To reduce the time from a citizen's call to the arrival of emergency services, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project "Unified Contact Center Platform for Supporting the Work of Emergency Services and the Delivery of Public Services" (the project) has been implemented. This project improves the processing of calls to the single emergency number 112, resource management, and information exchange between emergency services. Additionally, to inform and educate residents about the 112 number and how to act in various emergencies, a new application "112 Latvia" and the website www.112.lv have been developed.
"In the event of an accident, it is important to provide appropriate assistance as quickly as possible, therefore, after several years of work, a large-scale project has been completed that will reduce the time it takes for emergency services to come to the aid of those in distress. To achieve this, the receipt and processing of emergency reports will now take place on two levels," emphasizes M. Baltmanis, Head of the State Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). At the first level, the 112 Contact Center receives and processes all citizen reports – calls, eCalls, SMS messages about incidents – and evaluates these reports, as a result of which only emergency calls are forwarded to the relevant emergency services. At the second level, the resource management centers of the SFRS and the State Police electronically and simultaneously receive information about the incident, and they dispatch the necessary emergency service resources to the scene. "If previously a large proportion of calls received on the 112 number were redirected, and information about calls to other emergency services was provided by phone, then after the project implementation, call redirection and telephone information transfer will only occur for the Emergency Medical Service," adds M. Baltmanis.
One of the most significant benefits of the project for residents is that when calling the 112 number for events requiring only police involvement, residents are no longer redirected and do not have to repeat information, as the 112 dispatcher takes the information about what happened. If residents continue to call the 110 number, they will still be connected to the 112 contact center, which will receive information about the incident and pass this information on to the necessary emergency services and other institutions. Therefore, residents need to be aware that 112 dispatchers will not, at the request of residents, redirect calls to specific State Police and municipal police stations, but will instead find out where and what has happened and assess whether and which emergency services' involvement and to what extent is necessary.
To improve the processing of 112 calls and the management of emergency services, the Unified Contact Center Platform was developed and implemented within the project. As Āris Dzērvāns, Head of the Information Center of the Ministry of the Interior, emphasizes: "The Unified Contact Center Platform is a unique solution tailored to the needs of the SFRS and the State Police. Its development and implementation is a large-scale and complex undertaking that had not been carried out in Latvia before. The implementation of the Unified Contact Center Platform is a qualitatively new step in the development of emergency services. It marks the transition to a new technological platform and creates a logical and technological basis for the further digitalization of emergency response processes and information exchange between emergency services, as well as the automation of emergency service work management."
Guna Balakleine, representative of the technology solution developer SIA "Meditec," adds: "We would like to emphasize that this is the first project of such a scale in Latvia. Within the project, in cooperation with the emergency services, a platform has been created that receives calls, coordinates the execution of events, starting with work time and resource planning, and ending with reports and analytics."
Inform, receive, and learn – download and install the new "112 Latvia" application on your smartphone!
Every resident of Latvia who owns a smartphone is invited to download and use the new free "112 Latvia" application, which provides the user with several advantages – the ability to call or send an SMS to the single emergency number 112, receive notifications about potential threats, and learn how to act in various dangerous situations.
"Changes in the climate and security situation increase the likelihood of various threats. The past year clearly demonstrated this – the floods in Jēkabpils, devastating hail, storms. Consequently, a knowledgeable resident who is informed and able to act correctly to mitigate the consequences of a threat is increasingly important. Be one of the first to receive up-to-date weather warnings, information about serious threats or alarm siren tests, download and use the new "112 Latvia" application," urges M. Baltmanis.
Advantages of the "112 Latvia" application:
The user of the "112 Latvia" application will receive a notification on their smartphone screen about a potential threat, such as red or orange level warnings about dangerous weather conditions, alarm siren tests, and other events that require residents to be prepared to act if necessary or require immediate action. When calling the single emergency number 112 from the "112 Latvia" application, 112 dispatchers will see the approximate location of the caller. This will make it possible to provide assistance more quickly to those residents who cannot provide a precise address of the incident. For the dispatcher to see the person's location, it is necessary to allow the application to access the phone's location during installation or later. Sending an SMS to the 112 number is not an everyday solution for quickly alerting emergency services. It promotes the accessibility of 112 for people with speech and hearing impairments and people without a SIM card issued by Latvian mobile operators. In addition, in the "112 Latvia" application, residents will be able to find advice on how to act in various threats and learn about the latest news from emergency services. The "112 Latvia" application can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store. It is suitable for use on smartphones with iOS and Android operating systems. The application is free, but depending on the selected mobile communication connection tariff, charges for internet usage may apply.
Website www.112.lv – all emergency service safety tips, recommendations for action in emergencies, and news in one place.
To improve residents' knowledge about the single emergency number 112 and how to act in various emergencies, as well as to create an understanding of the cases when it is necessary to call the 112 number and when assistance will be provided by other institutions or businesses, the website www.112.lv has been launched. It compiles safety tips provided by Latvian emergency services for correct action in various threats in one place. In addition, warnings about potential threats and necessary actions will be promptly posted on the website.
"The idea of a single website where recommendations for various threats are published together is an old idea that we were able to implement within this ERDF project. With its help, we hope to promote residents' understanding of the situations when emergency service assistance is needed and when assistance is provided by other institutions and businesses, as well as knowledge about how to act in various threats," explains M. Baltmanis.
The project "Unified Contact Center Platform for Supporting the Work of Emergency Services and the Delivery of Public Services" under the European Regional Development Fund's operational program "Growth and Employment" 2.2.1. specific support objective "To ensure an increase in the re-use of public data and effective interaction between public administration and the private sector" 1 2.2.1.1. measure "Creation of centralized public administration ICT platforms, optimization and development of public administration processes" 2 was implemented in the period from August 25, 2018, to December 27, 2023.
Within the project, the concept of the unified contact center platform solution, technical specifications for information systems and infrastructure solutions were developed, servers, networks, and telephony solutions were modernized, the information system of the unified contact center platform, the website www.112.lv, and the "112 Latvia" iOS and Android applications were developed and put into operation, and the business processes of emergency services were modernized and adapted to work with the unified contact center platform. The most complex and complicated phase of the solution implementation – the implementation of the information system – took place gradually, starting with the use of the solution in less busy regions – Latgale and Vidzeme – and ending with Riga, where the number of emergency situation reports is the highest.
The total cost of the project amounted to EUR 5,000,000, including EUR 4,250,000 from the European Regional Development Fund and EUR 750,000 from the state budget. The developer of the information technology solutions was SIA "Meditec," while project management was provided by the Information Center of the Ministry of the Interior.
