911/MAYDAY READINESS INFORMATION

[Guest guest]

Have you or your agency had any contact with OnStar or similar telematics

business? Following is information on a upcoming meeting with the U.S.D.O.T.

about the pros and cons of these type of agencies. Read the following and if

you have had contact with one and a story to tell you may want to pass on

your experiences to Capt. Arthur French with the N.H.T.S.A.

NOTICE TEXT: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will conduct a

meeting of interested public and private sector parties to discuss technical

and operational issues related to the planned " Mayday/911 " Field Operational

Test (FOT) to be initiated during the latter part of 2001. This meeting is

scheduled for 9:00a.m.,February 16, 2001, in room 4230 at the DOT

Headquarters, located at 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, D.C. The

purpose of this meeting is to discuss details of the planned FOT and the

development of a work statement prior to the release of a Request For

Proposal (RFP). The DOT wishes to obtain feedback on technical and

operational issues regarding the implementation and conduct of the test. The

primary purpose of the Mayday FOT is to examine and evaluate one or more

viable telecommunications options for Telematics Service Providers(TSP's) to

directly access the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), based

on the reported location of a telematics equipped vehicle. A second

objective of the test is to demonstrate and evaluate mechanisms for the

transfer of incident & client-related data from the TSP to the PSAP, and

other responder organizations. This capability will eventually permit the

transfer of crash location,impact severity indicators, and relevant

subscriber medical information to assist dispatchers and response personnel.

For additional information, contact Capt. Arthur French, EMS Division

(NTS-14), National Highway Traffic Safety Admin., 400 Seventh St.,SW,

Washington, D.C. 20590. He may be reached at , FAX (202)

366-7721, or E-mail at AFRENCH@...

[Guest guest]

We've only received a few calls of this nature in the past couple years that I'm

aware of. No problems were encountered, but I have heard stories of where the

agency contacting the PSAP didn't even have a vehicle description. But the

technology is out there so hopefully it will be of some good. The only thing I

won't like is when there is an accident at a major intersection, and as we ALL

know we get about a hundred cell phone callers reporting the accident, not to

mention any nearby homes or businesses. So now were going to get a call from

this company after the fact and in the middle of a dozen other calls. BUT we

will be getting more detailed information on the vehicle owners I suppose. Hope

they can be put on hold for a while.......

Jim J

Mr911

Tricom