HEADLINES
JOBS
COM:PORT
POLICY POLICE
ARCHIVES

Police control rooms switch to satellite systems

The state-of-the-art technology called 'Dial 100', has been developed by the Hyderabad-based Electronics Corporation of India Limited in association with the Delhi and West Bengal police.

With features and facilities similar to the most advanced E-911 system being used by the police worldwide, the system has been adapted to Indian conditions. It quickens police response by reducing the time required to rack a caller and the place of occurrence of the incident by 20 minutes to an hour.

Aided by the satellite-supported GPS or the 'global positioning system' and the GIS or the 'geographic information system', the single-line 'Dial 100' has been commissioned at five places in West Bengal.

A multiple-line system with features of E-911 has been developed and satisfactorily tested by the ECIL. So also has been the ALVS or the 'automatic vehicle location system'.

The 'Dial 100' system, ECIL sources say, will provide for automatic call distribution, computer-aided despatch for voice mail, voice mail boxes for secret informers and the media, fire alert and voice mail broadcast. There will also be facilities for incident reporting and analysis. The system is based on Koban, a system popular in Japan and Singapore.

The ECIL sources said separate voice mail boxes could be created for all secret information that would be accessible to the public from any telephone. A separate voice mail box could be provided for media, enabling mediapersons to retrieve the message from anywhere in any part of the city.

In case of fire mishaps, the voice mail box broadcast facility could be used to alert all persons handling such situations so that immediate action could be taken.

The voice mail broadcast facility could also be utilised to alert the general public by various means such as press releases, teletext, radio, television and other broadcasting media.

While the standard wireless sets might be jammed during a crisis, the ECIL's system eliminates this. Besides, its digital trunk communication facilitates group calling, selective calling, data communication and secrecy.

At present, calls on telephone number '100' are received by an operator at the control room. The complaint ticket is manually prepared and, if required, copies of such tickets are manually transmitted to the police vans in the area where the incident has occurred. The caller's identity has to be established with the help of the telecommunication department which takes considerable time.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this story