WA State 511 September 26, 20071 Washington State 511.

WA State 511 September 26, 2007 1

Washington State 511Washington State 511


511 - Introduction

• US Department of Transportation Petitioned the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) for N11 for travel information (April 1999)

• FCC selected and approved 511 (July 2000)

• 5 year implementation period, with FCC review (could lose 511 if…)


N11 codes - 8 available(there will never be an area code using N11) • 011 - not available, for switching & routing • 111 - not available, for switching & routing • 211 - social services referral (FCC, 2000)• 311 - non-emergency calls (FCC, 1997) Sea• 411 - not assigned nationally by FCC,

but used for directory assistance• 511 - travel information (FCC, 2000)


N11 codes - continued

• 611 - not assigned nationally by FCC, but used by some phone company repair offices

• 711 - access to Telecommunications Relay Services (FCC, 1997), operational in WA

• 811 - underground utility locate services (call before you dig) (FCC, 2005) Live 07

• 911 - emergency calls to police/fire (set by national law in 1999)


511 - Background511 - Background

• Washington State population 6,488,000 (OFM April 1, 2007 estimate)

• Fixed phone service market share in Washington– 50% Qwest (formerly US West)

– 25% Verizon (formerly GTE)

– 25% Various smaller phone companies

• Fixed phone service regulated by WUTC• Cell companies not regulated by WUTC


9 Cell Phone Companies9 Cell Phone Companies

– Qwest Wireless– Sprint (includes Nextel)– AT&T Wireless (includes Cingular)– T-Mobile (formerly VoiceStream)– Verizon Wireless– U.S. Cellular– CellularOne– Inland Cellular– Rural Cellular Corporation


CenturyTel, Com-Tech Systems, IncComcast Digital Phone (formerly AT&T), Echelon TelecomElectric LightwaveEllensburg Telephone Company, Hood Canal Telephone Company, IncInland Telephone Company, Integra Telecom, Midvale TelephoneNorthwest Telephone, Inc, Pend Oreille Telephone CompanyQwest Communications (formerly U.S. West)Rainier Connect, Mashell Telecom, Local Access Communications

DBA: The Rainier GroupSmartStop, Inc, Sprint LTD, St John TelephoneTDS Telecom, Time Warner, Toledo Telephone Company, IncVerizon NW (formerly GTE), Whidbey Telephone CompanyWahkiakum West Telco, XO Communications, Ycom Networks

27 Land Line Phone Cos.27 Land Line Phone Cos.


Legacy and Predicted DemandLegacy and Predicted Demand

• Legacy Numbers: 387,000 calls/month

800-84FERRY, 888-808-7977, 206-464-6400, 800-695-7623 (ROAD), 206-368-4499 (DOT-HIWY), 800-419-9085 (Hood Canal Bridge), and others.

• Predicted for 511: 541,800 calls/month

• Peak month: 421,600 calls Jan 06 (snow)


511 – Middle Ground511 – Middle Ground

• Initially used voice-responsive system– Safety concerns

• Multi-phase:– Phase 1, bare-bones (48 ports)– Phase 1B, more capacity (96 ports)– Phase 2, ultimate plan (now at 192 ports), as of

March 2007. System appears robust, so far.


2004

• Touch tone capability added


2006 Upgrade

• Increased ports to 192

• Direct connection to WSF

• Redundant system with WSF

• Upgraded speech recognition software

• Increase refresh rate

• Caller ID

• Amber alert


Usage

• Summer = 40,000 calls per month

• Winter = 450,000 calls per month

• Total calls (2007) = 1.58 million

• 7 millionth call = August 2008

Calls to 5-1-1- Travel Information Cumulative Call Volume July 2003 to June 2007

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

1 Millionth Call

2 Millionth Call

3 Millionth Call

4 Millionth Call


Application OverviewApplication Overview

• The 511 System serves as a portal to a variety of Washington travel-related information systems. Later phases of system deployment may include information from surrounding states and provinces. (Direct connection to Oregon began Nov 04). Idaho and BC not yet.



• The main dialog prompts the caller for the information they are seeking (and since Nov 04, a touch-tone option). They are asked to select from the following in the voice-only area (reduced selection in touch-tone):– Real-time traffic for the central Puget Sound area – Roadway conditions and construction information – Mountain passes (road restrictions and weather)– Ferry Information (direct link, anyway)– Other {express lane status, public transit (phone numbers only),

passenger rail (phone numbers only), airline information (phone numbers only), adjacent states and provinces (phone numbers only)}.



• Weather information for any city in stateDial 511 from any phone

Say, “Weather.”

Say any city name

Hear current and forecast weather

Based on location coordinates and UW weather information feed


Public Acceptance

• Customer survey in 2005– 649 participants

• Usability testing – 6 participants


Survey Results

• Information from 511 used to change travel plans

• Users generally satisfied

• Voice recognition needs improvement

• More statewide information

• Likely to use the system again (87%)


Current IssuesCurrent Issues

• Private branch exchanges (PBXs) may need to be programmed to allow a 511 call to gain access to the public switched network.

• External Marketing: PSAs, VMSs, HARs, 60 fixed signs statewide, brochures, fridge magnets, message on existing toll-free line.

• Internal marketing


Lesson LearnedLesson Learned

• Voice-only doesn’t work with cell phones all the time because of background noise. Why? Cell phone microphones are designed to pick up a large radius of sound, since the microphone is not placed directly in front of the mouth. This means any background noises are also picked up. It is hard for voice recognition software to separate the voice and the background. So touch-tone capability was added.


Lesson Learned

• WSDOT’s approach was to own or lease equipment and operate system in-house– Total deployment cost = $1.4 million– O & M costs (07-09 biennium) = $724,000

• Other state DOTs chose to lease service– Low initial cost– Fee per call


Benefits to TravelersBenefits to Travelers

• Cell phone users have access to subset of information on Internet

• Ferry system changes

• ADA information for disabled travelers

• 511 can be almost “hands free”

• Real time traffic information (Seattle now, VAST in future?-get detection installed)

23WA State 511 September 26, 2007

511 Deployment Status= 511 Operational (“Live”)as of September 4, 2007

D.C.

Accessible by 44.4% of Population

Accessible by 65% of Population in 2008

= Expected “Live” in 2008Accessible by 44.4% of Population


Future Plans/Issues

• One-stop-shop for all travel information– Transit, trains, airlines, etc.

• Level of integration– Local, statewide, regional, national


Homework

• Case 1 Technologies– Bluetooth– RFID– RFID + LPI/R– LPR– Good to Go tags– GPS units


Homework

• Case 2 technologies– GPS– Cell phones

WA State 511 September 26, 20071 Washington State 511.

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