Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that in recent years has shown promise for public safety communications. However, both public safety and industry hold varying perceptions about VoIP’s most effective applications as well as its reliability. These perceptions have led to misunderstanding and misinformation between the two communities on VoIP’s potential.
To try to clarify the varying perceptions of and requirements for VoIP’s role in public safety communications, the Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Office of Law Enforcement Standards (NIST/OLES)brought together key stakeholders from both the industry and the public safety communities for a series of roundtable discussions.
The initial roundtable was held August 22, 2006 in Washington, DC. Participants began discussions of standards for VoIP in public safety communications. A second roundtable, held February 20-23, 2007, advanced the discussions further by addressing implementation profile development for VoIP environments in public safety. Implementation profiles refer to the minimum set of standards parameters and values necessary to ensure interoperability in any given environment.