Dec 22, 2014

A person calls 911 at the scene of an accident. An individual reports that a piece of personal property was stolen on the subway. Someone lets police know that his or her child is missing. Situations like these are common – in fact, they happen every day. But what if, in each of these scenarios, there were a technological method of making the whole process run smoother? What if police could arrive quicker, thieves could be caught faster, and lost kids could be identified with more speed and efficiency? Fortunately, there is a solution that could lead to this result. The answer lies in advances in wireless technology.

A new phase of 911
You’re driving down the street when you see that two cars have collided. Nobody else appears to be on the scene, so the responsibility falls on you to contact 911. What does that process involve? Taking out your phone, dialing the number and waiting for someone on the other end of the line, right? Up until now, that’s how 911 calls worked, but new technology could be changing that very soon.

According to Government Technology, two states – Connecticut and Kansas – are currently in the development stage of laying out an advanced 911 system called next-generation 911 (NG911). The idea behind it is basically that circuit-switched 911 networks have existed in a mode of relative stasis for the past three decades. With all the advancements in call technology and live video surveillance that have taken place, experts felt that it was time to bring 911 up to speed.

“We have software and equipment that’s 12 years old and hasn’t been supported for a while,” said Stephen Verbil, telecommunications manager for Connecticut’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. “Next-gen 911 is going to eliminate any boundary issues we had.”

NG911 has the potential to make 911 calls be responded to more quickly, as well as to equip the first responders with as much knowledge as possible before they arrive on the scene. In its most basic form, NG911 will enable people to text instead of call 911. Additionally, the person sending the text will be able to deliver a video stream of the scene of the accident to authorities shortly following the text. It’s not hard to imagine how much that will help. If authorities receive a brief video showing the accident, they’ll be able to ascertain a lot more quickly the scale of the incident and how many emergency vehicles – as well as what kinds – need to be deployed.

Harnessing video analytics to find people more quickly
The next-gen 911 system isn’t the only wireless-based technology that’s promising to make emergency scenarios run with greater efficiency and ease. Thanks to advances in video analytics technology, video surveillance could soon become an even better means of both holding criminals accountable and identifying lost people.

A technology developed by NICE Systems called Suspect Search is able to provide an analytic solution that allows real time video surveillance feeds to be analyzed with greater scrutiny and speed. One element of Suspect Search, for example, is its ability to isolate clothing colors that may prove helpful in nabbing a culprit. When a woman reported that an iPad thief wore an orange shirt, for instance, authorities were able to leverage Suspect Search’s clothing color recognition features to identify a probable suspect. The resource also has the capacity to distinguish between material types, and could therefore differentiate between, say, someone wearing a heavy coat and someone else wearing a light jacket. Technology like this may not just be used for crime purposes – it will likely also be harnessed to find people like missing kids.

With real time surveillance and the resources associated with it advancing, it’s time to pursue a Firetide solution.