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Non-Service Initialized Phones and 9-1-1. Michigan 2009 Fall Forum on Next Generation 9-1-1 and Other Emerging Technologies November 3, 2009. Agenda. Introduction What is an NSI phone? The Challenge of NSI phones. TCS Fast Facts. Established in 1987 Annapolis HQ, Seattle, Tampa, London
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Non-Service Initialized Phones and 9-1-1 Michigan 2009 Fall Forum on Next Generation 9-1-1 and Other Emerging Technologies November 3, 2009
Agenda • Introduction • What is an NSI phone? • The Challenge of NSI phones
TCS Fast Facts Established in 1987 • Annapolis HQ, Seattle, Tampa, London • Data Centers in WA, AZ, MD • NOCs in Seattle and Annapolis • NASDAQ: TSYS Strategic Offers • Wireless Location & Messaging Solutions • Satellite Services and Deployable Systems • Homeland Security • Professional Services Industry Relations • Founding Member: SMS Forum, PAM Forum, IN Forum • Member: 3GPP, CTIA, ETSI, GSM, NENA, APCO, OMA, TIA, ESIF, NRIC VII, IETF
TCS E9-1-1 Solutions • Meets wireless E9-1-1 Phase I and Phase II FCC requirements • Provides standards-based VoIP i2 E9-1-1 service (Owns the original i2 patent) • Displays caller location to police, fire and emergency personnel (life-saving information) • Supports 24/7 monitoring and operations • Operates 2 fully redundant data centers • Serves over 100 million subscribers • Processes over 125,000 calls/day • Has completed over 100,000,000 E9-1-1 calls to date • Operates the only TL9000 certified NOC in the 911 industry
TCS Facilities/NOC/Data Center Seattle Network Operations Center Backup NOC & Data Center Phoenix, AZ Seattle Data Center
What is an NSI Phone? • Every cell phone is unique and must be positively identified via an electronic “handshake” with the wireless switch before service is activated. • An NSI phone is one that has not completed the handshake, or has failed the handshake. • Discarded (failed) • Newly purchased (failed) • Power –up (not complete) • Service lost/restored (not complete)
Why are NSI Phones Capable of 9-1-1? • Congressional pressure (Eshoo, D-Ca) • FCC Mandate • Similar to “warm dial tone” for landline • For 9-1-1 calls, carriers skip the handshake • The road to hell…..
How do NSI Phones Work? • Call routing based on cell sector (same as normal wireless call) • PSAP receives ESRK, but no CBN • The CBN is typically 911 + 7 digits of Electronic Serial Number • Location info is provided (assuming capability of phone and PSAP) • Accuracy not adequate to pinpoint user (same as normal Phase 2)
NSI Phones Are Perfect Harrassment Tools • No phone number=no CBN, in exact location, not traceable • Many children find amusement by playing with their NSI phones • Older users are malicious No good deed goes unpunished
Consequences • Dispatcher in Chicago, victimized by one too many prank calls, chastised child for playing with the phone. The call was legitimate, however, with tragic results and lawsuits. • Numerous anecdotal reports of false reports of serious crimes causing responders to kick in the doors of innocent, sleeping, unsuspecting victims • Intentional misdirection of police away from a crime in progress.
Statistics • Tennessee • 2% of NSI calls are legit • Oct-Dec ‘06: 54 different callers dialed 9-1-1 from an NSI phone more than 10 times (max=140) • Of these 54 people, 8 were children
More Statistics • Florida • 12-county survey for one month • 4% of all NSI calls were legit • Michigan • 2-month survey • .05% of 1000 NSI calls were legit (5 calls) • Washington • Snohomish County-6 week survey • 2% of 553 NSI calls were legit
What is Being Done About NSI Phones? • FCC has amended the NSI mandate to allow carriers to block harassment calls • Carriers are reluctant to block calls due to liability concerns and cost considerations • Who has authority to identify a harasser? • No existing technology to block specific NSI calls.
What is Being Done About NSI Phones? • Petition to FCC • NENA, APCO, NASNA, several states • Petition called for FCC Notice of Inquiry • FCC Notice of Inquiry (Nov 3, 2003) • 70+ Respondants with various recommendations: • Block all NSI Phones; terminate NSI requirement • Block specific NSI Phones using various technologies • NENA submitted reply response
NENA Response to FCC Notice of Inquiry • Opposed termination of NSI requirement and supported blocking of individual calls • Called for Advisory Working Group for negotiated rule making • Identified issues to be resolved • What technology to be used to block calls? • How to define a harassment call; what triggers blocking? • Liability • How long should blocking persist on any one phone? • Funding/Cost Recovery
Options • Terminate all 9-1-1 service for NSI phones (if the phones don’t work for regular calls, why should there be an expectation for 9-1-1?) Or, • Block Harassment Calls from specific phones
Technology for Blocking Individual NSI Calls • Block at the PSAP • Recommended by carriers • Assuages liability concerns • Places burden for blocking on the entity that wants the calls blocked • Does hardware/software exist to block NSI calls? • Can calls be routed to recording?
Technology for Blocking Individual NSI Calls • Block at the MSC/MPC • Development work required • How to communicate block order? • Automated timer on blocks • Calls can be routed to recording • Possible call processing delays for all 911 calls
Potential issues if all NSI wireless handsets are blocked • The carrier processing the call may not be able to distinguish a handset that has no active account with any carrier from a handset subscribed to a carrier with whom the carrier processing the call does not have an automatic roaming agreement. • A carrier may block a 911 call due to billing errors or disputes or a simple case of a check lost in the mail. • Immediately and for several seconds after power on, MSC to MSC handoff, recovery from loss of service in a tunnel etc, system "reboots", and other normal network events a handset will appear to be non-initialized and be blocked from making 911 calls.
Potential Issues if we block individual wireless handsets • Each suspect handset will have to be blocked on every carrier with a compatible air interface or the handset will simply roam to another compatible network. • Bad actors will simply get another NSI handset at a yard sale or thrift store. There is a virtually unlimited supply of such handsets. • Bad actors may donate the blocked handset to a thrift store which could prevent a decent citizen from making a 911 call to request help for someone else who really needs it. • Call processing can be delayed or complicated as the telephone’s electronic serial number on every 911 call will have to be compared to a list of blocked serial numbers. • Because it is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to uniquely identify NSI handsets even using the ESN of the handset, the wrong handset may be blocked when attempting to block a harassing caller or other inappropriate 911 calls.
Thank you Dick Dickinson Sr. Director, Public Safety TeleCommunication Systems, Inc 206-792-2224 ddickinson@telecomsys.com