The REACH112 Newsletter - Issue 1
A periodic publication of the REACH112 Consortium
You can also read this newsletter in your language using Google Translate at http://translate.google.com and entering the URL http://www.reach112.eu/view/en/registration/issue_1.html
Table of Contents:
- What is REACH112?
- What is Total Conversation?
- Improving emergency service access
- Next events to learn more about REACH112
What is REACH112?
The REACH112 project is a three-year project partially funded under the ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) as part of the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme by the European Community.
REACH112 - REsponding to All Citizens needing Help - will implement an accessible alternative to traditional voice telephony that will be suitable for all. While people with disabilities find it hard to communicate with the existing solutions, REACH112 will provide modes of communication so that they will find a way to communicate in each situation, may it be with a live real-time text conversation, with sign language, with lip reading, with voice or with any simultaneous combination of these modes described by the concept of Total Conversation. The service will be of benefit for all.
Meanwhile, there is an urgent need to improve access to emergency services for people with disabilities in the EU. REACH112 will implement a 12-month pilot in Sweden, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France and Spain allowing disabled users to communicate at a distance with each other and directly with the emergency services. IP devices will be provided in the homes, workplaces and on the move, connecting the users simultaneously in video, voice and text. Users will be able to connect between countries and different service providers, on mobile and fixed IP networks. The service will be integrated with existing telecommunication platforms and emergency service frameworks. The users will also connect through a third-party service (relay) with voice telephone users. Additionally, a protocol for the exchange of information between emergency services will be made available so that relevant data can be transferred to the most appropriate emergency service.
REACH112 will therefore become a blueprint for the extension of IP-based communications, Total Conversation and emergency services in the EU. It will guide the improvements of communication between all citizens - in particular those with disabilities - as well as the accessibility and call handling of all EU emergency services.
To know more:
Presentation of the project (2433KB)What is Total Conversation?
Total Conversation means a standardised concept where you can use video, text and speech at the same time in a call. It can be seen as an extension of the videophone concept by consistent addition of the real-time text medium.
Total Conversation fits people with disabilities as well as all. Deaf, hearing impaired, deafened and deafblind persons have especially great usage of Total Conversation because of its opportunity to allow any mix of sign language, speech and typing that suits the participants in each call.
The Total Conversation service concept was first described by the international Telecommunications Union ITU (http://www.itu.int).
It has been picked up for technical implementation descriptions by e.g. the 3G-mobile world organization 3GPP (http://www.3gpp.org). It is also standardised in the world of Internet standard organisation IETF (http://www.ietf.org). The 3GPP standard has also been acknowledged by ETSI.
To know more:
Improving access to emergency services
According to the European Commission, the European emergency number 112, which is used to contact emergency services free of charge all over the EU, is currently not accessible to the majority of disabled people. Only 7 countries were reported to have implemented an accessible 112 for people with disabilities.
While several solutions have been tested in Europe to enable deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate with emergency services' operators, the experts unanimously agree that none of these is viable on the long run. The European Emergency Number Association (EENA) - a Brussels-based NGO promoting the right of citizens to access the 112 and receive the appropriate service - has been advocating the right of people with disabilities to access emergency services using 112 all over Europe. The EENA conducted a review of accessibility projects within its NG112 Technical Committee. Fax is a slow procedure that requires pre-registration of users, SMS is widely used but less effective in an emergency due to unforeseeable time transmission and specific proprietary chat services implemented at local level will not spread all over Europe.
This poor level of accessibility of 112 is set to change with the start of REACH112, a new five-country initiative in France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom, which will introduce improved communication solutions for disabled people, allowing them access to emergency services.
In France, Total Conversation - simultaneous use of voice, video and Real-Time Text - will be implemented so that citizens can communicate with voice, text, or sign language as well. Following an analysis of communications used by deaf people, speech impaired person and others citizens excluded of emergency services access, each call will be handled at the national scale either in sign language and text communication by a deaf 112 agent, or in text and voice communication by an hearing 112 agent. Each agent will then pass on the information to the local emergency services.
In the Netherlands, the national 112 centre located in Driebergen will integrate the necessary technology in its IP-platform so that citizens can contact 112 using Real-Time Text (RTT). While emails, SMS, instant messaging and chat are non-conversational, RTT enables conversations between individuals, and in this specific context a live exchange between citizens and 112 call-takers.
In Sweden, two Total Conversation terminals will be installed in one SOS Alarm PSAP. The operator will view text and video but will be able to use external relay services for sign language interpreting into voice. As in the Netherlands, 112 will be contacted directly and the relay service activated meanwhile.
In Galicia, Spain, RTT will also be used by citizens to contact directly the regional 112 PSAP once the necessary technology is made available. Citizens will also have the possibility to communicate first with the National Relay Centre that will then contact the 112 PSAP. During the project, trials of Total Conversation will also be performed, for testing sign language video-interpretation together with voice and RTT capabilities, in both the PSAP and the relay centre.
In the United Kingdom Total Conversation will be used by deaf and speech impaired users from fixed and mobile devices. The communication products will provide access to national emergency services through relay operators who will translate between Real-Time Text/Sign Language and voice. In addition Total Conversation terminals may be installed in several UK emergency services call centres allowing for direct access to operators.
To know more:
Next event to learn more about REACH112
Contact details for more information
Uberto Delprato
IES Solutions
Tel: +39068184832
Email: u.delprato@i4es.it
Gary Machado
EENA
Tel: +3225349789
Email: gm@eena.org
Disclaimer
Possible inaccuracies of information are under the responsibility of the project team. The text reflects solely the views of its authors. The European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
