The 112 Newsletter, Issue 37

You can also read this newsletter in your language using Google Translate at http://www.eena.org/view/en/Media/newsletter/issue_37.html

The next EU Emergency Services Workshop that gathers European emergency services, public authorities and industry representatives from all over Europe will be held on 18-20 April in Riga, Latvia. This 3-day conference aims at fostering sharing of best practices between the relevant stakeholders. National 112 systems and regulation will be discussed during plenary sessions while operations and technical issues, including Next Generation 112, will be addressed during parallel tracks. In 2012, the 112 Awards Ceremony will be held at the occasion of the conference and will reward individuals and organisations particularly engaged in improving and promoting the European emergency number 112. The EU Emergency Services Workshop will welcome about 350 participants, including about 150 emergency services and public authorities' representatives from all over Europe as well as other stakeholders such as telecom regulators and suppliers.

The publication on the organisation of Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in Europe has been prepared with the generous contributions of members from the EENA Advisory Board and the 112 Emergency Services Staff Network (112 ESSN). This document will be followed by yearly updates and more information will be added in the future. EENA has done its best to provide an accurate picture of the organisation of PSAPs based on the input provided by its members.

 View an abstract (780KB)

The "European Parliament Written Declaration 0035/2011 on the need for accessible 112 emergency services" was adopted on 15 November 2011. It invites the Commission "to promote the development of fully accessible and reliable Next Generation 112 services independent from devices and networks, using the Total Conversation concept" and "to put forward legislative and standardisation proposals to make 112 services fully accessible to all citizens, giving priority to sign language services using video technologies and text-based services to ensure the inclusion of deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-disabled users". This is an additional support towards the deployment of an accessible Next Generation 112 in Europe.

In December 2011, the EENA gathers 595 emergency services' representatives and 41 solution providers.

 View further information on EENA memberships here (191KB)

On 14 November 2011, the EENA presented an update on REACH112 project and NG112 issues to the members of the EGEA (Expert Group on Emergency Access).

 View the presentation (1494KB)

The first draft of the EENA Next Generation 112 Long Term Definition document will be published in January. The document will be open to comments from January until February. The final document should be approved and officially published by the end of March. A one-hour session will be dedicated to this Long Term Definition Standard during the EU Emergency Services Workshop 2012 in Riga (18-20 April).

 Introduction to NG112 (final document) (221KB)

The EENA Operations Committee is currently working on several drafts EENA Operations Documents such as "Terminology", "SMS Access to 112", "eCall", "Multilingual 112 calls", "Accessibility to 112 for people with disabilities", "Public Warning", "Oblique Imagery", "112 System Services" that will be soon ready. All published EENA Operations Documents can be found on EENA website.

 List of subcommittees (166KB)

 112 Service Chain Description (764KB)

 Caller-location in Support of Emergency Services (846KB)

 False Emergency Calls (411KB)

 Silent, Hang-up and Abandoned 112 Calls (315KB)

The REACH112 service is up and running: user requirements had first been defined and then used as a basis to consolidate the technology and the operational deployments at end-users, relay services and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). More than 7000 users can now contact each other directly or via relay services when necessary using Total conversation on a wide range of devices (also transnationally). The first real emergency calls have been made. PSAP and relay services operators have been trained. The consortium is currently monitoring how the pilots are running and providing the necessary improvements when needed. The final REACH112 Workshop will be organised on 28-29 June 2012 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

In the framework of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the conference was organised by the EENA and Polish partners (Ministry of Interior and Administration, IT Projects Center and Małopolska Provincial Office in Krakow). The conference presented the projects and solutions related to the implementation of the emergency number 112 in Poland, including the Emergency Calls IT System (SIPR) and the Nationwide Telecommunications Network to Support the 112 Emergency Number (OST 112). The debate allowed Polish stakeholders to discuss issues and challenges and to benefit from European best practices and international experience, especially in the framework of the EURO Football Cup 2012 that will be held in Poland and in Ukraine. An update about emergency communications status in Ukraine was also presented.

The EENA is delighted to announce the launch of its official Twitter. Please feel free to spread the news through your Twitter followers!

You will find below an overview of some of the interesting events pertaining to emergency services and emergency communications that will be held during the first Semester 2012.

• Mobile World Congress 2012, 27 February /1 March - Barcelona, Spain

• Navigator, 18/20 April - Baltimore, USA

• Tetra World Congress, 14/17 May - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

• NENA conference, 9/14 June - Long Beach, USA

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