MissionCriticalVoiceCommunicationsRequirementsforPublicSafety

NationalPublicSafetyTelecommunicationsCouncil
BroadbandWorkingGroup

ExecutiveSummary
Thetermmissioncriticalvoicehasbeenusedwithinthepublicsafetycommunityfor
decades.However,untilnowtherehasbeennoonesinglecompletedefinitionofwhat,
exactly,missioncriticalvoiceis.Thereareanumberofdefinitionsinusetodaybutuntilthe
NationalPublicSafetyTelecommunicationsCouncil(NPTSC)BroadbandWorkingGrouptook
uptheissueofprovidingafinitedefinition,missioncriticalvoicehasmeantdifferentthings
todifferentgroupswithinthefirstrespondercommunity.

Theefforttoestablishanaccepteddefinitionformissioncriticalvoicewasundertakenby
NPSTCbecause,aspublicsafetytransitionstotheNationwidePublicSafetyBroadband
WirelessNetwork,voicecommunicationsmaytransitionfromtodaysLandMobileRadio
(LMR)channelizednarrowbandvoicesystemstovoiceoverthebroadbandnetwork.Ifthis
transitionistobeaccomplished,itisimperativethatthosecompanieswhowillbe
developingthetechnologytoprovidevoiceoverbroadbandfullyunderstandallofthe
requirementsthatmakeuppublicsafetymissioncriticalvoice.

Thistransitionwilltakeanumberofyearstoaccomplishanditisnotclearthatallofthe
featuresandfunctionsrequiredbypublicsafetyformissioncriticalvoicecanbe
accommodatedusingthecommercialstandardsforwirelessbroadband.Thisdocumentis
notdesignedtoprovidearoadmapforthosewhodesiretobuildmissioncriticalvoiceinto
wirelessbroadbandtechnologies,butratherithasbeenwrittentoprovideabasisfora
commonunderstandingofthemeaningofandthemultiplerequirementsofmissioncritical
voice.Someofthefeatureslistedbelowcontaindescriptionsoftechnologysolutionsand

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials | American Radio Relay League | Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies | Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International | Forestry Conservation
Communications Association | International Association of Chiefs of Police | International Association of Emergency Managers |
International Association of Fire Chiefs | International Municipal Signal Association | National Association of State Chief
Information Officers | National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials | National Association of State
Foresters | National Association of State Technology Directors | National Sheriffs Association

MissionCriticalVoiceDefinitionforPublicSafetyPage1

functionalitythataremeanttoprovideanunderstandingofhowthesefeatureshavebeen
addressedbytodaystechnology,butarenotmeanttoconstrainfuturesolutions.Inorder
forthecompaniesthataredevelopingwirelessbroadbandtechnologiesdesiringtoadd
missioncriticalvoicecomponentstowirelessbroadband,otherdocumentsdetailingactual
voicerequirementswillbenecessary.Thedefinitionherein,forexample,doesnotprovide
detailsregardingthenumberofvoicecircuitsorchannelswhichareneededtomeetthe
requirementsofthepublicsafetycommunityduringmajorincidents,nordoesitdetailthe
rangerequirementsbetweendevicesthatneedtocommunicatewitheachotherduring
theseincidents.Thisdocumentisintendedtosetthestandardforthedefinitionofmission
criticalvoiceasrequiredbypublicsafetyinordertoprovideastartingpoint.Future
revisionsofthisdocumentwilldefinethespecificationsandrequirementsthatmustbepart
ofanybroadbandnetworkwhichistoincorporatemissioncriticalvoiceservices.

