Moving towards the Next Generation 112 with FlagMii®EML

Next Generation 112 is the new frontier of emergency numbers. It is a transformation that has already begun, which aims to facilitate access to rescue services through the technologies that each person uses daily, such as chats, video calls and many of the communication models commonly offered by smartphones.
Even if the full implementation of the NG112 project will require a complex timeline and deep changes on the communication infrastructures, FlagMii^®EML anticipates the change, as it immediately guarantees some of the important goals in the interaction between the Control Room platforms and the citizens' smartphones - such as the live video broadcast from the event scene.
With FlagMii^®EML the NG112 challenge has already begun!

The role of smartphones in the Next Generation 112 model

Today, more and more citizens expect to be able to reach emergency services using modern ways of communication, those that everyone uses daily on their smartphone for leisure or for work, such as chats and video calls.

Smartphones have three unique characteristics – they accompany people anytime, anywhere, they support localization via GPS, and they grant access to the Internet – and it is precisely these three aspects that have allowed reinventing how emergency services interact with citizens.

The NextGen112 project entails significant changes on a technological and workflow perspective, but it is through smartphones that change becomes practical and immediate. Therefore, FlagMii^®EML places the smartphone at the centre of the technology evolution and use it as the key element that can speed up the assessment tasks and, thus, improve emergency support to citizens.

Beyond the mere
voice call

The classic voice phone call is increasingly outdated as a means of communication and in the future perspective introduced by NG112, the concept of Emergency Call will be outclassed by that of Emergency Communication. But even today, the “voice call to 112” has the role of a “spark” that triggers a much more articulated and complex interaction, made up of transmission data, video links and attachment exchange. It is the so called principle of reverse engagement, which FlagMii^®EML actualize thanks to its ability to establish a multimedia communication based on a simple SMS.

In fact, the FlagMii^®EML platform is already able to connect to the phone calls managed by traditional emergency platforms existing in the Control Rooms and to extend them towards an interactive communication channel. From that moment on, the rescue workers get everything that a voice call cannot offer, that is text or image communication, the transmission of attachments, the possibility of group video calls.

The FlagMii^®EML approach allows you to begin integrating the new Next Generation 112 vision without affecting the call management process currently in use in most Emergency Control Rooms.

Chat and attachments, from WhatsApp to emergency services

Applications like WhatsApp have accustomed people to contact people via messages, to carry out entire conversations using text chats and to integrate them with images and attachments. The NG112 project considers the new habits and employs them to evolve how citizens relate to emergency numbers.

FlagMii^®EML makes this technological transformation immediately possible, as it gives to the operators of the emergency services all the chat and the sharing tools they need to support people asking for help.

Chats and attachments can be used for:

silent calls with people under threat, for example during acts of terrorism or in cases of domestic violence;
interaction with deaf people and for removing barrier to access;
sending visual instructions (pictograms, animations, illustrations) to let citizens perform the self-rescue actions during the Therapy Free Interval;
receiving from the citizens photos about injuries, places and situations that help operators to correctly assess the incident;
conversation with foreign citizens, thanks to the built-in simultaneous translation.

It is important to emphasize that, unlike common tools such as WhatsApp, the chat and exchange of attachments based on FlagMii^®EML do not require the installation of apps on the citizen’s phone.

The new perspectives of geographic localization

Localization of the citizen via smartphone has become a requirement for any modern emergency service. In the NG112 vision, geolocating the person on the phone is no longer a mere way to obtain the geographic coordinates of the case but is the very prerequisite for optimizing rescue logistics.
Mechanisms based on geofencing make it possible to direct requests according to the area of origin, in an extremely dynamic and timely manner and with a versatility and a capillarity that is completely new compared to the current principles of territorial competence.

Localization has always been the key factor in FlagMii^®EML‘s activities.
The geographic coordinates are retrieved by sending a simple SMS, transparently and without the need for a mobile app. Above all, FlagMii^®EML allows operators to monitor the movement of the citizen during the call and to compare his up-to-date position with those of the teams approaching. As aforementioned, the geographical position is considered as a piece of the puzzle of interactions between the Control Room and the citizen, rather than as isolated and self-referential information.

Removing the barriers to access

The NG112 pays close attention to the principle of equivalent access, according to which access to emergency services must be guaranteed to disabled people and to citizens facing any communication difficulty, including the language barriers.

Support during emergencies can only be universal and free of discrimination. Once more FlagMii^®EML makes it possible to immediately remove the barriers to access to emergency services, through many of its features:

automatic translation of conversations, using natural language recognition (NLP);
text-based communication to support deaf people;
the exchange of images, pictograms, and animations to facilitate dialogue with people with cognitive limits or with other interaction difficulties;
video chat sessions for interaction – even gestural – with the person asking for help;
the possibility of inviting interpreters and mediators in the conversation.

FlagMii^®EML

is the system adopted by the Italian 112 emergency service to support emergency calls from deaf citizens.

Read the case study...

The role of video features in NG112 transition

Video chat and live video transmission are the tools that best summarize the goal of bringing the emergency services closer to the customs of citizens.
The habit of video calls is an important asset in emergency and rescue scenarios, since it allows the operators of the Control Rooms to interact with the person on the phone even using live images taken from the smartphone. This is useful both because it speeds up the dialogue between interlocutors and because it allows rescuers to see first-hand what is happening, thus improving the accuracy of the assessment.

The importance of the FlagMii^®EML video tools is well evidenced by two situations that made headlines in the main Italian national media, namely the case of the two-year-old boy saved from chocking and that of assistance in childbirth through the video function of the platform.

Using FlagMii^®EML live video features during choking rescue

Using FlagMii^®EML for childbirth assistance

The easy way to grow existing platforms

Whether you need advanced localization, video calls or chat and attachments, FlagMii^®EML is the most advantageous solution to start the path towards the NG112 objectives in all Control Rooms. In fact, the solution is cloud-based and does not require any installation on the workstations. In addition, FlagMii^®EML can complement any existing CAD tool and expand its capabilities without impacting the rest of the operations. In other words, all the benefits of the new approach to emergency communication are obtained without incurring expensive processes of infrastructure improvement and without having to anticipate the most demanding steps that will be required for the implementation of the Next Generation 112 project in its entirety.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

FlagMii^®EML implements the Data Reception tasks required by the Next Generation 112 and relieves the Central software of this commitment.

1 – FlagMii^®EML is a cloud service that can be activated from any Emergency CAD system, with a variable automation level based on the characteristics of the existing platform.

2 – Each case that is handled by the emergency service can be linked to a FlagMii^®EML case, with which data and attachments will be shared.

3 – Adding FlagMii^®EML to a 112 case immediately triggers the geo-localization of the person on the phone and activates a dedicated chat link. To make the operation possible, an SMS is sufficient, which is sent automatically by the platform.

4 – It is possible to forward the FlagMii^®EML case complete with its data and attachments to another Control Room, which will continue its management. It is also possible to involve more Operations Centres on the same case, for a multidisciplinary management of the event

5 – All other management activities that are normally carried out in the Control Room can continue to be conducted as usual, as FlagMii^®EML does not slow down or modify the operation of the instruments to which it is connected.

Insights

The NG112 project was launched in April 2019 by EENA, the European association for the emergency number 112, and was brought to international attention for implementation in all European states. The project includes infrastructural interventions required to enable the retrieval of important information for the logistics of the rescue. It also concerns the innovation of the way people will be accessing the emergency numbers, overcoming the limit of telephone calls and voice interaction. Particular attention is paid to video chat and text communication and with attachments.

Dedicated page on the EENA web site

FlagMii®EML and the Next Generation 112