telecom digest Tue, 24 Nov 2015
Volume 34 Issue 213

Table of contents:

* 1 - Re: [telecom] NYT editorial:  911 system is technologically obsolete -
  Bill Horne 
* 2 - [telecom] NYT editorial:  911 system is technologically obsolete -
  HAncock4 
* 3 - Re: [telecom] ISIS Has Help Desk for Terrorists Staffed Around the Clock
  - David Clayton 
* 4 - [telecom] Different handling of local and 844? - Mike Spencer
  
* 5 - Re: [telecom] NYT editorial:  911 system is technologically obsolete -
  Mike Spencer 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message-ID: <20151123174221.GA3501@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2015 12:42:21 -0500
From: Bill Horne 
Subject: Re: [telecom] NYT editorial:  911 system is technologically obsolete

On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 07:17:10AM -0800, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> The New York Times had an editorial stating that the "911 system
> is dangerously out of date", written by the chairman of the FCC.
>
>   "Currently, the centers handle about 240 million calls a year,
>   an increasing number of them from cellphones. But many local
>   911 call centers can't receive a text, photo or video from
>   a person in need -- capabilities that are considered commonplace
>   for any American with a smartphone.

The capabilities may be commonplace, but the question of whether they
should be used needs closer examination. Consider:

* Those responsible for the E911 system are reluctant to encourage
  texting by motorists.

* Photos and videos endanger those who take them, and they take too
  long to transmit, can give the wrong imrpession of the severity of
  the incident in question, and are generally useless to dispatches
  whose job is to help *first* responders with *professional* training
  and equipment get to the site of an incident quickly.

>   Worse, while our nation makes the transition to broadband
>   networks, too many of our 911 call centers rely on decades-old
>   telephone technology -- technology that is no longer being
>   supported by commercial vendors and prone to failure. The market
>   forces driving the broadband revolution will soon have the
>   nation's 911 system resting on a foundation of sand."

Lions and tigers and bears, spend money! The E911 system was not built
on sand, but rather on the basis of reliable, proven, simple
technologies which had already stood the test of time when they were
chosen.

>   "The nation's 911 call centers need to upgrade to "Next
>   Generation 911," or NG911. NG911 links 911 call centers
>   to the latest Internet Protocol-based networks, uses mapping
>   databases and software to route calls and pinpoint the real-time
>   location of 911 callers, and supports voice, text, data and
>   video communication."

Hogwash. Firefighters, ambulance crews, and police have been dealing
with these issues for centuries, and the *last* thing they need is to
be forced to adopt more fragile and more expensive methods or
equipment. "The latest Internet Protocol-based networks" are *NOT*
more reliable than a dispatch console connected by a pair of wires to
a central office and the telephone network.

> for full commentary please see:
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/opinion/the-911-system-isnt-ready-for-the-iphone-era.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

> * * *
>
> In my opinion, this essay raises a lot of questions.  First,
> where will the money come from to pay for an all-new system?

 *From* *taxpayers*, of course. Was that ever in doubt?

> Second, is the system as "dangerously" obsolete as described?
> People have been reporting emergencies by voice over the telephone
> for 100 years.  Some 911 systems now accept text messages, and
> it shouldn't require a major overhaul to do so.

The system is dangerous only to the profitability of a few
well-connected and expertly represented equipment vendors. Replacing
it requires a willingness to place at risk the lives of those whom are
attempting to report a car crash or other incident while driving, or
standing near hazardous locations in the way of emergency crews
approaching at high speed, and is only being proposed because the
equipment vendors always want to sell another wiz-bang solution to the
"problems" their previous offerings didn't, and can't, fix.

> Third, IMHO, one problem with 911 systems has been excessive
> centralization.  For example, dispatchers used to be fairly
> close to the communities they served and thus were familiar with
> them.  But 911 technology encouraged central dispatching, such
> as for an entire county or even group of counties, and the
> dispatchers are no longer familiar with local geography.

The "dispatch center" concept is the reason that so many homeowners
have had to adapt to new street names and renumbered houses, and why
cellular phones have GPS chips in them. Those problems were solved
decades ago.

> Some police dispatching systems do include maps or other
> information to responders.  However, as a police chief told
> me, there is often a lag between when streets and buildings
> are modified and the changes show up in a database.  Giving
> an officer bad information is worse than no information.

And, therefore, the taxpayers should fork over billions of dollars to
'update' something Google Maps has been doing reliably for over a
decade? Someone is protesting too much, I think.

> Does anyone here have any thoughts on this essay?  Is the
> existing 911 system as dangerous as the writer suggests?

No. What the writer suggests is a giveaway to a few large companies,
not improved emergency communications or dispatching. Those companies
are eager to bleed the public by lobbying for the abandonment of
reliable, simple, and low-cost technologies which no longer produce
the exorbitant profits of years past.

--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)


------------------------------
Message-ID: <8f8652e1-943a-480a-9274-4a405ffc43a1@googlegroups.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2015 07:17:10 -0800 (PST)
From: HAncock4 
Subject: [telecom] NYT editorial:  911 system is technologically obsolete

The New York Times had an editorial stating that the "911 system
is dangerously out of date", written by the chairman of the FCC.

  "Currently, the centers handle about 240 million calls a year,
  an increasing number of them from cellphones. But many local
  911 call centers can't receive a text, photo or video from
  a person in need -- capabilities that are considered commonplace
  for any American with a smartphone. Worse, while our nation
  makes the transition to broadband networks, too many of our
  911 call centers rely on decades-old telephone technology --
  technology that is no longer being supported by commercial
  vendors and prone to failure. The market forces driving
  the broadband revolution will soon have the nation's 911
  system resting on a foundation of sand."