Thekeyelementsforthedefinitionofmissioncriticalvoiceincludethefollowing:

DirectorTalkAround:Thismodeofcommunicationsprovidespublicsafetywiththe
abilitytocommunicateunittounitwhenoutofrangeofawirelessnetworkOR
whenworkinginaconfinedareawheredirectunittounitcommunicationsis
required.
PushtoTalk(PTT):Thisisthestandardformofpublicsafetyvoicecommunications
todaythespeakerpushesabuttonontheradioandtransmitsthevoicemessageto
otherunits.WhentheyaredonespeakingtheyreleasethePushtoTalkswitchand
returntothelistenmodeofoperation.
FullDuplexVoiceSystems:Thisformofvoicecommunicationsmimicsthatinuse
todayoncellularorcommercialwirelessnetworkswherethenetworksare
interconnectedtothePublicSwitchedTelephoneNetwork(PSTN).
GroupCall:Thismethodofvoicecommunicationsprovidescommunicationsfrom
onetomanymembersofagroupandisofvitalimportancetothepublicsafety
community.
TalkerIdentification:Thisprovidestheabilityforausertoidentifywhoisspeakingat
anygiventimeandcouldbeequatedtocallerIDavailableonmostcommercial
cellularsystemstoday.
EmergencyAlerting:Thisindicatesthatauserhasencounteredalifethreatening
conditionandrequiresaccesstothesystemimmediatelyandis,therefore,giventhe
highestlevelorpriority.
AudioQuality:Thisisavitalingredientformissioncriticalvoice.ThelistenerMUST
beabletounderstandwithoutrepetition,andcanidentifythespeaker,candetect
stressinaspeakersvoice,andbeabletohearbackgroundsoundsaswellwithout
interferingwiththeprimevoicecommunications.

Eachofthesecomponents,whichmakeuptherequirementsformissioncriticalvoice,is
essential.Inordertobeabletoprovidemissioncriticalvoiceoveranytypeofnetworkthe
definitionforeachoftheseelementsmustbefullyunderstood.Thebalanceofthepaper

MissionCriticalVoiceDefinitionforPublicSafetyPage2

discusseseachoftheseareasingreaterdetailandprovidesadefinitionofeachofthe
elements.Itis,however,importanttounderstandthatforanetworktofullysupportpublic
safetymissioncriticalvoicecommunicationseachandeveryoneoftheseelementsmust
addresspartoftheoverallvoicecommunicationsservicessupportedbythenetwork.A
networkcannotbeamissioncriticalnetworkwithoutalloftheseelements.

DirectorTalkAround
DirectModeisanadhocformofradiocommunicationsinwhichboththetransmitterand
thereceiveroperatewithoutsupportfrominfrastructure.Userscannottalkandlisten
simultaneously,andonlyoneusercantalkatanyonetime,whilemultipleotherusersinthe
arealisten.Thismodeisessentialtopublicsafetyoperationsasitallowspublicsafetyusers
tocommunicatewitheachotheroutsidetheexistingpublicsafetycommunicationsnetwork
coveragearea.

Publicsafetyuserstypicallychoosethismodetosupporttacticaloperationswithinlimited
operationalareas.Asthesecommunicationsdonotrelyonanyexistingnetwork
infrastructure,itisimportantthattherangeofusabilityforUserEquipment(UE)inthis
modebeestablishedandspecificrequirementsdeveloped.Publicsafetyuserswillconsider
rangeofusabilitywhenevaluatingtheuseofDirect/TalkAroundmode.

AtypicalexampleoftheDirect/TalkAroundmodewouldbeaFireDepartmentunit
respondingtoawildfireoutsidethenetworkcoverageareaoratastructure.Intheformer
example,thefirefightersradioswouldnolongerhaveaccesstoanetworkrepeateror
trunkedradiobasestation,andthereforetheywouldnotbeabletocommunicateontheir
networkchannel.Thelatterexampleofastructurefirewouldallowpersonnelto
communicatewithinthestructuretocoordinatetheiractionswhennetworkaccessispoor
ornonexistent.ByswitchingtheirradiostoDirect/TalkAroundmode,thefirefighters
wouldnowbeabletocommunicateinsimplexmode,radiotoradio;however,theywould
havenocontacttootherusersonthenetwork.Oncetheyleavethesceneorexitthe
buildingandreturntonetworkcoverage,thefirefighterswouldswitchtheirradiosfrom
Direct/TalkAroundmodebacktothenetworkchannelandresumenormaloperation.

