Twitter 9-1-1: Issues to Consider
Creative Commons via article.wn.com
Like an internet meme, a blog post entitled “Twitter 9-1-1: A Proposal” was shared over 100 times this past week on various social media sites. Originally written by Glen Gilmore in March of 2011, it was circulated again after a storm knocked out landline phones in New Jersey just recently.
The blog presents an idea that 9-1-1 Dispatchers could be cross-trained to monitor social media accounts and begin responding just as if they were collecting the same information via telephone call.
But is it really that easy?
Glen’s proposal offers the following steps for implementing a Twitter 9-1-1 proposal:
- Open Twitter Accounts (one for each city)
- Train Dispatchers
- Provide Computers to Call Centers
- Provide Legal Disclaimers
- Inform the Community before Launch
- Use accounts for emergency messages and reverse 9-1-1
Now, I work in an emergency management office that is co-located in a 9-1-1 facility, so I work alongside call-takers and dispatchers every day which gives me a unique perspective on this proposal.
9-1-1 Dispatchers are the lifelines for public safety officers. In some cases, they work for specific disciplines like law enforcement or fire departments; however, in my facility, we serve not only both law enforcement and fire disciplines, but also railroads, public works, ambulance, corrections and higher education facilities in our jurisdiction. Dispatchers manage 5 separate monitors in order to manage maps, incoming calls, dispatch messages and the resources within their control.
It is not unusual for a dispatcher to be managing the safety of up to 30 officers at any given point in time. Not only are 9-1-1 dispatchers dealing with the general public on the telephone, but they are monitoring for the radio message they all fear which indicates that “their” officers are in trouble. 9-1-1 Dispatchers feel strongly about the responsibility that they have to the public safety agencies that they serve.
Dispatchers have only one commodity ultimately and that is information. And when it comes to span of control, they work near the tipping point on every shift.
So, why do the words “Next Generation 9-1-1″ often strike fear into the hearts of dispatchers? Because they all individually worry about losing track of information. Having multiple input points can be scary. How many plates can a person spin in the air and still keep mental control and provide safety to the officers on the streets?
One of the common questions that my agency already receives is whether they can text 9-1-1 for service already. Unfortunately, for my agency and many others, the answer is still “no.” While the standards for Next Generation 9-1-1 have been set, the technology and operational processes have not been ironed out for 9-1-1 dispatch facilities. The safety of first responders must be taken into consideration as these processes get established.
Now, I do agree with Glen Gilmore’s post to a certain degree. I do believe that establishing a Twitter Monitoring Center is possible. I think that you could establish a team of folks who can put their eyes and ears to social media and gather information that could be actionable. Similar to an alarm-monitoring facility that monitors and confirms premise alarms, a Twitter Monitoring Center could identify tweets and follow up via conversation to gather location information and confirm the need for emergency response; however, processes like this would take some time and exploring the viability of response times and liability would be significant.
To some degree, monitoring social media during emergencies is beginning to happen by social media savvy Incident Command Posts and EOC’s which are beginning to develop and use Virtual Operation Support Teams (VOST); however, we have yet to see a centralized 24-7-365 monitoring center evolve with protocols for identifying and channeling information to emergency response organization that can deploy response assets to assist in all emergencies.
As the role of social media in emergencies and Next Generation 9-1-1 processes begin to develop, we need to keep the following issues in mind:
- We must understand the capabilities of our 9-1-1 systems as they technologically stand today,
- We must be sure that we don’t oversimplify the changes necessary both on a technology level, but also on a operational level that will be required. To fully implement a Next Generation 9-1-1 facility that can receive and monitor social media will result in new job skills, new position classifications and new technology which will, by its very existence, change the look of 9-1-1 dispatch floors.
- In the transition, emergency response entities need to consider how they will incorporate social conversations into their operational response….because I assure you, when a 9-1-1 facility receives a video message, they’re going to be seeking how to send that to the first response agency tasked with responding like a hot potato. And that action will change a police officer and fire fighter’s job forever.
As an Emergency Manager who fully appreciates the power of social media, we must be very realistic about what is right now and the road required to adapt to a community using social media to move information at lightening speeds across the world.
