Providing routing information to an answering point of an emergency services network

A method of operating an emergency services network, the method comprising:

• receiving an emergency call in the emergency services network;
• performing one of a selective routing process and a trunk-only routing process to identify a primary answering point to handle the emergency call;
• determining whether the primary answering point is available to handle the emergency call;
• performing one of the selective routing process and the trunk-only routing process to identify an alternate answering point to handle the emergency call responsive to a determination that the primary answering point is not available to handle the emergency call;
• routing the emergency call to the alternate answering point;
• identifying alternate routing information indicating a reason for routing the emergency call to the alternate answering point instead of the primary answering point;
• and
• transmitting the alternate routing information to the alternate answering point.

An emergency call control system for handling emergency calls, the emergency call control system comprising:

• a packet network interface adapted to communicate over a packet network with a plurality of answering points;
• and
• a selective routing system adapted to receive an emergency call, to identify a primary answering point to handle the emergency call, and to determine whether the primary answering point is available to handle the emergency call;
• the selective routing system, responsive to a determination that the primary answering point is not available to handle the emergency call, is further adapted to identify an alternate answering point to handle the emergency call, to route the emergency call to the alternate answering point through the packet network interface over the packet network, to identify alternate routing information indicating a reason for routing the emergency call to the alternate answering point instead of the primary answering point, and to transmit the alternate routing information to the alternate answering point through the packet network interface over the packet network.

An emergency services network, comprising:

• a plurality of answering points;
• an emergency call control system;
• and
• a packet network connecting the emergency call control system to the plurality of answering points;
• the emergency call control system adapted to receive an emergency call, to identify a first answering point to handle the emergency call, and to determine whether the first answering point is available to handle the emergency call;
• the emergency call control system, responsive to a determination that the first answering point is not available to handle the emergency call, is further adapted to identify a second answering point to handle the emergency call, to route the emergency call to the second answering point over the packet network, to identify alternate routing information indicating a reason for routing the emergency call to the second answering point instead of the first answering point, and to transmit the alternate routing information to the second answering point over the packet network.

A method of operating an answering point for handling emergency calls, the method comprising:

• receiving an emergency call and alternate routing information over a packet network, wherein the alternate routing information indicates a reason for routing the emergency call to the answering point instead of another answering point;
• selecting a terminal in the answering point to handle the emergency call;
• routing the emergency call and the alternate routing information to the selected terminal;
• and
• processing, in the selected terminal, the alternate routing information to display the alternate routing information to a call taker.

A method of operating an emergency services network, the method comprising:

• receiving an emergency call in the emergency services network;
• performing one of a selective routing process and a trunk-only routing process to identify a primary answering point to handle the emergency call;
• routing the emergency call to the primary answering point;
• transferring the emergency call from the primary answering point to an alternate answering point;
• and
• transmitting transfer information from the primary answering point to the alternate answering point indicating that the emergency call was transferred from the primary answering point.