The Secret Life of 999 | Michael Kelly BT

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED

Engineers are primed to think on their feet and solve problems in record times, but dealing with the weight of a whole country’s emergency call service requires lightning approaches and a ‘nothing is impossible’ attitude.

Today we dive into the world of the most important telecommunications operation in the country, the Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS). We learn how the service operates in ways people may never consider and the contingency plans that help it weather any storm, or pandemic.

Our expert guest has been at the cutting edge of data and communications in Ireland since the introduction of the internet and is now Head of Operations with ECAS, Michael Kelly.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

• How Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) operates
• Problem solving in an industry with 99.999% uptime
• Adapting to weather and pandemic phenomena
• Lessons learned from introducing the internet to Ireland
• Why we shouldn’t fear AI and start seeing it as an asset

GUEST DETAILS

Michael Kelly is the Head of Operations at the Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS). Michael has extensive experience in the telecommunications industry including his role with PostGEM where he helped introduce the public internet during the late 80s/early 90s. He has also served as Director of the Internet Services Provider Association of Ireland until he joined BT as their Head of Engineering Planning & Design. Since 2012, he has been Head of Operations for the 112/999 Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS).

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kelly-a5312810/

QUOTES

It's like that old adage about the 747, in the air, we're changing the engines without landing the plane. There's never a good time for us to do maintenance. So therefore we're constantly working on the system round the clock and making sure that our change control is absolutely state of the art engineering so that, even if we do make a mistake, we can roll back without anybody realizing that there was ever a problem in the first place. - Michael Kelly

What I can say is because of our engineers, and one in particular, I think we were probably the first country to identify what the problem was. - Michael Kelly

While it's stressful at the time, and you think ‘how are we going to solve this problem?’ Nothing is impossible, if you set your mind to it. And that genuinely is our mantra, it has to be that way. We can't just give up. - Michael Kelly

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

KEYWORDS

#telecommunications #engineers #internet #datacentres #emergencyservices