Every minute counts: The tech behind PH’s upgraded 911 emergency response system 

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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in August last year unveiled an upgraded 911 emergency response system that uses cutting-edge tech to better respond to emergencies. 

The new call handling system — the same one used in the United States — allows police officers in the Philippines to respond to distress calls within a claimed three to five minutes, with accurate pinpointing of location. 

NGA 911 (Next Generation Advanced 911), the company behind the patented emergency response system, said its goal is to deliver an innovative solution that would empower communities in the country to act swiftly and responsibly during emergencies. 

And the first step in doing that is to replace the outdated, manual labor-reliant system with one that takes advantage of modern tech. 

The idea to improve the Philippine emergency response system reportedly came after complaints from the public poured in about the old system’s efficiency, as NGA 911 Philippine country manager Robert Llaguno told Rappler in an interview.

Llaguno said the old system essentially used the framework of a customer relationship management (CRM) system — the same system used by sales-oriented companies to manage interactions with their customers. In this system, call centers were responsible for taking and handling the calls that came in. And distress calls did come in; they just weren’t handled properly because the system wasn’t designed for emergencies. 

The system also didn’t account for emergencies when the person in distress cannot place a call, such as a domestic violence situation. 

With today’s tech advancements, however, various devices now have the ability to integrate and interoperate with each other, enabling emergency signals to be sent at a faster rate and with minimal to no human interference. And NGA 911’s system is purposely designed to take and handle these types of signals, among other forms of communication, making it easier to reach emergency responders in case the need arises. 

Here’s an example: In a building, if the smoke detector senses smoke from a fire, it’ll sound an alarm. The receptionist of the building, upon hearing the alarm, dials 911 for emergency responders. Now, what if nobody is downstairs to place that call? This is where modern tech comes in. Smart smoke detectors can send a direct 911 signal the moment they sense smoke, which means even without the receptionist, responders can be alerted to the emergency.

Of course, smoke detectors aren’t the only devices that can send emergency signals. Almost every smart device with a sensor, including smartphones, which millions of Filipinos have, can perform the same function. 

Llaguno emphasized that tapping into these devices for emergency communication is the future of emergency response. 

That said, rolling out such a system could prove costly as it requires both the people in the country and the government agencies responding to the emergencies to have access to modern tech. For this reason, Llaguno said NGA 911 is localizing the 911 system to suit the country’s unique needs better. 

In that regard, he highlighted four advantages the company’s system can offer for the Philippines: future-proof emergency response, data analytics, data protection, and text-based communication. 

Next generation 911

First and foremost, NGA 911 digitizes many of the functions for an emergency response system

Llaguno touted that NGA 911’s cloud-based emergency call processing system can future-proof the country’s emergency reporting and response process by updating the service infrastructure to fit today’s digital world. It also sets protocols and standards for equipment to be used to ensure high interoperability.

Let’s go a little bit into the system, and some of the partners that allow the system to work.

The backbone of the whole system, is the Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet), the purpose of which is to establish a reliable path to transport 911 calls to emergency responders.

For this, NGA 911 has partnered with local network providers like PLDT, Google, and Starlink to ensure callers always have a means to contact emergency responders regardless of signal strength or location. 

The system also employs a Geographic Information System (GIS), a tech that provides emergency responders real-time location data to optimize response times. For this, NGA 911 partnered with Google to access Android Emergency Location Service (ELS), which provides more accurate location tracking versus GPS and cell tower triangulation. 

These new pieces of technology allow the Philippines’ 911 system be “next-generation,” according to Llaguno. 

Data-driven approach

Another key advantage of using NGA 911’s system is its ability to process and analyze data from calls and the emergency response process. It automatically tracks important statistics like how long calls last, where the caller placed the call, and what type of response was needed, among so many others, to better understand the needs of specific callers or areas.

Emergency responders can then use that data to find ways to address the people’s needs in a more efficient manner. And this can be done at a hyper specific level.

Llaguno explained that if the police, for instance, has access to data that tells them where police assistance requests are coming from and at what time of day, they can immediately determine when and where to station patrol units. And in turn, police response time would be greatly reduced. 

Llaguno added that it’s this data-driven approach to emergency response that has reportedly helped the PNP cut the response time down to three to five minutes. 

Robust cybersecurity 

Because NGA 911 is handling this much data, Llaguno said it was very important for it to have top of the class and robust cybersecurity measures.

He noted that the system’s cybersecurity passes FedRAMP and NIST 800-53 standards, which are requirements by the United States Department of Justice. FedRAMP is a framework that assesses and authorizes cloud services and products used by the United States federal agencies, while NIST 800-53 is a set of security and privacy controls for information systems to protect organizational assets. 

In addition, NGA 911 also said iot worked closely with the National Privacy Commission to ensure its system is compliant with the data privacy safeguards of the Data Privacy Act of 2012. 

NGA 911 features network firewalls built into the ESInet, along with state of the art encryption of all data traffic that passes through its network and secured facilities.

Llaguno told Rappler that securing the data traffic channels was one of the top priorities for the system. This is because the country’s old system involved manual processing of information, which puts them at great risk of being compromised or stolen. 

Llaguno also said that NGA 911 continues to test its infrastructure to ensure its resilience and conducts routine security assessments to stay ahead of threat actors. 

Text 911

NGA 911’s system also includes textual emergency communication through SMS and instant messaging, which opens up new ways for a person in distress and responders to interact in the event a call cannot be placed. This function works three ways, with the person in distress being able to message 911 and 911 being able to message back, as well as 911 being able to message stakeholders and responders in a secure channel. 

Llaguno said the ability for 911 to message responders securely is especially important. He explained, with the old system, LGUs who received emergency calls manually communicated the caller’s information through possibly public instant messaging chat groups, which invites threat actors to access or steal them. 

When using instant messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp or Viber, 911 will appear and function like a business page. The person in distress can start a thread, and start messaging. They can even send media like photos and videos to help responders better assess the emergency. 

Apart from SMS and instant messaging, the system also includes email, webRTC, and browser-based communication, to provide persons in distress as many options as possible.

Partner LGUs

NGA 911’s system is already in use nationwide, but its coverage is limited to police emergencies, except in the LGUs that have subscribed to its service that covers all types of emergencies, including weather, medical, fire, and crime. 

So far, the LGUs using the system are Morong, Alaminos, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, and Mambajao, with Navotas and Bustos set to join them this month. 

Alaminos was among the first to work with NGA 911, inaugurating the state-of-the-art system in September last year, just a month after it was launched by the PNP and DILG. Mayor Arth Bryan Celeste speaking with the Philippine Information Agency, highlighted how the system centralizes emergency hotlines in the city. As a result, its residents no longer need to go through a list of long contact numbers during times of panic; they can simply dial 911 and report the emergency to responders. 

Llaguno said that NGA 911 takes care of almost every aspect of deployment when an LGU decides to use its system. It supplies and installs all the necessary hardware for the command center, and trains the staff who will serve as responders. All the LGU has to do is allocate the space and designate the staff. 

For the cost, Llaguno said that if an LGU were to quantify it per citizen, it would prove to be cheaper than a cigarette on a daily basis. He also noted that deployment usually takes three months. 

While the system’s capabilities are said to be advanced enough to handle large volumes of calls, Llaguno urges the public to use the 911 emergency hotline responsibly. This system, as he explained, is being deployed to improve emergency response, which in turn could save more lives; so it should only be used for legitimate emergencies. Any delay in emergency response can mean life or death, which means every minute, if not second, counts. – Rappler.com