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Beyond the frontline - part two
Last month we explored the benefits of VoIP, to continue with our feature, we look at the impact, if any, it will have on call takers, if integrated into ICCS...
Can VoIP be integrated into ICCS systems? Will this impact on call takers - if so how?
3Com
As IP Telephony is rolled out ICCS will become simpler as the applications which are used to manage activities can be more easily integrated with the communications systems based on standards. While these will take some time to develop IP Telephony system can easily be integrated into legacy systems by judicious use of gateways.
Cisco
VoIP is now standards-based and the SIP protocol suite will offer the basis for integration into existing and future ICCS systems. However Cisco and other VoIP systems offer gateways to convert VoIP to a variety of legacy voice protocols. The use of these gateways should permit integration into ICCS systems even if they do not have native VoIP or IP capability.
The use of VoIP should not impact call takers in any way. However VoIP systems must be designed to offer the required service levels. This means that the tips mentioned above must be observed scrupulously, and best practice followed to the letter.
Fortek
VoIP can be used to realise the traditional ICCS functionality for both telephone and radio with software methods being used to present both through a common headset. Furthermore, VoIP can be further exploited by incorporating this functionality into associated applications. For Public Safety organisations this means that the ICCS functionality can be incorporated into the Command and Control system.
From a call takers point of view there should be little impact on day to day working practices, although VoIP presents the opportunity to re-develop the user interface to be more compatible with the conventional Windows GUI. The integrated solution may be highly user-configurable allowing software control of decisions such as when to present audio on a headset and when to present it on a speaker, and how the system should interleave radio and telephone operation.
Fortek was one of the very first suppliers to introduce VoIP into a Control Room environment. Our first site went live in 2003 and since then a further five Emergency Services have opted to integrate VoIP directly with their Command and Control functionality.
Mason communications
Integration with ICCS systems currently remains a significant challenge. There have been some limited deployments in the UK and these have not been without problems. The main issue is that many vendors have until now been pre-occupied with mainstream systems and have not had the resources to deploy on fully developing niche applications such as this. Integration problems often centre on relatively simple matters such as inter-connection of audio channels between systems, even where VoIP is used on both sides of the interface, CODEC incompatibility can mean signals must be taken down analogue to allow interconnection, defeating the object of the exercise.
There is however no fundamental reason why IPT should not integrate with ICCS systems and, over time, IPT is likely to actually deliver operational enhancements over legacy systems given its inherent flexibility. The impact on call takers will depend mainly on how the feel of the system changes ie user GUI, this won’t be as a direct result of IPT, but rather the enhancements possible through the application development toolkit.
NICE Systems
Leading ICCS vendors are currently developing VoIP interfaces that can be easily integrated into IP infrastructures to deliver current capabilities with the next generation of communications infrastructures.
Siemens Enterprise Communications.
VoIP can be integrated into Call Centre or Contact Centre environments. Any implementation of IP Telephony should provide for retention of traditional telephony features while offering more flexibility of telephone placement and management. There are advanced presence-aware contact centre products that are especially suited to IP telephony integration. When deploying VoIP technology in a contact centre environment, call agents can be located anywhere on the corporate network, including at home.
Now there is no requirement to concentrate call takers in one place as has been the case in traditional call centres. While the introduction of VoIP into call centre environments has positive benefits, it must be remembered that detailed design of the call centre and telephony solution is still required to ensure all technical and management aspects are addressed.
SunGard Vivista
VoIP integration and use within ICCS systems can easily be achieved. Many of our customers who already use VoIP telephony solutions for their private telephony requirements have integrated these with their DS2000 ICCS system via the use of QSIG/Q.931 interfaces. Where the VoIP system is replacing a traditional PBX solution that may have used DPNSS interfaces, then all that is required is an appropriate signalling converter to enable the connection of ICCS and VoIP telephony solution without complex modifications to existing ICCS equipment.
In addition to interfacing to VoIP solutions, VoIP can also be used in the heart of an ICCS solution, especially for delivery of audio from centralised switching solutions to both local and remotely sited operator positions. Use of this approach provides much greater choice for customers to achieve flexible and resilient solutions. It is possible for a customer to purely move a client PC to another location on the corporate network, enable appropriate connectivity, and continue to use the application. Previously this would have required more extensive movement of equipment and audio/telephone connectivity. Another example of use of VoIP for operator connectivity is to enable access to multiple central switch infrastructures. Thus from a resilience perspective an operator position can easily re-connect to an alternative central point to continue operation in the event of system failure or planned maintenance.
