Thursday October 25, 2007

999: One nation, one number

By CINDY YEOH

Ahmad Amin Esa, head of information of the technology division at the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications

IT is a number that everyone can remember. In an emergency, all you have to do is pick up the phone and dial 999.

Unlike before, you need not dial three sets of numbers (999, 994, 991 and 112 – for cellular phone users) to reach the different emergency and rescue service providers in the country.The establishment of a single emergency number for the entire nation is a positive move, as it will make it easier to contact relevant emergency service providers.

At a briefing for the press at Putrajaya early this month, the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications, which is the lead ministry entrusted with this project, gave an outline of how the project is to be fully implemented by Jan 1 2008.

The briefing was conducted by the head of information of the ministry's technology division, Ahmad Amin Esa.

Background

A working committee was set up on May 17 this year headed by the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications. Its members include the Royal Malaysian Police, Fire and Rescue Department, Ministry of Health, Civil Defence Department, Telekom Malaysia, Celcom, Digi, Maxis, Time and MiTV Berhad.

This committee oversees the work of four sub-committees that look into the work process, technical specifications, policy and finance, and promotion.

Project scope

To ensure the success of the project, the committee has to look into the following issues:

The database must be updated, complete and reliable.

The Client Charter and Service Level Agreement (SLA) must be drawn up.

Callers must be able to communicate with the emergency service agencies.

All emergency calls must be properly documented.

The service must be of international standard.

Project implementation

The project is carried out over two phases:

Phase 1: From June 2007 to October, 2007 (where the soft launch was held)

Phase 2: From October 2007 to January 2008

Phase 1 involves the upgrading of existing call centres so that they can handle an estimated two million phone calls a month. Among the steps taken are:

Additional 50 call centre agents to answer calls.

Upgrading the capacity of the current server, upgrading the efficiency of the flow of call management by way of overflow or auto routing, and adding more incoming lines to the TM 999 Call Centre.

Integrating all emergency call numbers, such as 991 and 994 into one number, 999.

Developing the Computer-Telephony Integration (CTI) system for the use of the Hospital Call Centre (at this point of time, hospitals do not have a call centre system in place).

Transferring all calls to the TM 999 Emergency Call Centre, This includes all calls currently made to the police in Petaling Jaya and Sarawak, as well as calls to 994, 991 and 112.

Under Phase 2, the following steps will be taken:

Phase 2 will run simultaneously with Phase 1 to ensure the continuity of the system.

Improving the system by inserting the Digital Mapping element to pinpoint the location of the caller.

Establish connectivity among all emergency agencies.

Having Computer Assisted Dispatching (CAD), where information can be sent on-line to the agencies’ call centres.

Promotion

Over the next few months, there will be active promotion of the 999 number through the mass media. There is also a lot of information posted via the website www.999.gov.my.

In addition to making the public aware of this new emergency number, the ministry will also be highlighting the consequences faced by those who misuse the facility.

Under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the penalty for misuse of the communication network is a fine of RM50 000, or one year's jail, or both.

Don't misuse the emergency number

AT the briefing, the representative from Telekom Malaysia provided statistics to show how the emergency number was misused. In 2006, for example, some 98.9% of all emergency calls received turned out to be prank calls.

This is a very worrying trend as these callers show blatant disregard for the importance of the emergency number. These calls not only take up precious time but could affect response time to real emergencies where lives are at stake.

According to TM, a majority of prank calls come from kids, mainly from boys, aged between 10 and 11 years old. Other categories of prank calls include those who call up just to release stress and tension; obscene calls; as well as calls made by unstable people.

Nowadays, prank callers are increasingly using mobile phones, which make it harder to track their actual location. Currently, there are 23 cases under investigation for prank call offences.

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