Australia Needs Purpose-Built Solutions for Next-Generation Call Management

A Triple Zero (000) call is one of the most important calls any of us will ever make. The good news is that the technology to facilitate an effective emergency response and wider access to emergency services is getting better. Our national next-generation 000 service ensures that more Australians than ever will be able to contact emergency services in more ways, and that emergency services in turn will be able to respond even more accurately and effectively to all situations.

But to do so, it’s critical that all Australian Emergency Service Organisations (ESOs) have purpose-built platforms equipped with the most advanced emergency call management capabilities. National Emergency Service Answer Points (ESAPs), the first step of the emergency call management process, already use advanced, purpose-built call management solutions. With the same technology at the state level, Australia can ensure a powerful and seamless integration with national infrastructure.

By deploying advanced call management solutions that are ready to take advantage of Australia’s most recent 000 advancements, all ESOs can ensure their emergency response system is as powerful, flexible, reliable, and responsive as it can possibly be.

Efficient and Accurate Response With Advanced Mapping

Advanced mapping is part of next-generation call management. In an emergency, when seconds matter, telecommunicators can’t waste time trying to track down the exact location of a caller. Being able to quickly direct emergency responders to where they need to go can shave precious seconds or even minutes off response times.

But accurately determining the location of an emergency call can present unique challenges for both remote and urban areas. Calls from remote locations may lack civic addresses or come from such large areas where an address hardly narrows down exactly where a response team needs to go. In urban areas, where emergencies happen more often and can involve a greater number of citizens, accurately identifying which emergency calls are related and which are separate is critical to efficient resource allocation.

The solution to efficient emergency call management is map-based control, which provides telecommunicators with accurate geolocation data and detailed insight into location parameters. The ability to accurately home in on a caller’s location and define areas with capabilities like geofencing makes dispatching vastly more accurate and efficient. The ideal next-generation call management platform will integrate these advanced capabilities into user-friendly interfaces, which ESOs can customize. With customizable interfaces, telecommunicators can take precise control over location information and how it’s presented, and they can put that information to maximum effect.

Text Capabilities Align Emergency Capabilities With Caller Expectations

Today, mobile communication is dominated by texting, and it’s what most people think of first when they want to talk to someone else. Not only do 96% of Australians text regularly, over 70% of Australians aged 18-44 don’t even have a landline and rely solely on their mobile, according to recent statistics.

As the regulatory process of incorporating text capabilities into 000 call management progresses, Australians can look forward to improved access to 000 services. This is particularly true for people who are hearing- or speech-impaired, who cannot use telephony services. In some circumstances, such as domestic violence or another situation where a caller needs to hide to be safe, being able to silently request emergency services can literally be the difference between life and death.

As Australia considers integrating text capabilities into its 000 system, it is crucial that ESOs are equipped to do so seamlessly. Traditional voice calls will still be coming in, and telecommunicators must be able to incorporate all the available information into one intuitive and easy-to-use platform to manage all emergency calls efficiently. Having a dedicated, purpose-built solution with built-in multimedia interfaces that incorporate alternative communication methods will greatly improve call-taking efficiency and help save lives.

Large, Diverse Populations Necessitate Automatic Translation and Transcription

Australia is a very geographically large and highly diverse country, with a low population density of roughly 3.3 people per square kilometre and over 300 languages spoken. Australia’s ESOs may have as many as 400 staff taking calls from a huge variety of people over a huge area.

In this context, automated translation and transcription services can be profoundly useful. By having a call-taking platform automatically generate transcriptions of calls and translate calls in real time, ESOs can more accurately and efficiently manage a larger volume of calls. Fewer miscommunications and delays trying to find a translator or clarify information means callers can get the help they need faster, shortening an ESO’s time-to-response and reducing the pressure on individual telecommunicators. Plus, real-time transcriptions provide a rich trove of written material that can be analysed later to improve ESO operations.

Solacom Is an Industry Leader in Next-Generation Emergency Call Management

The most advanced next-generation emergency call management platform will incorporate all these capabilities and more, providing telecommunicators with a robust and easy-to-use solution.

Solacom’s Guardian 000 Call Management solution provides the flexible and reliable platform ESOs need. It offers a slew of powerful features, including map-based controls and geofencing, full multimedia messaging support, translation and transcription services, as well as a huge variety of others, such as:

• Customizable icons and buttons to simplify and streamline telecommunicator workflows
• Seamless integration with legacy equipment and databases
• Advanced analytics to enhance and focus efforts to improve emergency call management
   

This system is already in use at the national level. By integrating the same purpose-built solution at the ESO level, Australia can ensure a completely seamless 000 call management and data transfer process. Australia can continue its progress towards next-generation emergency call management and improve public safety for all citizens across the country.