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The efficient use of data is crucial for public safety. However, not all data is productive or beneficial, especially in high-stakes situations like emergency response. The key to making data valuable lies in its volume, relevance, and actionability. This blog explores the nuances of productive data, using specific examples to illustrate how data can be more useful in public safety scenarios, particularly within enterprise solutions from 911inform.
Not All Data is Productive
The term “data” is often associated with vast amounts of information, but not all data is equally valuable or actionable. In emergency services, data’s value is determined by its ability to aid decision-making and response actions. For instance, an office location might have a particular identifier, such as “Room 2C-231.” While this level of detail seems accurate, it may need to be more actionable or meaningful in a real-world emergency. The specificity of “Room 2C-231” does not help a first responder navigate an unfamiliar building, especially in a crisis where conditions like smoke or darkness might obscure signage or identifiers.
To illustrate, consider my corporate office address: “1709 Rt. 34, Office 2C-231, Wall Township, New Jersey.” This appears detailed and precise, but its benefit could be much, much more. With context or additional qualifiers, such as which floor or wing of a building the room is in, the information can be much more efficient for emergency responders. This highlights a critical issue in data generation: specificity does not inherently equate to usefulness.
The Myth of Volume Equals Accuracy
Another common misconception is that more data leads to more accurate or helpful outcomes. The sheer volume of data can overwhelm responders and obscure critical information within the cadre of data. For emergency services, the goal is not to gather as much data as possible but to ensure that the data is relevant, accurate, and actionable.
For example, in legacy 911 systems, every phone number used to report a 911 call is associated with a unique 911 response location record, an Automatic Location Identification (ALI) record. While the ALI record is 512 bytes, its location information is limited to 14 specifically applicable fields, totaling only 168 characters. Despite this seeming like ample space to include detailed address information, the practical value of these fields is often limited. For instance, a location field in an ALI record might consist of “2C-231,” but without additional context, such as building layout or navigation instructions, this information is not actionable.
Actionable Data: The Key to Relevance and Usefulness
Data must be actionable for it to be instrumental in emergency situations. This means it should convey accurate information and provide clear, practical guidance that responders (internal and public safety 1st responders) can easily interpret and act upon. In the case of emergent events, especially when seconds count. This involves more than just providing a precise front door response address. It requires understanding the environment, potential obstacles, and specific access control information and instructions that can guide responders effectively and efficiently. The example of “1709 Rt. 34, Office 2C-231” illustrates this point well.
While the address is specific, it lacks actionable elements:
- What floor is the office on?
- Which entrance should responders use?
- Is there specific signage or landmarks that can assist in locating the office?
Without this additional information, responders are left with data that doesn’t improve their response time, potentially compromising the safety and outcome of the situation.
The Value of the 911inform’s Emergency Response Management Platform
The transition to Next Generation 911 (NG911) systems provides the carrier network architecture that significantly improves the emergency data’s relevance and actionability. The 911inform platform, based on a modern NG911 architecture, provides a flexible and expansive data structure. Unlike the traditional fixed-length ASCII data records, NG911 systems utilize the Civic Location Data eXchange Format (CLDXF) within SIP headers. This XML-based format allows for a more detailed and nuanced description of locations, incorporating elements such as:
- Site: Identified area of land, potentially with structures.
- SubSite: Named sub-area of a site, like a parking lot.
- Structure: Vertical features like buildings or towers.
- Wing: Designated parts of a structure.
- Floor: Specific vertical levels within a building.
- Unit (type/value): Collections of rooms with distinct functions.
- Room: Individual enclosed spaces.
- Section: Identified unenclosed areas.
- Row: Linear collections of seats or equipment.
- Seat: Individual points like seats or workstations.
- Location Marker: Infrastructure components like call boxes.
This expanded format provides a more transparent, actionable picture for responders, highlighting specific locations within a structure. For instance, instead of merely stating “Office 2C-231,” an NG911 system might include details about the building’s layout, entrances, and visual markers or floor plans.
Enhancing Actionable Data with Visual Components
In today’s visual-oriented society, “a picture is worth a thousand words” has never been more applicable. The 911inform platform leverages this by integrating visual elements into its data presentation. Our command and control dashboard provides a live, interactive, single-pane-of-glass facility layout, highlighting the incident location and other details like accessible entry points and emergency assets like AEDs. This visual representation is accompanied by interactive icons that offer control over emergency response assets and environmental factors, streamlining the decision-making process for responders.
This approach enhances the clarity and usefulness of the data, helping to bridge the gap between textual data and real-world applications. The 911inform platform simplifies the response process by providing a single pane of glass for monitoring and managing emergencies, ensuring that responders have all the information they need at their fingertips.
Bridging the Gap Between NG911 and Legacy Systems
As the transition to NG911 systems progresses, one of the challenges is integrating these new systems with existing legacy infrastructure. Many 911 centers still operate with older E9-1-1 systems, and the switch to NG911 involves significant upgrades. Fortunately, solutions like 911inform provide a bridge between these systems. Once an enterprise migrates to NG911, our carrier partner, Bandwidth, offers dual connectivity and can deliver data to NG911 and legacy E9-1-1 centers. This ensures that critical functionality and data quality are maintained even as downstream systems upgrade without having to track and adjust for this in the enterprise network.
For enterprises, this transition may seem daunting. However, with the right tools and expertise, the shift to NG911 can be managed smoothly, minimizing disruptions and ensuring that emergency response capabilities are enhanced while reducing the overall cost of a solution just by lowering the enterprise staffing overhead required by the system.
The Path to Productive Public Safety Data
The journey to productive data in public safety is about more than just collecting information; it’s about ensuring that data is accurate, relevant, and actionable. As we’ve seen, specificity without context can lead to confusion, and sheer volume does not equate to usefulness. The evolution from legacy systems to NG911 platforms represents a significant step forward, offering more detailed, nuanced, and actionable data for emergency responders.
At 911inform, the focus is on simplifying the delivery of safety information through innovative new data presentation to the ECC and managing that data by the Enterprise. We are setting a brand-new standard for emergency response data by leveraging advanced technologies and a user-centric approach. As the industry evolves, the importance of actionable, productive data will only grow, underscoring the need for continuous innovation and improvement in this critical field.
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