Trilogy
With the heightened awareness created by natural disasters and major terrorist events in recent years has come the recognition of being able to manage the unknown and unexpected as opposed to the pre-planned or rehearsed scenarios and hence the need to cater for all eventualities.
IP creates the optimum link between headquarters ICCS and the incident on the ground. Using VoIP to transport communications from the incident back to an ICCS environment is an efficient way of capturing all forms of voice communications taking place on the ground and presenting it to the ICCS in a manageable and recognisable format. This presents an excellent resilient alternative should primary voice communication services such as TETRA or GSM be rendered un-useable by the nature of the incident and a fall back communication path need to be utilised.
In addition to this the evolution of a whole host of communications devices has brought the high expectation of the first responder that the systems will always be available and that they can use the device which best suits their role as opposed to restricting their role based upon the device that is available. Also ensuring that the first responder uses the device with which he has greatest familiarity rather than being issued with the only one that is in service ensures operational efficiency in a highly stressed environment.
Trilogy’s Mercury system is used in many instances to interface into this ever expanding range of user devices enabling them to interoperate and by conversion to VoIP to be transported back to a centralised ICCS where through the use of API it can emulate whatever presentation the ICCS operator expects of that particular communication.
The use of VoIP in this manner can expand the functionality of the overall ICCS performance without any need to modify or enhance the ICCS itself and be presented transparently to the call taker.
What does the future hold concerning the use and benefits of VoIP?
3Com
Over the long term VoIP will deliver more flexibility and productivity and an overall lower total cost of ownership. In addition as other application (non-voice) recognise the opportunity offered by standards based communications using SIP we can also expect to see increasing innovation which will exploit the opportunity to more tighty integrate backend applications with communications.
Cisco
VoIP will continue to increase in prominence in all sectors of the telecommunications marketplace.
In the public sector the focus will be on the delivery of truly unified communications networks with seamless integration of IP wired and wireless networks, GSM mobile, mobile radio and traditional voice systems. These networks will deliver new ‘single-number reach’ and Presence services to aid user mobility and reachability, they will offer increasing levels of rich-media capability through integration of video and collaboration services, and provide a range of system end-points to suit particular roles and responsibilities. The unified approach should deliver these enhanced capabilities at lower cost points through infrastructure sharing and reduced dependence on external service providers.
More and more providers will use IP to deliver their voice and video services. Over the Internet there will be increased uptake of services such as those offered by Skype and Vonage, so that home users can exploit the reach and range, and the cost, of using the Internet for voice calls. In the private service provider space the main development will be the introduction of BT’s 21st Century Network (21CN). When 21CN is fully deployed all voice calls, as well as data connections, from the home will be over IP.
Fortek
The attractiveness of Voice over IP is that a virtual office can be set up anywhere in the world if required, without compromising functionality. The use of Voice over IP greatly simplifies the communications infrastructure within the control room and gives a flexibility to the system architecture in which any connected workstations can be incorporated into the communications system either on a temporary or permanent basis.
In particular it means that the secondary control rooms or major incident rooms can be configured to operate with identical functionality to that of the main control. It also opens up a number of opportunities for interoperability of radio systems between other Category 1 and Category 2 responders, enhancing the communications and encouraging multi-agency working and mutual fallback arrangements between neighbouring services.
The integration of communications tasks with the call recording and message logging offer significant benefits. It allows a complete audit trail of voice communications to be compiled into the incident and resource logs held in the Command and Control system. Telephone calls can be made and answered from within the Command and Control system using the same contacts directory as is used for other communications methods such as pager, SMS, fax and e-mail, thus simplifying operating procedures and reducing the risk of error.
Due to the significant benefits of VoIP, we anticipate that in the next couple of years, VoIP will become a key communications system, which will be widely implemented throughout the Control Room environment to deliver high quality audio and data integration.
Fujitsu Services
Unified comms is at the top of the list. Unified Communications and SIP interfaces to applications mean getting hold of the right person in the shortest time and the most efficient manner. Plus there will be a major impact on Business Processes as organisations review the way they work to take best advantage. Productivity improvements will significantly outweigh telephony cost savings.
