Command and Control Rooms are nothing less than hugely impressive operations and, if you ever have the opportunity to visit one, I would strongly encourage you to go along.
Highly-skilled responders answer every call within seconds, rapidly assess each situation, determine the right course of action and co-ordinate the necessary response. Not a dissimilar role, in fact, to those of their equivalent colleagues in the security sector.
Getting the right information from the caller is the vital first step in managing a given incident, but while the technology in Command and Control Rooms has evolved, the premise of making and taking a call remains the same as ever.
That said, times are changing. As citizens, if we’re either involved with – or are witness to – an incident or an accident we no longer run to a phone box. Rather, we reach in to our pockets for our mobile. In some instances (and I’m thinking back to the TV coverage of the London riots last year), the first thought is to film the scene rather than report anything about it!
When it comes to incident management, the more information that’s available from the beginning (whether it’s a crime that has been committed or a potential security breech) improves the chances of resolving the situation faster, more efficiently and effectively – and at lower operational costs.
Looking towards ‘Next Generation 911’
Currently, the US is pioneering an initiative known as ‘Next Generation 911’ (often abbreviated to NG9-1-1), a project we (as in NICE Systems) are actively involved with through our work with the US organisation NENA (the National Emergency Number Association) – an expert forum that supports progress towards NG9-1-1.
PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points) in the US will be rolling out NG9-1-1 this year and, when mass migration of the programme takes place, it will bring with it a flood of information – text, still images, streaming video, telematics, medical information and data from an array of sensors and alerting devices, the likes of which emergency Command and Control Rooms have not seen before.
Clearly, this approach will come into its own when managing major incidents.
Following the tragic death of PC David Rathband at the beginning of this month, I’m reminded of the manhunt for Raoul Moat in July 2010.
During this time the police in Northumbria relied heavily on information sharing with the general public in its attempts to apprehend Moat before he could strike again. When managing such an incident, being able to rapidly receive, log and review information from all sources and share it with relevant parties can really be a matter of life and death.
This is where the emergency services can learn a lot from security managers in how to handle ‘information overload’, efficiently storing information and how it can be used not only to manage the incident but also for scenario reconstructions and ongoing training.
Increase in data feeds
In recent years, our sector has had to get to grips with a huge increase in the number of data feeds entering the Control Room (more cameras, alarms and sensors, etc).
With the uptake of technology solutions such as Physical Security Information Management and incident management systems, complemented by improved training, it’s fair to say that the security sector as a whole is making great strides forward.
You can be sure that the UK’s emergency services will be closely monitoring the developments of the NG9-1-1 roll-out throughout this year.
So, while I strongly urge you to accept any invitation to visit a Command and Control Centre, I would at the same time encourage you to extend an invitation to your peers in the emergency services to a meeting with you: they can learn an awful lot from your experience and expertise.
Jamie Wilson is security marketing manager (EMEA) at NICE Systems