Page 34 - Security Today, October 2017

Cover Story
ed in real-time to the right 911 center and the location of the call dynamically inserted into a database so the location of the caller appears on the emergency dispatcher’s screen.
• Geo-routing of 911 calls. Geo-coordi- nates can now be used to establish user location and route 911 calls to the right 911 center for the caller.
The movement toward “anytime, any- where” communications requires technol- ogy that provides “real-time” location provi- sioning with the scalability of internet cloud computing. Fortunately, the NENA i3 archi- tecture leverages SIP and the Internet for an immensely scalable solution.
Improving the Response
Let’s look at some of the features that the cloud can deliver today as services to help improve your emergency response. We iden- tified above that Dynamic call routing is available so that a 911 call can be sent to any of the 911 centers in the USA and Canada. If you are a distributed enterprise with hun- dreds or thousands of offices nationwide, all connected on the same enterprise voice net- work, the cloud solves a huge issue for you. You can eliminate all your local trunks and connections to send out 911 calls locally and send all your calls to one point, the cloud, where the call will be routed to the right 911
center based on the location of the caller. You’ve simplified your network and ac-
crued cost savings all in one stroke.
But now that all your 911 calls are being sent to cloud, what else can you do? As soon as a 911 call arrives at the cloud, you or any- one in your enterprise can be notified by SMS, email or screen pop that an emergency call is in progress with the location of the caller. You can record all emergency calls and save them for archive purposes or you can have your in- ternal security personnel listen into the call or barge into the call in order to coordinate internal resources and speed response. The cloud enables a multi-level threat notification system so the appropriate notifications can be sent to all levels of the organization as appro- priate so that situation awareness is improved
throughout the organization.
The cloud enables intelligent routing of
911 calls based on where the call is coming from. If you have your own internal security personnel that take 911 calls from a specific location, the cloud can intelligently route all calls that come from a specific location to emergency responders responsible for that location.
The cloud is an asset for mobile workers who might dial 911 on their UC client be- cause it allows their location to be known even if they take their UC client home or on the road. Android and iOS apps are available
that can determine the user’s location outside the enterprise and if they dial 911, the call is routed based on their location.
It is hard to beat the cloud for ease of implementation and ease of use. It is very straight-forward and cost effective to route your calls to the cloud. You manage your ser- vices via an easy to use web portal. You can purchase most services on a monthly or an- nual contract basis and there is no equipment to buy, install and maintain on your premise.
The cloud can dramatically improve your emergency response profile for 911 calls. You gain real-time location tracking, dynamic call routing based on location, and multi- level 911 call notification capability. These features are available now and enterprises from the smallest to the largest can benefit from cost effective cloud solutions. If you are moving or have moved to IP telephony (H.323 or SIP) or UC communications, you can solve mobility issues and distributed net- work issues easily with the cloud.
The network is changing rapidly and new services and features are becoming available every month. If you are looking to improve your emergency response profile and provide better service to your community, the cloud may have your answers.
Nicholas Maier is the senior vice president of sales and marketing at RedSky.
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GOVERNMENT SECURITY OCTOBER 2017