Software uses existing vehicle information for better emergency responses

Creation date: 05 March 2009

The deployment of the in-vehicle emergency call (eCall) is a priority both for the industry and the public sector. In cases where a vehicle is involved in an accident, an eCall can be initiated automatically or manually, and a Minimum Set of Data (MSD) containing vehicle specific and high accuracy location information will be passed to the Public Service Answering Points (PSAPs).Using this MSD information, the emergency services agency receiving the call can accurately locate the accident and provide more rapid assistance to accident victims, and consequently save more lives.

Included in the MSD data set is the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). VINs are used to uniquely identity motor vehicles. The PSAPs need a VIN decoder to extract the relevant information included in the VIN such as: vehicle brand, model, model year, and type of energy (when included). Due to privacy regulations, the decoder shall provide only the information strictly necessary to handle the emergency in an appropriate way.

It is important that the VIN decoder is able to extract this information rapidly and correctly enabling the PSAP operator to respond immediately to the emergency call with all the necessary data. To achieve this, the decoder must recognise the structure and coding of each vehicle manufacturer VIN.

A VIN decoder software was developed by Connexis and tested successfully against VIN information from 20 OEMs. Connexis also provided a set of recommendations to ensure that the VIN database is kept up to date. 

The best maintenance scheme has still to be decided and agreed between OEMs and PSAPs. The support of the OEMs in the maintenance process is vital to the successful deployment of the decoder, thus strengthening cooperation is of utmost important.