AnexampleofanupgradedDirect/TalkAroundcapabilitywouldprovidetheability,atthe
systemlevel,toenablearadiotoautomaticallyswitchtoapredefinedDirect/TalkAround
channelwhenitdetectsthatitnolongerhasaconnectiontothenetwork.Anaudibleor
visualalertwouldlettheuserknowthattheyarenowoutofthecoverageareaandonthe
Direct/TalkAroundchannel.Whentheradioreturnstothenetwork,itwouldthen
automaticallyswitchbacktothelastchannelortalkgroupitwasonbeforeleavingthe
network.Thiswouldbeafeaturethatthenetworkadministratorcouldeitherenableor
disablebasedupontheagencyspolicies.

PushtoTalk(PTT)VoiceSystems
MissioncriticalPushtoTalk(PTT)voicesystemsutilizedbypublicsafetypersonnelallow
themtoselectivelyandsequentiallytransmitmessagestooneanother,eitheronaoneto

MissionCriticalVoiceDefinitionforPublicSafetyPage3

oneoronetomanybasis.

ThesequenceofeventsfornormalPTToperationisasfollows:Auserwishingtospeakona
particularvoicepathlistenstothatvoicepath,andwhennooneelseisspeaking,theuser
pressesabuttoneitherontheradioitselforonaremotecontroldevice.Theuserdevice
maycommunicatechannelgrantordenialstatustotheuserviavisualand/oraudiocues.
Whentheuserisfinishedspeaking,hereleasesthePTTbutton,whichplacestheradiointhe
listenmode.Thisactionmakesthevoicepathavailablesothatanotheruseronthesame
voicepathmayspeak.Often,thesystemprovidestheidentityofthespeakertolistenersvia
adigitaldisplay.

Usesformissioncriticalvoiceincludebutarenotlimitedto:
Announcingincidentstorespondingagenciesorindividuals;
Requestingand/orassigningresourcestoevents;
Declaringanemergencyandrequestingassistancebyfieldunits;
Announcingorupdatingincident,unit,oragencystatus;and
Coordinatingresponsesandactivities.

FullDuplexVoiceSystems
PublicsafetypersonneloftenswitchbetweenhalfduplexmissioncriticalPTTsystemsand
fullduplexwirelessvoicesystems(usuallycellular),whichareinterconnectedtothePublic
SwitchedTelephoneNetwork(PSTN.)

Whenusingafullduplex1voicesystem,onceaconversationbegins,thevoicepathremains
openforallpartiestocommunicatesimultaneously,withoutregardtowhetheranotheruser
iscurrentlyspeaking.Multipleuserscantalkandlistenatthesametime,meaningtheycan
talkoveroneanother.Avoicecallisendedwhenallusersfinishtheirconversationby
terminatingthecallontheirsubscriberdevices.Publicsafetyusersincreasinglyrelyon
cellularstylevoicesystemsinmissioncriticalsituationstocommunicatewithpartiesoutside
theirownPTTsystems,includingcitizenswithemergencies,languagetranslationservices,
andotheroutsideagenciesprovidingservicetoanincidentorevent.Evenwithinan
individualresponderagency,fullduplexconversationscarrydetailedormorefluid
conversationsthanareeasilyachievableinhalfduplexPTTsystems.

Manyusersassumefullduplexcellularstyleconversationscannotbemonitoredusing
scannersandareusuallynotrecorded.Inreality,althoughalmostallfullduplexcommercial
wirelessnetworksemploydigitalmodulationandmaybedifficulttomonitor,theyarenot
trulysecurecommunications,sincetheyarenotencrypted.

1Simplex(orhalfduplex)communicationsmeansonlycommunicatinginonedirectionatatimebetween
twoormoreparticipants,wherefullduplexmeanssimultaneousbidirectionalcommunicationsamongst
twoormoreparticipants.

MissionCriticalVoiceDefinitionforPublicSafetyPage4

Ideally,bothhalfduplexPTTsystemsandfullduplexvoicesystemsusedbypublicsafety
agenciesshouldprovideamethodforensuringvoiceprivacyifdesiredbysystem
implementers.Insuchsystems,voiceprivacyshouldbeassignedtoavoicepathoruser
selectablevoicepathpriortothestartoftheconversation.

