The Last Mile

As aid begins to flow in Haiti there has been interest in the ability of social network systems to remain operational,to some degree, while the more traditional networks have failed in the devastation. Besides services like Twitter, and to a certain extent SMS, allowed brief messages in and out, use of  Skype has also been evident particularly by news outlets. The ability of the IP based internet to survive is in part based upon its ability to automatically formulate new routing paths when the flow of data packets are interrupted. A weakness in the chain however is the connection between the wide area network and the user, a section often referred to as the Last (or First) Mile (or Kilometer to the metric amongst us!). When designing PSAP infrastructure, attention has to be given to secure this link by having separately diverse paths between the center and outside world. As centers move towards NG911 this will become increasing important. For larger centers, it shouldn’t be a problem as the costs will be in proportion to the total investment in the center’s infrastructure. But what about smaller PSAPs with one, maybe 2 full time positions? As we all know from the rise of overseas call centers, IP technology makes the location of the call center in relation to the caller irrelevant.  Sure, there is little likelihood of 9-1-1 calls being answered in Asia, but the time when consolidated PSAPs that are located on a regional basis must be getting closer.

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