NCJ Number
64998
Date Published
1974
Length
71 pages
Annotation
RESULTS ARE REPORTED FROM A SURVEY THAT INVESTIGATED THE STATUS, USEFULNESS, NEED FOR, AND STANDARDIZATION OF AURAL BREVITY CODES IN PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.
Abstract
FOLLOWING A SURVEY OF REPRESENTATIVE USERS OF PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS WAS PERFORMED BY SELECTED PROFESSIONALS, USING THEORETICAL STUDIES CONDUCTED BY A RESPECTED TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH ORGANIZATION. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY, AURAL BREVITY CODE IS DEFINED AS 'A PRESELECTED SET OF DISCREET WRITTEN SYMBOLS COMPOSED OF NUMBERS, LETTERS, WORDS, WORD PHRASES, OR COMBINATIONS, EACH OF WHICH, WHEN VERBALIZED, IDENTIFIES IN THE BRIEFEST PRACTICABLE TIME A PARTICULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM CONDITION OR AN AGENCY TACTICAL SITUATION.' FINDINGS SHOW THAT THE USE OF AURAL BREVITY COMMUNICATION RESULTS IN IMPROVED ACCURACY OF COMMUNICATIONS WITHIN AND BETWEEN SYSTEMS, A REDUCTION IN SYSTEM RESPONSE TIME, AN ENHANCEMENT OF SYSTEM DISCIPLINE, INCREASED PRIVACY, APPLICABILITY TO STANDARDIZATION OF NEWLY DEVELOPING AUTOMATIC SYSTEM KEYBOARD INDEXING, AND MORE EFFICIENT USE OF TRAINING TIME. OF THE THREE POSSIBLE CODE FORMATS--ALPHA, ALPHA-NUMERIC, AND PURELY NUMERIC-THE PURELY NUMERIC IS MOST SUITABLE. THERE IS ALSO NEED FOR A PHONETIC ALPHABET; THE CURRENTLY ACCEPTED INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET FULFILLS THIS NEED AND IS SUITABLE FOR PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICE USE. AN INCLUDED REVISED 10 SIGNAL AURAL BREVITY CODE IS RECOMMENDED TO ALL PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATONS PERSONNEL AS A BASIC NATIONAL STANDARD. A FURTHER STUDY SHOULD BE MADE OF THE BENEFITS WHICH MAY ACCRUE FROM THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARD CODES BY INDIVIDUAL RADIO SERVICE CATEGORIES WHICH WOULD BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE BASIC CODE RECOMMENDED IN THE REPORT. THE APPENDIXES CONTAIN MATERIALS RELATED TO THE STUDY METHODOLOGY, THE AURAL BREVITY CODE LIST, AND THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET. (RCB)