eCall expert meeting in Switzerland

Date: 09 December 2005

The eCall expert meeting in Olten, Switzerland on 2 December 2005 focused on two main areas: the status of the different sub-working groups and the progress regarding eCall implementation by the different Member States (including; Italy, Finland, UK, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary and Lithuania). The meeting, hosted by ITS Switzerland, was chaired by Juhani Jaaskelainen, European Commission and Michael Nielsen, ERTICO Director of Development and Co-Chair of the DG eCall.

From left to right: Mr Jaaskelainen (European Commission) and Mr Nielsen (ERTICO)

60 eCall experts and interested parties attended the eCall expert meeting wanting to learn about the current status of eCall implementation. Presentations were made about the performance criteria for the eCall service, the PSAP requirements, requirements for the In-Vehicle System both from an OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) and supplier point of view and a report from ETSI_MSG, who has been assigned by the European Commission to standardise the transport protocol through the GSM/UTMS network.

Ten EU Member States and Switzerland were represented at the eCall expert meeting. All Countries showed interest in eCall but Spain raised a number of concerns that need to be taken into account when developing the In-Vehicle system. Their main concern is that a system similar to eCall has generated a large number of false calls in Spain. This point has been forwarded to the sub-working group looking at the requirements for the In-Vehicle System.

Other countries like Hungary and Lithuania are currently looking at upgrading their PSAP (Public Service Answering Point) system to the pan-European E112 and are open to expand the new system to also include eCall.

More than 60 people attended the meeting in Olten, Switzerland.

Finland is already well underway with the implementation of the eCall system at the PSAPs and has taken the exercise a step further by making an eCall impact study based on road accidents from 2001-2003. Part of the team in charge of this study included doctors that analysed the injuries from the accidents over the two-year period and evaluated what the impact of eCall could have been, if it were implemented.

All presentations and draft papers from the different sub-working groups can be downloaded here.

For more information please contact the eCall driving group at eCall@mail.ertico.com.