Dialogic is a global leader in enabling the secure and seamless transition of mission-critical Public Safety networks from legacy to next-generation platforms. For solutions from incident notification to mass reporting and coordinated response, Public Safety leaders are building on Dialogic.
Dialogic® media servers power high-density multi-modal communications (voice, video, SMS) that alert and update. Contact center solutions developed by Dialogic partners with Interactive Voice Response (IVR), recording, conferencing, and other important capabilities allow Public Service Answering Point (PSAP) calls to be handled efficiently and accurately the first time. Dialogic® Session Border Control (SBC) products and expertise allow accesss to be managed securely and confidentially. With Dialogic, the benefits and efficiencies of a next-generation Emergency Services IP network (ESInet) are now within reach.
PSAP and Emergency Dispatch
Many PSAPs in the United States today are TDM-based, but the move to IP has begun. This move is based largely on NENA i3 specifications, which transition TDM-based PSAPs to IP in order to take advantage of the benefits that this move can provide.
Dialogic supplies field-proven products and solutions for PSAPs. Dialogic® PowerMedia™ products, which provide software-based media processing, handle voice, SMS, data, and video, and can power PSAP contact center, IVR, and conferencing. Other Dialogic® products enable TDM-to-IP transitions, workforce distribution, video, and unified communications. Benefits include:
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Feature-Rich Media Processing — PowerMedia products support a full suite of media processing features, including voice and video messaging, advanced voice and video conferencing, high-speed fax, advanced call progress analysis, and speech integration. The addition of High Definition Voice allows for the delivery of high levels of speech clarity if the calling network/device supports it. This enables better understanding, even in noisy and stressful situations. In general, these advanced features enable important self-service options and an improved end-user experience.
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Scalable — The same public safety application can be designed to support a few agents or hundreds of agents and to run over IP or TDM. With network independence and advanced routing, agents can be located anywhere.
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Cost-Effective — Solutions based on Dialogic® components run on industry-standard "off-the-shelf" servers in both software-only and DSP-based configurations, while solutions using Dialogic® platforms and appliances provide faster time-to-availability and easy support.
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Delivery Choices — Dialogic supports a wide variety of deployment options, which include premise-based, hosted, and cloud.
Figure 1. Dialogic in Public Safety — PSAP Services
Figure 1 illustrates a sample placement of Dialogic products for PSAP services. These include Dialogic® PowerMedia™ products that deliver software media processing with the maturity, density, reliability, and capabilities needed for the development of next-generation IP-based PSAPs. Also pictured are the placement of a Dialogic® BorderNet™ 4000 Session Border Controller (planned availability Q4 2011) and the Dialogic® IMG 1010 Integrated Media Gateway and the Dialogic® BorderNet™ 2020 Integrated Multimedia Gateway (the BorderNet 2020 IMG supports higher densities).
Emergency Networks
Channeling important calls through the network to PSAPs requires the reliability, scalability, and interconnectivity offered by the IMG 1010 and the higher-density BorderNet 2020 IMG. The features of these gateways include:
- Any-to-any voice network connectivity — Can deliver SIP services into legacy PRI, CAS, and SS7 networks, as well as IP-to-IP transcoding
- Multimedia border element capabilities — Includes SIP mediation, topology hiding, and media transcoding
- Simultaneous support — Handles SS7 ISUP, SIGTRAN M3UA, and PRI interworking with SIP and SIP-I
- NEBS-3 carrier-ready — Provides reliable throughput and enhanced service availability
Figure 2. Dialogic in Public Safety — Emergency Networks
Figure 2 shows an example of the placement and functionality of Dialogic® products in Emergency Networks (NG9-1-1 environment).
Legacy Network Gateway
The Legacy Network Gateway (LNG) is a media gateway solution with additional 9-1-1 specific features that allows legacy, TDM-based carrier networks to access the emergency services available in the ESInet. The IMG 1010 or higher density BorderNet 2020 IMG can provide the Protocol Interworking function of an LNG.
Legacy PSAP Gateway
The Legacy PSAP Gateway (LPG) is a media gateway solution with additional 9-1-1 specific features that allows legacy, TDM-based PSAP networks to access the emergency services available in the ESInet. The IMG 1010 can supply the SS7 and Multi Frequency-Feature Group D (MF-FGD) capabilities needed for an LPG.
Emergency Services Routing Proxy
The Emergency Services Routing Proxy (ESRP) is the base routing function for emergency calls for NG9-1-1. As needed, the ESRP queries the Emergency Call Routing Function (ECRF) for routing instructions and the Policy Resource Function (PRF) for applicable policy and then forwards the modified SIP signaling to the appropriate node. The ESRP is also used for calls originating in the PSAP, which are going to responders. PowerMedia products support the necessary recording and media anchoring requirements for the ESRP and can also deliver video services.
Border Control Function
The Border Control Function (BCF) provides a secure entry into the ESInet for emergency calls presented to the network. The BCF incorporates firewall and admission control, and may include the anchoring of session and media as well as other security mechanisms to prevent deliberate or malicious attacks on PSAPs or other entities connected to the ESInet. The BorderNet 4000 SBC can satisfy BCF requirements (planned availability Q4 2011).
Note: The Dialogic® BorderNet™ 500 Gateway can enable the rapid deployment of new SIP-based communications services when lower-density SBC functionality, which can include TDM to IP conversion, is needed.
Emergency Notification
The delivery of emergency notifications that are targeted at the right people in the right place can save lives by providing important warnings in time for people to take action.
Traditionally, emergency notification systems have been focused on Short Message Service (SMS). Because of its many years of experience in enabling notifications systems and because its products support a variety of data types and functions, Dialogic® DSI Signaling Web Services can help broaden the effectiveness of emergency notification system with video support and location services in addition to SMS. Emergency notification systems using Dialogic products can:
- Add video segments containing suspect or victim information to amber alerts
- Deliver information to mobile phones, websites, email systems, and road-side screens
- Send the right type of media to the right person, including SMS/MMS, voice, or video
- Alert the maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time
- Manage the multiple formats required for distributing video
- Perform required conversions (transcoding/transrating) facilitated by an architecture that understands the capabilities of a remote terminal (stored in a user billing profile)
Figure 3. Dialogic in Public Safety — Emergency Notification
PowerMedia products deliver software-based media processing with field-proven reliability and easy scalability for the IVR function needed in an Emergency Notification System (ENS). In addition support for advanced capabilities such as predictive dialing, answering machine detection, and call progress analysis can add to the effectiveness of an ENS. PowerMedia products also support a wide variety of software development environments, and a broad ecosystem of Dialogic partners can add toolkits and software development platforms that can help deploy a new ENS quickly.