Santa Clara, Calif. – July 15, 2020 – Avaya (NYSE: AVYA) and Komutel, in close collaboration with Combat Networks, Bell Canada and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), has conducted the first Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) test call transfer in Canada. NG9-1-1 carries the promise of more effective call handling for public safety personnel with the goal of improving outcomes in emergency situations, including those that are life-threatening.
NG9-1-1 is a cross-industry initiative that strengthens and improves how 9-1-1 calls are handled. It reimagines the response possibilities of emergency services, allowing responding agencies the opportunity to have greater context, smoother workflows, and improved operating efficiency. This ultimately helps empower public safety agencies to respond to emergencies with greater speed and effectiveness for better outcomes that save lives and property.
Effective handling of 9-1-1 calls often starts at a Primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) where calls are triaged before transfer to the appropriate Secondary PSAP that will take the lead in responding to the incident. While this is standing operating procedure for Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) today, the first NG9-1-1 test call transfer from one PSAP to another has taken place in Canada, marking a significant milestone toward establishing robust NG9-1-1 services. The call originated from the Bell Canada Emergency Services IP network (ESInet) to the OPP General Headquarters in Orillia where it was transferred across the new network to a PSAP in Quebec.
“For an entire generation, 9-1-1 systems and operations have remained mostly unchanged while communications technology such as the internet, cloud, and mobility have raced ahead,” said Allan Mendelsohn, Principal Consultant, and Public Safety Practice Lead, Avaya. “We all have a role to play in realizing the vision for NG9-1-1 in Canada. Avaya is a communication solution provider spanning the entire continuum of public safety–from the enterprise office worker placing an emergency call, to a PSAP, to mobile first responders, and to healthcare professionals at hospitals and trauma centers. It’s a role we take seriously.”
“Citizens expect much more when calling 9-1-1 today, such as the ability to text to 9-1-1, and the move to NG9-1-1 will help get us there,” said Deputy Commissioner Rose DiMarco, Commander Ontario Provincial Police Traffic Safety and Operational Support. “This is a key milestone that is the next step towards more fully implementing Next Generation 9-1-1 services across Canada.”
“Bell is pleased to enable this important milestone in the evolution of NG9-1-1 in Canada with our advanced ESInet technology,” said Nicholas Payant, Bell’s Vice President of Connectivity and Reliability. “Alongside our technology partners, we’re ready to deliver the next generation of innovative 9-1-1 services to public safety and other first responders to support their essential roles in keeping Canadians healthy and safe.”
"Our team members have been active participants and contributors to CRTC Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) for several years, which uniquely enables us to partner with PSAPs in order to implement NG9-1-1 solutions as envisioned for Canada,” said Yves Laliberté, President, Komutel. “We have combined our technical expertise and collective portfolios with a best of breed approach to helping public safety agencies and their Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) evolve from Basic 9-1-1 (B9-1-1) and Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) to Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1). These customer centric innovations are further enabled by leveraging our open and software-based architectures, and commitment to industry standards as adopted and deployed in Canada.”
“This is new ground for everyone, so we’ve applied our best integration specialists to iterate through these trials on behalf of everyone in Canada,” said Christopher Emery, Chief Executive Officer at Combat Networks. “The dedicated team of professionals from Bell Canada, the OPP, and our vendor partners, Avaya and Komutel, have demonstrated that both the technology and expertise for future successful NG9-1-1 deployments are ready to meet and exceed the new standard for Emergency Services in Canada.”
Learn more about Avaya’s Public Safety Communications & Next-Gen Emergency Services.
About Komutel
Komutel is a leading developer of 9-1-1 communication solutions which are easily integrated with our Public Safety Client’s existing telecommunications and IT infrastructure (IT, VoIP, TDM, UC, Centrex, VM, mobiles, and radio). Komutel’s portfolio of 9-1-1 solutions is designed to be cost effective, and facilitate migration from legacy environment to NG9-1-1(Nena i3) standards while minimizing risks and disruptions as much as possible. Based on Open Standards, the Komutel architecture enables clients to configure the modular applications according to their specific needs, requirements and operational preferences. Komutel is a privately-owned company founded in 2001.
About Combat Networks
Since July 2001, Combat Networks has assisted its customers by designing and architecting state of the art high-performance networks. We have been installing, and training supported vendor solutions as well as maintaining, monitoring (NOC), and troubleshooting as required. Headquartered in Ottawa and with offices across Canada, we serve many of the country’s largest Federal and Provincial Government Departments, National Defense Interests and Fortune 1000 companies. Our corporate mission is to be recognized by our customers as the most knowledgeable, most responsive, and most valuable external resource for network infrastructures where security, performance, and reliability are vital requirements.
Everyone at Combat is focused and dedicated to your success by providing a complete lifecycle solution from network planning and project management through to post-sales support and network transition services. Combat has the people, skills, and products to work for you at all stages of the network infrastructure lifecycle.
About Ontario Provincial Police
Please visit www.opp.ca
About Bell
Canada’s largest communications company with more than 22 million consumer and business connections, Bell provides advanced broadband wireless, TV, Internet and business communication services throughout the country. Bell Media is Canada’s premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out of home and digital media. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca or BCE.ca.