GroupCall
Groupcallprovidesonetomanycommunicationbetweenmembersofatalkgroup.Theuser
maymanuallycontrolhis/herparticipationinatalkgroupbyselectingaspecifictalkgroupof
interest.Talkgroupmembershipmayalsobeinfrastructuredrivenwhereexistingtalkgroups
arepatchedtogethertoformanewgroup.Inthiscase,thesystemmayoptionallyprovide
theabilitytodelaythestartofacalluntilalltherelevantmembersofatalkgroupareidle.
Talkgroups may consist of 10's or even 100's of users concentrated at a single location or
distributedoveralargegeographicarea.

Today, a group call employs half duplex voice, using an infrastructure component to limit
voiceconversationstoonetalkeratatime.Conferencecallswithnofloorarbitrationand
duplex voice calls are also possible but issues with intelligibility may arise when multiple
simultaneous talkers are mixed together. In addition, many users employ encryption to
protecttheirvoicecommunicationsfrombeingintercepted.

Formissioncriticalapplications,usershaveanexpectationof"immediate"communication
withtheirdispatchorcommandcenterandlittletonoendtoendaudiodelays.Inorderto
provide a predictable and consistent experience, spectrum and other resources must be
acquiredforalltalkgroupmembers(oracriticalsubset)beforepermissiontotalkisgranted
by the system. If resources are not available at the start of a call, a call request may be
granted,denied,ortemporarilybusieddependingonresourceavailabilityandsystempolicy.
Thismayrequirethatotheractivetalkgroupcallsbepreemptedtofreeupresourcesdueto
emergency conditions or other priorities. There is also the expectation that once a call is
granted, the resources will continue to be available until the call is ended and a call back
timerexpires.

Ascanfeatureprovidestheabilitytomonitorseveralconventionalchannelsand/ortrunked
talkgroups, including talkgroups associated with other systems, without having to change
modes on the subscriber unit. The scan feature typically supports primary and secondary
prioritymodes.

Talkgroupsmayalsohavedatafeaturesdirectedtowardsthegroupmembers.Thesemay
includeidentificationofthecurrenttalkeraswellasalarms,status,messages,andalerts.

Mobileradios,portableradios,andwiredconsolesareusedfortalkgroupcommunications.
MobileandportableradiosnormallyhavespecializedcontrolsforPTTandgroupselectionas
well as a microphone and speaker. Portable radios often have external speaker
microphones optimized for radio operation on the users belt or in another location away
fromtheuser'shead.Wiredconsolestypicallysupportmultiplesimultaneouscalls,aswellas

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theabilitytopatchandotherwisemanagetalkgroups.Consolesmayalsobeconfiguredto
prioritizetheirtransmitaudioovertalkgroupmembersinthefieldequippedwithportableor
mobileradios2.

TalkerIdentification
Talker identification is considered a mission critical voice feature. Talker identification
providestheabilityforausertoidentifywhoisspeakinggiveninformationprovidedtothe
listenerthroughthedevice.Thisinformationmaybecomprisedofalphanumericcharacters
and/ormaycontaintheUEIDand/oranycustomizedcharacterstringdesignatedbypublic
safetyusersforagivenUE.

EmergencyAlerting
Emergencycallalertingandactivationindicatesthatauserhasencounteredalife
threateningconditionandrequiresaccesstothesystemorasystem'stalkgroup
immediately.Thismayrequirethatanotheruserortalkgroupmemberbeinstantlyremoved
fromthesystemorsystemtalkgroup.Thisfeaturehasthehighestlevelofpriorityandis
referredtoasruthlesspreemption.Activationoftheemergencyalertistypicallyachieved
bymomentarilydepressingabuttononthesubscriberunitordevicesattachedtothe
subscriberunitsuchasalapelmicrophone,wirelesstether,orotherdevice.Theemergency
functionistypicallydeactivatedeitherbyresettingtheactivationbuttononthesubscriber
unitorbyaconsoleoperatormonitoringthetalkgroup.Uponactivationoftheemergency
feature,thesubscriberunittransmitsitslocationinstandardcoordinates(e.g.,NAD83,
NMEA0183,etc.)totheconsoleoperatormonitoringthetalkgroup.Inaddition,the
subscriberunitmaytransmitotherdatasuchasvideoortelemetry.