July 15th, 2012 at 10:22 am
Thank you for my proposal further. Please understand that I propose the use of #Twitter911 ONLY when phone 911 does not work.
When minor earthquake tremors hit NJ last year, our phones were out for HOURS, leaving emergencies unanswered. When nearly every town has a Twitter account and Facebook page, why don’t we put them to work to save lives in an emergency?! Do we pretend they don’t exist when phone lines are disrupted, yet social is at the ready?..,.
Thank you again.
July 15th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Excellent response. I would add a couple of items. First – back up call routing of 911 calls to another phone number or another 911 center is an absolute MUST and should be in place and activated and tested in every 911 center in the USA. The technology for call routing today is virtually instantaneous. Also, with regards to providing trained resources for disaster monitoring of social media 24/7 during a disaster, this is a service provided by Humanity Road at no charge and is part of our Nonprofit mission. Our volunteers specialize in monitoring social media for urgent needs. Just reach out to ask us – its why we are here. Great work on the VOSTs – we support you.
July 15th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Interesting proposal Glen, and a good response from Cheryl on the realities involved to implement.
I feel I’m qualified to add my two cents here since I’m both an active SMEM practitioner, participated in several large-scale disasters from a SoMedia perspective, and I am a former 9-1-1 dispatcher and dispatcher trainer from a multi-agency center.
First, the concept is valid and forward-looking… in concept.
In practice you are looking at an overlay capability that will easily double, if not triple your Capital Expenditures and Operational Costs for 9-1-1 centers.
Currently I see no appetite for that expansion, with the numerous public safety layoffs happening countrywide. The reality is, Local and State budgets will simply not allow for it in the current economic climate.
In the center I worked in, complaint desk call taking was a separate function from radio dispatch, but all dispatchers were qualified to work on both functions, and rotated through both positions on a regular basis.
While I understand Chery’s points, her call center seems to combine the complaint taking function with the radio dispatch/ field safety functions.
NextGen 9-1-1 CAN work, but not in a combined environment.
To effectively use social media in a 9-1-1 context the two tasks must be separate for workflow management.
Glenn, with your proposal for Twitter911 use during times when 9-1-1 voice/TTY are not available, I have to say that those are the EXACT times when your 9-1-1 personnel would be overloaded because the workflow process times would triple for even simple call processing.
Twitter911 is only workable with a 2-3X increase in personnel and a significant investment in workflow/process mapping and equipment. I won’t even touch on the liability issues of social media being a system without a closed loop.
In my area (Silicon Valley) I don’t see Twitter911 happening at any time on the near-horizon due to $$$$
We can’t even get department PIO’s to engage with the tools they have.
July 15th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
I am very hesitant to even entertain the idea of using a service like Twitter for 911 type information collection. While there have been many examples of the service being a successful way of spreading emergency management information during and after disaster, these activities were not done proactively or even intentionally. The beauty of a social network is that it is organic and will grow and develop on its own. Attempting to manipulate it for your own purpose would be too costly and too time consuming for it to be of any benefit. For my PSAP, our limited manpower(one dispatcher at a time) would be even further strained. Our development dollars would be much better spent in a service like 911 texting.
Now I will go even one step further, I don’t believe that people use twitter. Heresy, I know. The service claims to have over 500 million “users”, however, estimates average less than half of those users have ever tweeted once. A quick Google search on the topic might change your mind on how popular this service is. I do believe that a very vocal few do use it, but not the masses which are claimed.
July 16th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I have to agree more than disagree with you Cody, at least in the first part. Similarly, tweeters (myself included) lack communications discipline, certainly less than using a phone. A twitter account is much more anonymous, leaving it open to greater abuse and with only 140 characters, essential details for a 911 call would be hard to come by. Not to mention location finding would be a great challenge. I think there are a lot of stiff obstacles to climb before this can be seriously considered.
However, I can’t agree that people aren’t using twitter. Yes, I’m sure there are millions of dead accounts but I also think there are millions out there who simply don’t tweet (“Tweeting Tom’s”?), they merely watch the info go by and use what’s of interest to them. The twitterverse is still rapidly evolving but I certainly think it’s here to stay and such style messaging will be an integral part of communications in the future.