A
single number ‘112’ can be used for all emergency phone calls across
the country including for police, fire and ambulance, telecom regulator
Trai proposed.
Similar
to the ‘911’ all-in-one emergency service in the US, government can
integrate all existing emergency numbers such as 100, 101, 102 and 108
into the proposed ‘112’ helpline number, Trai said in its
recommendations on the emergency number.
“Authority
recommends that the number 112 be adopted as the single emergency
number for India. This new number may be popularised extensively through
a public awareness campaign by the Government,” Trai said.
The
regulator suggested existing emergency numbers such as 100, 101, 102
and 108 can be retained as secondary numbers. If any call is made to
these numbers, the call should be directed to the new single emergency
number 112, Trai said.
People
will be able to make calls on 112 from their mobile or landline phones
even if their outgoing call facility has been debarred or the service is
temporarily suspended.
An
SMS-based access to new emergency number, in which telecom operators
may be asked to provide location information of the device from where
SMS has been sent, can also be provided, the regulator said.
Trai also recommended setting up of Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) to handle people’s call in distress.
Under
the new system, the regulator has asked government to set up Response
Management System under PSAP which will coordinate for despatch of
emergency service.
The
PSAP is suggested to have various systems, including a facility to
automatically direct incoming calls to a free call taker and location
tracking system having an interface to plot incoming location
information on a map showing all nearby landmarks and resources and
display on a monitor.
Responding
resources like PCR vans, Fire engines and Ambulances should be fitted
with GPS to transmit location information to PSAP, it said.
Trai has recommended that PSAP operators should be able to handle calls in Hindi, English and local languages.
Under
the new system when an emergency call will be made, PSAP should get
access to location of caller automatically from database of telecom
operator and immediately direct concerned emergency service, be it
police, ambulance or fire brigade to reach the spot, it said.
For
this, four regional databases, one each in metro city, containing
subscriber details of telecom operators should be set up in the country.
These
regional databases should be interconnected and each of the telecom
operator and PSAPs should be mandated to connect to the nearby regional
database centre, it said.
The
regulator has recommended that BSNL may be directed to set up or hire
and maintain infrastructure (data centre) wherein the subscriber
database provided by all telecom operators is installed and updated.
BSNL
will be responsible for managing the confidential databases and also
ensure confidentiality and secrecy of the data, the regulator said. Trai
has also recommended that access to emergency facility should not be
allowed from mobile handsets or devices which do not have a SIM.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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