Aculab contributes to next gen 112 Long Term Definition standard for emergency services

MILTON KEYNES, UK: Aculab, a leading provider of enabling technology for the global communications market, congratulates the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) on its release of the first public version of the Next Generation 112 Long Term Definition standard (NG112 LTD).

According to Hannes Tschofenig, Chair of the EENA NG112 Technical Committee, “This is undoubtedly a key milestone reached. Europe was lacking such a reference document and hence we are proud to be able to release the NG112 LTD.” Tschofenig’s statement is one with which Aculab concurs. In an echo of the comments made by EENA Technical Director, Christina Lumbreras, Ian Colville, Product Manager at Aculab and a contributor to the newly released standard, said: “The NG112 LTD standard is indeed a crucial document for the future of emergency services in Europe and for the safety of its citizens. I am delighted to have been able to work together with other NG112 Committee members and to have made a contribution to the standard, on behalf of Aculab.”

With a focus on ensuring global interoperability, EENA has re-used existing standards as much as possible. In particular, the i3 standard of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), to which Colville also contributed, has been adapted to European Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). The definition of a long-term architecture for European Emergency Services that is contained in the NG112 LTD document remains close to the NENA i3 standard, which also defines as its core concept the deployment of Emergency Services IP Networks (ESInets).

Speaking of the newly released standard, Colville went on to say: “The NG112 LTD document provides the necessary elements to enable emergency authorities to specify the design of an efficient and holistic emergency calls management process. The need for everyone within the European community to be able to reach 112 using voice, text, videos and pictures is critical, and achieving that undoubtedly depends on the ability to share data and to facilitate the intervention of first responders. The key to achieving that goal is embodied in the standard and is based on the idea of fostering interoperability between emergency agencies.”

Interoperability is also the key to Aculab’s participation in the NG112 market as its GroomerII gateway provides the essential protocol interface function needed for Legacy Network Gateways. Interworking between SS7 and SIP is the raison d'être for GroomerII and taking his cue from Gary Machado, EENA executive director, Colville added: “It is desirable that the European authorities support the testing of a complete, end-to-end, next generation 112 service and that is an activity in which Aculab would be more than happy to participate, based on our experience with GroomerII in previous interoperability events and in real world, next generation deployments.”

The NG112 LTD standard will be presented next week in Riga (18-20 April) during the EENA EU Emergency Services Workshop 20122, which will be attended by emergency services representatives from all over Europe and at which Aculab will be present as an exhibiting vendor.