E-Comm
Encyclopedia
E-Comm 9-1-1 is the Emergency Communications for Southwest British Columbia.
E-Comm provides 9-1-1
service for the Lower Mainland
region of southwest British Columbia
in Canada
covering Metro Vancouver (which stretches from Lions Bay to Langley
), the Sunshine Coast Regional District, south Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and the Whistler
Howe Sound
area serving a population of more than two million residents.
E-Comm owns and operates the Wide-Area Radio System used by police agencies, most fire departments and the British Columbia Ambulance Service
in Greater Vancouver.
E-Comm provides dispatch service for 11 police departments and 19 fire departments.
In spring of 1994, hockey-fever captured British Columbia as the Vancouver Canucks
advanced to the Stanley Cup finals
. They lost Game 7 and as fans took to the streets to lament the team's loss, so did many troublemakers. The Vancouver Police were forced to call in the Crowd Control Unit and request back up from the neighbouring Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) detachments in an effort to disperse the out-of-control crowd. In the midst of the chaos, the Vancouver Police radio system was unable to handle the amount of radio traffic and paramedics, firefighters and police found themselves in danger because their radio systems were not compatible with each other.
Following the Stanley Cup riot
, the provincial government began planning for an organization that will consolidate all emergency radio and phone services to allow information sharing between agencies and members.
E-Comm was established under the Emergency Communications Corporations Act in 1997. As a cost-recovery business corporation, it is owned by stakeeholders made up of all the agencies that use its service, which include municipalities, police boards, provincial and federal government agencies, and crown corporations.
. The E-Comm building is a post-disaster facility, meaning designed to resist a major earthquake.
In order to make the E-Comm building a post-disaster facility, special attention has been paid to the mechanical, electrical, structural and communication systems to ensure they are highly reliable, fault tolerant and resistant to hazard. The building is a reinforced concrete structure with shatter-proof glass.
Backup support systems that lend to the building's self-sufficiency include communication, mechanical plants, emergency power generation, uninterruptible power sources
, emergency water, and emergency food storage.
The City of Vancouver's Office of Emergency Management and Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), Vancouver Emergency Community Telecommunications Organization (VECTOR), and Vancouver Emergency Social Services
(ESS) are also located inside the E-Comm building.
made up of 18 members nominated by the shareholders.
Day to day operation is managed by the President & CEO of E-Comm.
Shareholders include:
The reduction in phone calls made to E-Comm was partially due to public education/outreach in reminding citizens that cell phones can make 9-1-1 calls without the user knowing it (pocket dialing
) and teaching parents to educate children on the use of 9-1-1 service.
E-Comm provides 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
service for the Lower Mainland
Lower Mainland
The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...
region of southwest British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
covering Metro Vancouver (which stretches from Lions Bay to Langley
Langley, British Columbia (district municipality)
The Township of Langley is a district municipality immediately east of the City of Surrey in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It extends south from the Fraser River to the U.S. border, and west of the City of Abbotsford...
), the Sunshine Coast Regional District, south Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and the Whistler
Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...
Howe Sound
Howe Sound
Howe Sound is a roughly triangular sound, actually a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver.-Geography:Howe Sound's mouth at the Strait of Georgia is situated between West Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast. The sound is triangular shaped, open on its southeast towards the...
area serving a population of more than two million residents.
E-Comm owns and operates the Wide-Area Radio System used by police agencies, most fire departments and the British Columbia Ambulance Service
British Columbia Ambulance Service
The British Columbia Ambulance Service is the sole ambulance service and provider of pre-hospital emergency care in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It operates under the Emergency and Health Services Commission and the Provincial Health Services Authority, and is tasked with the...
in Greater Vancouver.
E-Comm provides dispatch service for 11 police departments and 19 fire departments.
History
The concept of consolidating emergency communications in southwest British Columbia began in the early 1990s following a series of international disasters.In spring of 1994, hockey-fever captured British Columbia as the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
advanced to the Stanley Cup finals
1994 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1994 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven playoff series contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League...
. They lost Game 7 and as fans took to the streets to lament the team's loss, so did many troublemakers. The Vancouver Police were forced to call in the Crowd Control Unit and request back up from the neighbouring Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP) detachments in an effort to disperse the out-of-control crowd. In the midst of the chaos, the Vancouver Police radio system was unable to handle the amount of radio traffic and paramedics, firefighters and police found themselves in danger because their radio systems were not compatible with each other.
Following the Stanley Cup riot
1994 stanley cup riot
The 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot occurred in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on the evening of June 14, 1994 and continued into the following morning...
, the provincial government began planning for an organization that will consolidate all emergency radio and phone services to allow information sharing between agencies and members.
E-Comm was established under the Emergency Communications Corporations Act in 1997. As a cost-recovery business corporation, it is owned by stakeeholders made up of all the agencies that use its service, which include municipalities, police boards, provincial and federal government agencies, and crown corporations.