Getronics
The future of VoIP is all about making communication easy and available for everyone, no matter where they are. Staff will be able to use whichever communications device they feel most comfortable with (mobile phone, pager, blackberry, etc.) through the same network as their colleagues. VoIP networks are getting more intelligent, and will be able to determine the best communications device to contact employees and colleagues on at any given time. Staff will be able to set their ‘status’ with the network and it will automatically let everyone get in touch with them via the most appropriate method – i.e. in the office calls will go through the landline phone, on the road calls will go to the mobile phone, and in a meeting contact can be made through the pager or a ‘whisper’ to the mobile phone.
Mason communications
The surface has merely been scratched on the development potential for IPT systems. IPT in its basic form is merely an alternative to TDM and just mimics its functionality. The real value is derived when integration with associated sub systems is achieved, such that voice is just one in a larger suite of integrated applications.
NICE Systems
VoIP and IP infrastructures offer the potential for large volumes of data transfer, fast over common and consolidated infrastructure, offering all vendors the opportunity to improve functionality of there systems offering integration and consolidation with other data sources. We see a wider utilisation of information available within organisations (Video feeds, CCTV, on screen information, Mapping information and data from other systems as well as audio transmissions) to deliver improved insight and help the services make faster more informed decisions. There will possible be even more convergence between vendors (possible more consolidation of the market) as the shared infrastructures and technologies drive integrations and convergence of application delivery.
VoIP will also be a key driver in enabling ‘Mobility’ delivering high speed applications and full command and control functions from remote locations, mobile command units and even potentially from personal portable devices. VoIP is and will continue to facilitate the utilisation of command and control functions, contact and information centres from more distributed virtual centres, offering transparent operations and allowing staff to be accommodated wherever the job can be delivered best. This could accommodate specialist skills, physical requirements or simply to offer a larger and more user friendly network to ensure service delivery. Remote working type applications will steadily increase over the next few years resulting in staff being able to work from virtually any location and still access all the required communications and management systems needed.
This advance will also mean that emergency control rooms and local governments will be able to create more specialist control centres that deal with niche functions focussed around local community needs and the skill sets of the staff, similar to what some forces are trying to achieve with the new non-emergency number 101.
Siemens Enterprise Communications.
Replacing a phone system that is accomplishing its job is often not one of a business's high priorities. Most CxO’s are looking at how the business can cut costs, increase its competitive edge, increase employee productivity and improve customer satisfaction. The business case for VoIP today is very much about how it can drive business process efficiencies and give the enterprise that competitive edge. We will see more business case benefits driven around the soft propositions like employee productivity and it will become more important to show customers live examples in their industry to really drive the benefits home.
SunGard Vivista
The use of VoIP will be one of the main drivers in influencing how control room systems are delivered in the future. The traditional ICCS system will evolve to use a much higher percentage of standard commercial hardware and will be based around the use of specialist "soft switches". Telephony and radio system interfaces to the control room will migrate to use IP technology, mainly with VoIP but some with "TETRA over IP".
The biggest single influencing factor within the UK will be the phased rollout of the BT 21CN solution over the coming years which will provide the possibility of direct IP connectivity with the public telephone network.
Trilogy
Looking forward from this into a future of ever greater demands on our communications networks and services then VoIP is a key element of this. Without doubt, the world is rapidly embracing the ubiquity and low cost of IP interconnects, driven by the domestic internet, but with the increasing availability of high reliability business critical IP links. "IP everywhere" which can use any IP bearer - cable, fibre, IP satellite, WiMAX and soon XMAX wireless IP gives users a huge choice of interconnects which mean that users need not be reliant on any one fixed infrastructure (TETRA, cable, mobile phone or satellite). Therefore, a system such as Trilogy's Mercury IP intercom is ideally suited to provide the communications solution which exploit this multiple interconnect diversity, provide intuitive user interface and interconnectivity between different communication technologies.
The resilience achieved by multiple interconnect diversity gives assurance to those responsible for managing mission critical communications that the maximum flexibility exists for getting that vital communication through from the front line whatever the circumstances. The route it takes and the end destination is no longer the constraint it has sometimes been in the past.
