D.C. 911 Calls
Answered Within Five Seconds with IBM
Call Center Solution IBM and Avaya Power
Faster, More Efficient Emergency Response
Washington, D.C., December 6, 2006. .
.Emergency responders can now answer calls
for help from city residents within five
seconds with a new integrated phone system
designed, developed and installed by IBM
(NYSE: IBM).
With the new Unified Communications
Center 99.7 percent of emergency calls are
answered within five seconds with most calls
answered in less than one second. That
compares to a national average of about 10
seconds.
The new center integrates emergency call
centers for D.C. police, fire, rescue and
emergency responders and can handle an
estimated 2.65 million calls a year.
“In our business, wasted time can be
life-threatening,” said E. Michael Latessa,
director of the District’s Unified
Communication Center. "This integrated
system eliminates the need to transfer calls
between agencies, so we're able to save
time, reduce the potential for errors and
dispatch first responders more quickly and
efficiently."
The center also will house contact center
agents who answer a non-emergency “Action
Line” for Mayor Anthony Williams, as well as
the general 311 information line called by
city residents with questions or concerns,
ranging from where to renew a driver’s
license to how to locate a towed vehicle.
While the new communications system
features improved performance, it also has
new capabilities, like caller identification
and location information. The new system
automatically identifies callers and their
location when they place a 911 call, even if
they’re calling from a wireless device, like
a cell phone. This new capability makes it
easier to quickly dispatch appropriate
personnel to respond to an emergency.
"The system also has the ability to track
information so the center can identify
trends and patterns, which gives staff
insight into the changing needs of the
community," said Mark Belser, who led the
project for IBM. "That is especially
beneficial to an area like D.C. that
services 580,000 residents and 2 million
visitors each day."
IBM designed and delivered a new 911 call
center architecture which includes the first
all-digital solution in the U.S. that
eliminates the use of traditional analog
CAMA signaling between 9-1-1 CTI call
routers and the call center PBX. IBM
partnered with Avaya for the call center and
building communications server, PlantCML®
for CTI 9-1-1 specific CTI workstation
software and Spectracom for NENA compliant
timing systems.
IBM also provided engineering expertise
and coordination with the existing PlantCML®
carrier-class tandem switching systems to
provide for a completely uninterrupted
migration from the old 9-1-1 network to the
new one. Caller 9-1-1 workstations are
provided by Lenovo. Supporting the solution
for call center reporting, CTI and 9-1-1
routing computing are IBM X-Series servers
and network attached storage.
The Avaya Call Center and PlantCML®
Sentinel 9-1-1® for Avaya software analyze
incoming calls and use patented algorithms
to route them automatically to the most
appropriate agent. The Avaya Call Management
System and Operational Analyst software
analyze how well the center is managing
calls and indicate where administrators can
take fast and effective action to improve
performance.
Avaya’s communication solution for the
center interoperates with Sentinel 9-1-1®
for Avaya, which is an intelligent CTI
workstation application for 911 dispatchers
provided by PlantCML®, a company
specializing in mission-critical 911
emergency response and systems management
solutions. Calls can be answered and managed
from the workstation using a graphical user
interface that integrates directly with
Avaya’s telephony software. Avaya digital
phones on each desktop serve as a backup in
the event a workstation fails. The PlantCML
Sentinel 9-1-1® solution also provides for a
seamless audio bridge to emergency
management communications which allows the
9-1-1 operator to bring emergency personnel
on radio to communicate directly with the
9-1-1 caller. All systems log events through
a common time stamp provided by the IBM
designed NENA-compliant timing system as
well as being recorded digitally for archive
purposes.
The IBM/Avaya work for the Unified
Communication Center builds on the
companies’ proven success in creating a
converged communication solution for the
District that serves 30,000 employees of 60
agencies at 360 sites throughout the city.
Part of the city’s DC-Net initiative – a
municipally owned fiber-optic network and
telecommunications system – the IBM/Avaya
improving communications reliability and
boosting responsiveness to constituents.
For more information, visit
www.ibm.com
# # #
For more information please contact:
IBM Contact: Jan
Walbridge
Tel: 203 430 9874
Email:
walbridge@us.ibm.com
For more information please contact:
PlantCML Contact: Lorin Bristow
Director of Marketing
Tel : 615-790-2882
Email : lorin.bristow@dccusa.com
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