The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has announced the release of a new standard (Technical Specification TS 103 478) developed by its special committee on Emergency Communications (EMTEL) to define the requirements and architecture of Pan-European Mobile Emergency Applications (PEMEA). The institute said there are currently hundreds of 112 related emergency calling applications in use across Europe but they are restricted to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) they are integrated with. The new specification is designed to provide a solution that will enable emergency apps interoperability within Europe and beyond.
With the new spec users will be able to continue using their favourite application while the accurate location and other information provided by the app will be sent to the most appropriate PSAP. The first part of the specification identifies the key functional entities involved in the emergency application architecture, the interfaces between each functional entity, and the requirements on each interface. The second part defines the data exchanges, message, protocols and procedures used across each of the identified PEMEA interfaces.
ETSI said 21 emergency apps have already committed to be compliant with PEMEA, bringing a 112 pan-European app one step closer to becoming a reality.
