BT Ireland wins €10m emergency call centre contract

wreckless

BT Ireland wins €10m emergency call centre contract


Up to 100 jobs are being created at Ireland's new emergency call-out system which will automatically pinpoint the location of mobile callers, it was revealed today.

The revamped 999 service is designed to cut response times with exact details on the geographic whereabouts of distressed callers using their mobile phones.

Michael Norman, of BT Ireland which won the contract for the new system, said it would allow emergency services to get to the scene in the quickest possible time and could potentially save more lives.

"It is significant to be able to locate a caller in distress," he said.

"In a real emergency - for example a car accident - many, many people are disorientated. They knew exactly where they were 30 seconds before the crash but after the crash they haven't a clue where they are.

"They don't even know what county they're in sometimes, so the location information is vital.

"It can make a difference of more than just a couple of seconds, it can make a big difference in the time it takes a resource to get to help somebody."

It is the first time the technology, which is widely used in the rest of Europe, UK and the US, will be used for Garda, fire service, ambulance and Coast Guard call outs in the Republic.

The new system involves a collaboration of the Emergency Calling Answering Service (ECAS), the emergency services and the mobile phone operators.

While the mobile caller is on the telephone, the geographic co-ordinates of their whereabouts will automatically and electronically flash up on the call centre screens.

As well as cutting call-out response times, it has the potential to help locate victims in hostage incidents, it is claimed.

The system will also help detect hoax calls, if information given by a caller contradicts details on the location.

Mr Norman said it can also be very comforting for a caller when the emergency services know their exact location.

BT Ireland said it will be creating up to 100 jobs at Ballyshannon, Co Donegal and Navan, Co Meath after it was awarded a €10m contract for the service.

The two centres, along with a third overflow centre at East Point in Dublin, are expected to handle up to five million emergency calls from the public every year.

The service will be staffed by multi-lingual operators who are able to deal with emergency calls from non-nationals living in Ireland, according to Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, speaking at the jobs announcement in Co Donegal.

The first emergency calls are expected to be handled in the centres, at the Ballyshannon IT Centre, Portnason, and at the IDA business park at Athlumney, Navan, in November.

BT Ireland won the five-year contract from Eircom, which currently operates the existing service and is preparing to hand it over in the coming month.

An Eircom spokesman said there will be no extra jobs lost at the company, which last week announced plans to lay-off 1,200 people in a cost-cutting deal, as a result of the lost contract.


http://news.eircom.net/breakingnews/15699687/?view=Standard

timmywex

Excellent news,


i assume when the call is pased on that the location will be also!

donvito99

I'm confused.

Will the new system mothball the Garda one that is operating at the mo?

Good news anyway.

timmywex

donvito99 wrote: »

I'm confused.

Will the new system mothball the Garda one that is operating at the mo?

Good news anyway.

I assume it will pop up on screen in ECAS centre where the location is, so when they answer the phone they ask what service you need and put you through.


So if your phone says your in waterford city, and you say you need an ambulance, they transfer you straight to ambulance control in wexford!


Im only guessing thats how it would work!

Our man in Havana

But will the centre put you through to the correct Garda station?

sdanseo

Bond-007 wrote: »

But will the centre put you through to the correct Garda station?

They put you through to a control centre first...think for example Harcourt Terrace for DMR, from what I've read. Certainly when I called I was passed from an Emergency Controller then to a Garda controller, not to a station. They then presumably tasked the nearest station/car.

Our man in Havana

The reason I asked is that I called 999 in Johnstown, Co. Kilkenny and I was put thru to Kilkenny where as the correct station was Thurles. It caused a delay in getting a response to the incident.

boomer_ie

Bond-007 wrote: »

The reason I asked is that I called 999 in Johnstown, Co. Kilkenny and I was put thru to Kilkenny where as the correct station was Thurles. It caused a delay in getting a response to the incident.

Your doing better than me, I once made 4 999 calls regarding an incident on the M50 requesting Gardai to attend, they eventually responded when the CCTV operator noticed my patient kneeling over on the side of the road! (she had been involved in an RTA) When the first cop car arrived they reported that there was NO record of the previous 4 calls!

sgt.bilko

any inkling as to when recruitment will be announced?

DubMedic

sgt.bilko wrote: »

any inkling as to when recruitment will be announced?

PM Sent Sgt.!
its not strictly on topic but it might interest you as it is of the same nature

Keep Well

DubMedic

TheNog

Ok guys can ye please take it to PM if ye are looking for information. I have deleted most of the posts looking for PMs.

Back on topic now please

DubMedic

Sorry Nog , Will do

Sorry, it our fault for asking him.

petergfiffin

wreckless wrote: »

The revamped 999 service is designed to cut response times with exact details on the geographic whereabouts of distressed callers using their mobile phones.

Little bit of PR spin here me thinks!! Did a bit of work in this area before and the location is hardly exact!! Basically it's all down to the number of base-stations and how far apart they are so in cities they can get your location to a radius of about 500m, in the country could be a couple of Kms which is a BIG area!!

DubMedic

petergfiffin wrote: »

Little bit of PR spin here me thinks!! Did a bit of work in this area before and the location is hardly exact!! Basically it's all down to the number of base-stations and how far apart they are so in cities they can get your location to a radius of about 500m, in the country could be a couple of Kms which is a BIG area!!

hopefully it will have been further upgraded since so that it can now pinpoint exact locations.
Eircom would have had to be confident it would work before parting with 10million yoyo's , or even a contract for said amount.

alentejo

petergfiffin wrote: »

Little bit of PR spin here me thinks!! Did a bit of work in this area before and the location is hardly exact!! Basically it's all down to the number of base-stations and how far apart they are so in cities they can get your location to a radius of about 500m, in the country could be a couple of Kms which is a BIG area!!

There are times in processing 112/999 calls where the location of the caller will aid the emergency services in locating the incident. Granted, it might be rare, but this will certainly speed up the process.

PS Ireland must introduce this service or else it will face the wrath of the EU for failing to fully implement location based emergency calls.

TheNog

petergfiffin wrote: »

Little bit of PR spin here me thinks!! Did a bit of work in this area before and the location is hardly exact!! Basically it's all down to the number of base-stations and how far apart they are so in cities they can get your location to a radius of about 500m, in the country could be a couple of Kms which is a BIG area!!

Even still to narrow it down to within a couple of kms would be good for some RTAs. I have taken a few calls from people involved in RTAs who are not from the area and therefore have no idea where they are. Most times those people were lucky enought to go into a nearby house where someone was at home to give me a location.

In other times I have tried to pinpoint their location by asking them where they were headed and the last place they went through. With people in shock sometimes they can forget the last town/village they past through

wreckless

exactly that nog, with the new bypass here in our area, even which lane an RTC is on helps, can save having to drive all the way up to the next exit just be able to drive down the correct carriageway. some people dont know if they are driving north or south east or west for feck sake. like you said , shock is a big factor

bushy...

petergfiffin wrote: »

Little bit of PR spin here me thinks!! Did a bit of work in this area before and the location is hardly exact!! Basically it's all down to the number of base-stations and how far apart they are so in cities they can get your location to a radius of about 500m, in the country could be a couple of Kms which is a BIG area!!

Looking at the "extra" menu in a phone before , could see it counting down the metres ( or time to reach the base - same thing really ) fairly accurately.
Easy force a phone to another base ( if one is within reach) and measure from that.

Newer phones with GPS are ( afaik) to relay on the GPS co-ords when you dial 999.

Not the same but :

Simple software available for a PC ( for garages and similar ) that displays the name /address etc of the calling number .

Very straightforward , just picks up the number calling in and looks up a "reverse directory"