Project duration: 2009 – 2012 EC ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP)
Funding: EC ICT Policy Support Programme
Project website: http://www.reach112.co.uk
UK distribution website: http://www.myfriendcentral.com
The overall goal of the REACH112 project is to make ‘telephones’ accessible for people with disabilities". That includes person to person communication and 112 Emergency Services. The solution is to add video and real-time text to the calls (forming Total Conversation TC in a standardised consistent way) so that voice telephony interoperability between service providers is maintained. The benefit of adding video is that sign language, lip-reading and general face recognition can be used. The benefit of adding real-time text is that a rapid text conversation can be performed when one or both users have limited use of voice or video for communication. The relevance of having voice in the calls is that many people with disabilities have some use of voice.
The concept is presented simply in the illustration below.
(Total Conversation Concept – example of user interface)
Users will be able to see each other when they call, will be able to use relay services and will also be able to reach 999 services directly. They will be able to use standard telephone numbers and will be reachable by textphone users and by hearing people through the interpreting service.
Means video, voice and text simultaneously available when people are in conversation at a distance. This is achieved with special software and hardware and with the use of broadband Internet connections.
Are those for whom communication through visual means is a necessity. REACH112 will focus on the needs of the most challenging users who are
However, solve for these groups and we will significantly aid others and mainstream groups such as elderly people. The target user group is 4,700 over the five countries in which the pilot will take place.
Are available in different forms:
is controlled by a call distribution server in each operator's network which manages and tracks the TC call set up and terminations. Interpreter or video relay operators are typically distributed in this system and are issued with agent clients (hardware or software) which allow simultaneous video conversations and VoIP conversations supported by text. This software will connect with existing technology for text communication and ensures that the installed base of text users can be integrated into the system.
REACH112 will work in a number of aspects of emergency services contact such as:
However, the primary focus of REACH112 is point 4 – the connection between callers and the emergency service operator at the public safety answering point (PSAP) ie the operator for the police, fire or ambulance service. Their role is not only to raise an alarm and to send service personnel to the site, but also to ascertain the extent of the problem, to give ongoing advice until the service personnel arrive and to ensure as far as possible the health and safety of those on site. In this role, the operator engages in conversation with the user. The architecture of user access to current PSTN emergency service provides an insight into the proposed working of REACH112.
(Emergency service access through a call handling centre to the emergency service)
At present, users of a telephone are able to call a single number and be routed to a call handling agency (CHA) which then routes them to the specific emergency service in the location of the user.
REACH112 will utilise Broadband IP and 3G mobile networks. All of the technology to achieve REACH112 exists and is in use and can begin to be implemented to users almost immediately. However, there remain significant challenges to service development:
In REACH112, it is intended that TC capability will be available to all persons from user, through relay, call handling and PSAP operators (see below) and this will apply especially to ES operators where specially trained communication staff, including sign language users, will be able to manage the incoming call.
All users in the chain have access to Total Conversation facilities
Operators and call handling agents (ie those who receive the first contact when the user ‘dials’ 112) are able to control all elements of the call – by being able to see and converse with the user in speech, use text (T140 standard) and video (for sign language and speech reading), as well as simultaneously being able to see relay services interpreters and also service personnel on their way or at the site of the problem. The display at the PSAP or in a centralised call handling centre can display up to four participants with live video, at the same time. This allows the operator an overall view and a better means to coordinate the ES response.
The operator’s Total Conversation facility is IP based and connects seamlessly with VoIP services and breaks out to traditional PSTN and mobile phone systems, through inbuilt gateways.
We have a balanced consortium of
The project began in July 2009 and will be completed in June 2012.
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