At Enterprise Forum 2009, Alcatel-Lucent demonstrated a next generation integrated solution for emergency call handling for first responders, based on PSA Peugeot Citroën eCall system.
The solution, which is technically ready to be adopted by governments, shows a world premiere: an automatically located emergency call from a Citroën car is handled in a specially-adapted public safety answering point (PSAP) call centre and then transferred to a first responder dispatcher who uses digital radio technologies (TETRA with WiMAX overlay) to assure that first responders have a maximum amount of information about an accident before arriving. This is the first time that a TETRA-WiMAX overlay is demonstrated in a real world scenario and the first time automated handling of the emergency call is shown in a true end-to-end scenario that includes the first responder.
Attendees to the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Forum 2009 saw a live demonstration of eCall in car services through a series of integrated and advanced applications, from the automatic crash notification to a next generation public safety answering point automatically locating the accident on a map over a digital first responder network (TETRA), complemented with a broadband overlay based on Alcatel-Lucent’s WiMAX 802.16 e wireless broadband technology.
The demonstration presented for the first time an end-to-end Web Services integrated flow of emergency data: from the car’s eCall system to the PSA Peugeot Citroën call center, to the 112 Call center, to the first responder dispatcher, and finally to the emergency fleet vehicle. Through this whole chain the accident context was transferred, qualified and progressively enriched to provide a quicker and more accurate intervention. The emergency vehicle was equipped with the new TETRA-WiMAX broadband solution that enabled it to receive and send high definition document such as the extrication map for a vehicle or the appropriate files for police interventions.
The benefits of such end-to-end integration – from call notification to call handling and dispatching up to the actual first responder – is a reduction in the time it takes for first responders to arrive at the accident, plus better information for the first responder, allowing him to reduce errors on both reaching the person in distress but also, for example, liberating him from the car. European Commission’s studies have shown that the systematic use of automatic crash notification has a potential to save 2,500 lives per year in Europe.
“Since 2003, we have fitted 650,000 vehicles with telematics in Europe and our emergency call service has already proven successful results with more than 3,500 calls received in the nine European countries where this service is opened. We are sharing our experience with the European Commission and the Members States in order to find the best definition for an efficient pan-European eCall. The ongoing transformation of the first responder communication systems to digital systems is a real opportunity for harmonization and better cross-country integration of these services everywhere in Europe,” said Franck Batocchi, Managing Director Telematic Services, PSA Peugeot Citroën.
Alcatel-Lucent has implemented numerous Emergency call mechanisms in both fixed and mobile operator networks and has provided technologies for e-Call Systems.