The E-Comm Facility
E-Comm is located at 3301 East Pender Street, across from Pacific National ExhibitionPacific National Exhibition
The Pacific National Exhibition is a non profit organization which hosts an annual 17-day summer fair, seasonal amusement park, and arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It usually begins in mid-to-late August, and ends in early September, usually Labour Day.-History:The exhibition has been...
. The E-Comm building is a post-disaster facility, meaning designed to resist a major earthquake.
In order to make the E-Comm building a post-disaster facility, special attention has been paid to the mechanical, electrical, structural and communication systems to ensure they are highly reliable, fault tolerant and resistant to hazard. The building is a reinforced concrete structure with shatter-proof glass.
Backup support systems that lend to the building's self-sufficiency include communication, mechanical plants, emergency power generation, uninterruptible power sources
Uninterruptible power supply
An uninterruptible power supply, also uninterruptible power source, UPS or battery/flywheel backup, is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source, typically mains power, fails...
, emergency water, and emergency food storage.
The City of Vancouver's Office of Emergency Management and Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), Vancouver Emergency Community Telecommunications Organization (VECTOR), and Vancouver Emergency Social Services
Emergency Social Services
Emergency Social Services now becoming Emergency Support Services is a component of the Provincial Emergency Program of the Province of British Columbia. ESS are those services required to preserve the well-being of people affected by an emergency or disaster...
(ESS) are also located inside the E-Comm building.
Governance and shareholders
E-Comm is managed by a Board of DirectorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
made up of 18 members nominated by the shareholders.
Day to day operation is managed by the President & CEO of E-Comm.
Shareholders include:
- British Columbia Ambulance ServiceBritish Columbia Ambulance ServiceThe British Columbia Ambulance Service is the sole ambulance service and provider of pre-hospital emergency care in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It operates under the Emergency and Health Services Commission and the Provincial Health Services Authority, and is tasked with the...
- Coquitlam
- DeltaDelta, British ColumbiaDelta is a district municipality in British Columbia, and forms part of Metro Vancouver. Located south of Richmond, it is bordered by the Fraser River to the north, the United States to the south and the city of Surrey to the east...
- South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service
- Maple RidgeMaple Ridge, British ColumbiaMaple Ridge is a District Municipality in British Columbia, located in the northeastern section of Metro Vancouver. Maple Ridge has a population of approximately 68,949.-History:...
- New Westminster
- City of North Vancouver
- District of North Vancouver
- Pitt Meadows
- Port Coquitlam
- Port Moody
- RichmondRichmond, British ColumbiaRichmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
- SurreySurrey, British ColumbiaSurrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
- Township of Langley
- VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
- Village of BelcarraBelcarra, British ColumbiaSee also Belcarra, County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland.Belcarra is a village on the shore of Indian Arm, a side inlet of Burrard Inlet, and is part of Metro Vancouver. It lies northwest of Port Moody and immediately east of the Deep Cove area of North Vancouver, across the waters of Indian Arm...
- West Vancouver
- White RockWhite Rock, British ColumbiaWhite Rock is a city in British Columbia, Canada, that lies within the Metro Vancouver regional district. It borders Semiahmoo Bay and is surrounded on three sides by the City of Surrey, British Columbia. To the south lies the Semiahmoo First Nation, which is within the city limits of Surrey...
- RCMP is not a shareholder of E-Comm even though RCMP officers in BC are within the E-Comm radio network.
Statistics
- Year 2010, a total of 1,031,326 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
- Year 2009, a total of 1,024,137 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
- Year 2008, a total of 1,013,887 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
- Year 2007, a total of 1,037,852 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
- Year 2006, 1,089,771 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
- Year 2005, 1,248,521 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
- Year 2004, 1,258,824 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
- Year 2003, 1,252,903 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
- Year 2002, 1,200,930 911 calls were made to E-Comm.
The reduction in phone calls made to E-Comm was partially due to public education/outreach in reminding citizens that cell phones can make 9-1-1 calls without the user knowing it (pocket dialing
Pocket Dialing
Pocket dialing refers to the accidental placement of a phone call while a person's mobile phone in the dialer's pocket or handbag. The recipient of the call typically hears random background noise when they answer the phone...
) and teaching parents to educate children on the use of 9-1-1 service.
Levies
E-Comm has an annual budget of $50 million, collected through the municipalities that use E-Comm’s service. This includes the "Radio Levy" (based on radios issued and traffic), the "Dispatch Levy" (based on allocation of human resources to take the call and dispatch officers) and the "9-1-1 Levy" for Metro Vancouver region that is collected through property taxes.See also
- List of emergency organizations in British Columbia
- List of law enforcement agencies in British Columbia
- Provincial Emergency ProgramProvincial Emergency ProgramThe Provincial Emergency Program is a division of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Emergency Management British Columbia, Canada. PEP works with local governments and other provincial and federal agencies year round, providing coordination and support before, during and after...
- Emergency Social ServicesEmergency Social ServicesEmergency Social Services now becoming Emergency Support Services is a component of the Provincial Emergency Program of the Province of British Columbia. ESS are those services required to preserve the well-being of people affected by an emergency or disaster...