PSCE is pleased to present the first issue of the EMYNOS newsletter.
The actual emergency systems are based on old-fashioned telecommunication technologies that cannot cope with the new IP-based services that the European citizens use every day. Some of these limitations are summarized below:
- There is no standard underlying technology for the separate emergency systems
- There is no interconnection among the PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points): this, unfortunately, limits the transfer of calls in case of congestion and network outage
- Media limitation: currently only voice calls and sometimes SMS are accepted
- No unified platform: currently emergency warning systems are completely separate from the 112 emergency centers
- There are no advanced features, such as caller location
- Emergency calls are unidirectional: they are established from the end-users towards the PSAP
- There is no non-telecommunication platform as a backup in case the telecommunication infrastructure is not operational
- The social media are not integrated: handling emergency situation should not only be the task of the rescue teams. Involving citizens especially through social media (twitter, Facebook, etc) in monitoring events and sharing information will lead to a better management
- The eCall (the emergency solution for vehicles in case of crash) technology is based on the GSM, which limits the amount of emergency data to be sent
The aim of the EMYNOS project is to design, specify and develop a Next Generation emergency framework that resolves the above mentioned limitations.