  "The nation's 911 call centers need to upgrade to "Next
  Generation 911," or NG911. NG911 links 911 call centers
  to the latest Internet Protocol-based networks, uses mapping
  databases and software to route calls and pinpoint the real-time
  location of 911 callers, and supports voice, text, data and
  video communication."

for full commentary please see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/opinion/the-911-system-isnt-ready-for-the-iphone-era.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

* * *

In my opinion, this essay raises a lot of questions.  First,
where will the money come from to pay for an all-new system?

Second, is the system has _dangerously_ obsolete as described?
People have been reporting emergencies by voice over the telephone
for 100 years.  Some 911 systems now accept text messages, and
it shouldn't require a major overhaul to do so.

Third, IMHO, one problem with 911 systems has been excessive
centralization.  For example, dispatchers used to be fairly
close to the communities they served and thus were familiar with
them.  But 911 technology encouraged central dispatching, such
as for an entire county or even group of counties, and the
dispatchers are no longer familiar with local geography.

Some police dispatching systems do include maps or other
information to responders.  However, as a police chief told
me, there is often a lag between when streets and buildings
are modified and the changes show up in a database.  Giving
an officer bad information is worse than no information.

Does anyone here have any thoughts on this essay?  Is the
existing 911 system as dangerous as the writer suggests?

[public replies, please]


------------------------------
Message-ID: 
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2015 15:36:33 +1100
From: David Clayton 
Subject: Re: [telecom] ISIS Has Help Desk for Terrorists Staffed Around the
 Clock

On Sat, 21 Nov 2015 23:34:40 -0500, Monty Solomon wrote:

> ISIS Has Help Desk for Terrorists Staffed Around the Clock
>
>
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/paris-terror-attacks/isis-has-help-desk-terrorists-staffed-around-clock-n464391
>
And the article basically admits that all the surveillance laws collecting
people's data are useless because these communications bypass them and are
encrypted.

If the collection of surveillance data was actually effective then people
using these sites would be quickly identified and negated, but since they
still do these things it means that only the law-abiding are being
monitored.

---
Regards, David.

David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.

***** Moderator's Note *****

Television networks *invented* fear-based marketing. This is what
happens when the producers and ad execs become afraid that their
chokehold on public opinion is starting to slip.

I'll leave aside the fact that the NSA collects meta-data on all
emails and phone calls, and can draw inferences from that data. What
nbc wants is to sell soap, and in the meantime they're selling fear of
the froggy little native boys on behalf of the government. Pay your
taxes and vote for the tall white guy.

Bill Horne
Moderator


------------------------------
Message-ID: <87r3jgsdm3.fsf@bogus.nodomain.nowhere>
Date: 23 Nov 2015 15:46:28 -0400
From: Mike Spencer 
Subject: [telecom] Different handling of local and 844?

What is the difference between how local-exchange and 844 toll-free
numbers are handled?  Here's why I ask:

I still have dial-up net access through two ISPs.  ISP-A has a local
exchange number, ISP-B an 844 number.

In wet weather, my USR 56K modem cannot make a successful connection
to ISP-A while connection to ISP-B works as expected.  (In dry
weather, both work as expected.) We don't hear any exceptional audible
static on the phone in wet weather.

Both connections go through the same interior lines, demarc, rural copper
at least as far as the telco's roadside cabinet 6 miles away.

Where might I look for a problem sufficiently well defined that
someone would fix it?

--
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada


------------------------------
Message-ID: <87vb8ssear.fsf@bogus.nodomain.nowhere>
Date: 23 Nov 2015 15:31:40 -0400
From: Mike Spencer 
Subject: Re: [telecom] NYT editorial:  911 system is technologically obsolete

Bill Horne  writes:

> On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 07:17:10AM -0800, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>> The New York Times had an editorial stating that the "911 system
>> is dangerously out of date", written by the chairman of the FCC.
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> Third, IMHO, one problem with 911 systems has been excessive
>> centralization.  For example, dispatchers used to be fairly
>> close to the communities they served and thus were familiar with
>> them.  But 911 technology encouraged central dispatching, such
>> as for an entire county or even group of counties, and the
>> dispatchers are no longer familiar with local geography.
>
> The "dispatch center" concept is the reason that so many homeowners
> have had to adapt to new street names and renumbered houses, and why
> cellular phones have GPS chips in them. Those problems were solved
> decades ago.

The only time in decades that I had to call an ambulance, it was
routed over five miles of icy, frozen ruts in a poorly maintained
gravel road rather than over half a mile of icy but smooth and well
maintained gravel road.  I suppose that GPS chose the route based on
minimum total mileage to destination or on even less meaningful
criteria. (Fortunately, the emergency was not a life-threatening one.)

>> Some police dispatching systems do include maps or other
>> information to responders.

So that kind of info -- road conditions, best rather than shortest
route to destination -- needs to be attended to in greater detail.
That does NOT sound like a multi-megabuck infrastructure upgrade to
me.

[snip]

>> Does anyone here have any thoughts on this essay?  Is the
>> existing 911 system as dangerous as the writer suggests?
>
> No. What the writer suggests is a giveaway to a few large companies,
> not improved emergency communications or dispatching. Those companies
> are eager to bleed the public by lobbying for the abandonment of
> reliable, simple, and low-cost technologies which no longer produce
> the exorbitant profits of years past.

I'm inclined to be with Bill here.  But then, I'm in a very rural,
low population density area.  Can't easily extrapolate to megapolitan
urban density and demand.

--
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada


------------------------------

*********************************************

End of telecom Digest Tue, 24 Nov 2015