 calls from wireless callers is a
growing problem, with over 50,000 emergency calls made each day.
Though most cellular customers say they purchased their phones for
safety and security reasons, emergency services cannot locate the
wireless callers through conventional means. In June, 1996, the
Federal Communications Commission announced that cellular companies
must install systems for dispatchers to locate cellular callers in
a timely manner (CC Docket 94-102), with an initial deadline for
wireless ANI (Automatic Number Identification) within 18 months,
and provision of wireless latitude and longitude location
information within five years.
The first example of such capability was demonstrated in
New Jersey on January 22, 1997. Working with the State of
New Jersey and the Federal Communications Commission, Rockwell SSD
teamed with The Associated Group, developers of TruePosition(TM)
locator equipment, and several other vendors to demonstrate a
revolutionary solution for the service of cellular emergency
9-1-1 calls. Staged by the New Jersey Office of Emergency
Telecommunications Services (OETS) and Bell Atlantic, the trial
demonstrated how wireless 9-1-1 calls can be routed to the
appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) centers without
the need for the ANI (Automatic Number Identification) and location.
"As a provider of enhanced 9-1-1 systems, Rockwell has been
extremely aware of the problems related to the increase of cellular
9-1-1 callers," said Jake Chacko, director of strategic planning of
Rockwell's Switching Systems Division. "In light of the seriousness
of the growing problem of 9-1-1 cellular calls, our work with the
State of New Jersey and the other key participating vendors has been
a rewarding project for our division."
Using The Associated Group's "TruePosition(TM)" wireless
location technology based on Time-Difference-Of-Arrival (TDOA),
cellular calls were traced through the detection of a signal at
receivers placed along a 50 mile demonstration route, with no
modification to existing cellular phones. The locations of wireless
9-1-1 callers were displayed on an electronic map along with their
mobile numbers for immediate call-back by emergency service
officials.
"TruePosition takes the `search' out of `search and rescue,'"
said Louis Stelp, vice president of The Associated Group. "It will
help save lives and enable emergency personnel to reach callers at a
moment's notice."
Recent examples of emergency service providers being unable to
locate 9-1-1 callers:
-- A woman stranded in her truck for forty hours during a
blizzard in South Dakota
-- A handicapped man stranded in his van on a train track, with
a train approaching
Though they each called 9-1-1 on a cell phone, emergency crews had
trouble locating both of them because the cellular systems around
the country do not provide the location of a cellular caller.
Though each was rescued, the situation could have been greatly
improved if locator equipment was in place at the time of the call. |