Onceactivated,todaysemergencyalertingfunctionalertsmembersofatalkgroup(or
multipletalkgroups)tothepresenceofalifethreateningemergencybytheactivationof
audioandvisualcuessuchasanemergencytoneandtextorothervisualindicators.Ifthe
subscriberunitissetforvibratoralerting,theaudioemergencyalarmoverridesthevibrating
notification,alertingotherusersoftheemergencycondition.

Themicrophoneofthesubscriberunitdeclaringanemergencyiscapableoftransmitting
voiceand/ordataforapredeterminednumberofsecondswithouttheuserdepressinga
pushtotalkbutton.Thisfeatureissometimesreferredtoasa"hotmike."Insuchcases,the
dispatchconsoleoperatorshallhavetheabilityofoverridingtheopenorhotmicrophoneof
theuserdeclaringtheemergencyandcommunicatewithmembersofthetalkgroup(s)in
whichtheemergencyhasbeendeclared.Theactivationofanemergency,aswellasalldata
relatedtotheactivatedemergency,shallberecordedinthesystem'soperatinglogof
systemeventsandconditions.

Ifamemberofatalkgroupistransmittingvoiceand/ortextduringthetimeinwhichan

2AsindicatedintheExecutiveSummary,thecurrentdayexamplesforgroupcommunicationsarenot
meanttobeconstrainingforfutureneeds,butsimplyincludedtoprovideadditionalcontext.

MissionCriticalVoiceDefinitionforPublicSafetyPage6

emergency(onthattalkgroup)isdeclared,themicrophoneoftheusernottransmittingthe
emergencyshallbeinstantlydisabledandimmediatelyreturnedtoreceivemode,making
theuserawareoftheemergencyinprogress.

Theemergencyalertfeatureshallnotrequireregistration.Thisfeatureenablesthesystem
toacceptanemergencyalarmfromauserindistresspriortoregistrationand/or
authenticationwiththetargetsystem.TheUEthenproceedswiththenormalregistration
and/orauthenticationprocedure.Thesystemoperatorhastheabilitytodisablethisfeature
ifemergencyalertsbyunregisteredorunauthenticatedsubscriberunitsarenotdesired.

AudioQuality
Thetransmitterandreceiveraudioqualitymustbesuchthat,inorderofimportance:
1.Thelistenercanunderstandwhatisbeingsaidwithoutrepetition.
2.Thelistenercanidentifythespeaker(assumingfamiliaritywiththespeakersvoice).
3.Thelistenercandetectstressinthespeakersvoice,ifpresent.
4.Thebackgroundenvironmentaudioshallbesufficientlycleartothelistenerthatsounds
suchassirensandbabiescryingcanbedetermined.

Conclusion
AsnotedintheExecutiveSummary,eachofthesecomponents,whichmakeupthe
requirementsformissioncriticalvoice,isessential.Inordertobeabletoprovidemission
criticalvoiceoveranytypeofnetworkthedefinitionforeachoftheseelementsmustbe
fullyunderstood.Itisimportanttounderstandthatforanetworktofullysupportpublic
safetymissioncriticalvoicecommunicationseachandeveryoneoftheseelementsmust
addresspartoftheoverallvoicecommunicationsservicessupportedbythenetwork.A
networkcannotbeamissioncriticalnetworkwithoutalloftheseelements.

NPSTCisafederationoforganizationswhosemissionistoimprovepublicsafetycommunications
andinteroperabilitythroughcollaborativeleadership.

ThememberorganizationsoftheNationalPublicSafetyTelecommunicationsCouncilaregrateful
totheDepartmentofHomelandSecuritysScienceandTechnologyDirectorate,Officefor
InteroperabilityandCompatibility(OIC)andOfficeofEmergencyCommunications(OEC)
fortheirsupporttothisvolunteerpublicsafetyorganization.

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