TTY Maintenance NENA Compliancy Challenge: TTY equipment must be maintained and tested at least as often as voice telephony equipment, to ensure that the equipment is operating properly (DOJTA). Where PSAPs have plans for using back-up equipment, in case of equipment or telephone line malfunction it must provide for TTY maintenance in that plan. To learn more about NENA’s TTY-PASS Program, click here. TTY-PASS is the first NENA TTY performance initiative of its kind to provide accurate, easy and quick assessments via a protected web site. At a convenient time, the call taker dials the TTY-PASS service number and receives predefined TTY test-tones. These tones are then decoded as text at the call taker position. The text is then submitted onto the TTY PASS web page for evaluation, where the total character error rate shall be assessed. To receive a passing score, the TTY must have a total character error rate of one percent or less. To ensure confidentiality of data, each registered PSAP can only access its own TTY records through a secure, login process. Please see an overview of the TTY-PASS process here. The Positron Approach With the goal of making emergency call center operations as easy as possible, Positron has developed a tool, called the Positron TTY-PASS Tool. This tool is an application designed to simplify the duties of PSAP managers who have chosen to participate in NENA’s TTY-PASS initiative. The Positron TTY-PASS Tool executable is a standard component on all Power 911 workstations making use of P911 4.21 SP5 or higher. For a TTY–PASS participating PSAP, each position shall follow the NENA defined TTY PASS procedure by initiating an outgoing test call to the defined TTY-PASS phone number. Once all positions have completed their TTY test calls, the supervisor may use the Positron TTY-PASS Tool to generate a comprehensive TTY test calls report covering all Power 911 positions, which have participated in test TTY calls. The report may be initiated from any machine that has access to the P911 database. The supervisor doesn't have to logon to individual agent positions. He/She may do it from his/her own position. This report lists the received TTY test spill on a per Power 911 call taking position basis, for a given time period. Once the report is generated, it can be saved onto a removable memory storage device. Then, accessing a machine that can connect to the Internet, the supervisor may retrieve the report and cut and paste each individual position’s received TTY test spill onto the TTY-PASS website. In order to receive an accurate character-by-character evaluation, it shall be key to paste exactly what is in the report onto the TTY-PASS website. According to Daniel Mignaut, the Positron Power 911 product manager, “Positron’s goal in providing the TTY-PASS Tool as a standard no charge feature within Power 911 was to proactively support PSAP maintenance operations. We always strive to simplify the duties of the men and women who regularly operate within demanding emergency call center environments. The TTY-PASS Tool adds to this central key mission statement, in the sense of providing a clear and easy method of reporting on individual TTY test call sessions.” Please see an overview of the TTY-PASS process here. Using the Positron TTY-PASS tool 1. Complete a TTY test call from any (or all) Power 911 workstation(s). 2. Wait at least a 5 minutes period after the call release for the Power 911 call data to be saved in the database. 3. Typically from a supervisor position, launch the Positron TTY_PASS Tool via the Start/Programs/Positron/TTY-PASS. 4. Specify the date interval to be covered by the report and click the button Generate Report. 5. If the supervisor position does not have an Internet connection save the report (txt) file on a media (diskette or USB Mass Storage Device). 6. From an administrative workstation, which has Internet access, open the saved report using a text editor (like Notepad). 7. Open an Internet Explorer session and logon to the TTY-PASS Web site. 8. For each of the completed Power 911 TTY test sessions, submit the corresponding TTY text string received during the test call. Ensure to take all (but only) characters comprised between (delimited by) the two dotted lines.