ANNAPOLIS, Md., and NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (NASDAQ: TSYS), today announced that it is teaming with NextNav, LLC to demonstrate the use of Metropolitan Beacon System (MBS) technology as one solution to complement primary 911 technology for the purpose of providing indoor location information to public safety answering points in emergency situations.
Using NextNav’s MBS network for positioning, the companies are demonstrating provision of an indoor caller’s location information to 911 call takers. When an appropriately configured cell phone or other device places a 911 call from a community with a deployed MBS network, the caller’s longitude, latitude and altitude are displayed to the 911 call-taker. This information is valuable for calls made from indoor locations, where other location techniques, such as GPS, are unavailable or less accurate.
News Facts:
According to information collected by the FCC, about 70% of the approximately 500,000 daily 911 calls nationally are placed from cell phones.
According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 40% of households no longer have a landline, and over 60% of renters do not have a landline, making accurate indoor location for cellular calls to 911 increasingly important.
Various location techniques, including GPS, are helpful in providing location for the caller; however, when the caller is indoors, those techniques often cannot obtain a location fix, particularly in complex urban environments. If the caller is unable to verbally specify his or her location, first responders lose valuable time locating the caller.
MBS technology is a valuable addition to emergency response because it is built on metropolitan or wide-area principles, similar to cellular networks, and provides consistent and reliable service to every structure within its service footprint.
MBS provides altitude, which is as important as horizontal location in the types of large multi-story structures in urban areas.
NextNav President and Co-Founder Ganesh Pattabiraman stated: “NextNav has developed and is currently deploying the world’s first Metropolitan Beacon System network, bringing GPS-like accuracy and reliability, in all three dimensions, to indoor environments. 911 is among the most challenging scenarios for location because an emergency could come from any building, on any floor, at any time. GPS was the perfect solution outdoors, but new approaches are required for indoor positioning. We are proud to be the first to bring GPS-like positioning capabilities indoors, and to be able to serve entire metropolitan areas. We are very pleased to be collaborating with TCS, a recognized pioneer in wireless E911 and leader in next generation 911 solutions.”
TCS Safety & Security Group Vice President Kent Hellebust stated: “NextNav and TCS share a commitment to supporting the Public Safety community. TCS is a long-standing leader in developing new Public Safety technology and NextNav is a recognized innovator in indoor location accuracy. Together, we offer this technical approach as one solution to the challenge of improved indoor location information in emergency situations.”