Wireless Priority Service (WPS)

Pasted in with link version:

“Wireless Priority Service (WPS) is a priority calling capability that greatly increases the probability of call completion during a national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) event while using their cellular phone. To make a WPS call, the user must first have the WPS feature added to their cellular service. Once established, the caller can dial 272 plus the destination telephone number to place an emergency wireless call.

During emergencies cellular networks can experience congestion due to increased call volumes and/or damage to network facilities, severely curtailing the ability of national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) personnel to make emergency calls. With an increasing number of NS/EP personnel relying on cell phones while performing their emergency duties, the NCS developed Wireless Priority Service to provide priority for emergency calls made from cellular telephones.

Key Federal, State, local, and tribal government, and critical infrastructure personnel are eligible for Wireless Priority Service. Typical users are responsible for the command and control functions critical to management of and response to national security and emergency situations. Wireless Priority Service is an easy-to-use, add-on feature subscribed on a per-cell phone basis; no special phones are required.

Wireless Priority Service is implemented as software enhancements to cellular networks, and is being deployed by cellular service providers in their coverage areas throughout the United States.” (http://wps.ncs.gov/)

In our own words version by Jonathan Wu:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) [internal link to FCC page] established the Wireless Priority Service (WPS) on July 13, 2000 to give federal, state, and local national security and emergency personnel priority calling capabilities.  WPS ensures that the cellular phone user's call is completed during a national security and emergency prepaedness event.  As a selective service, WPS will only provided to executive leadership and policy makers, disaster response/military command and controlk, public health, safety, and law enfocement cammand, public services/utilites and public welfare, and disaster recovery personnel.

To make a priority call with WPS, registered users must have the WPS feature added to their cellular service.  This add-on feature is specific to individual cell phone that are under WPS enabled cellular networks.  As a reult, no special phones are required.  WPS cachieves its function by providing the cell phone with originating radio cahnnel priority, high probability of completion features, and terminating radio channel priority.

WPS's originating radio channel priority feature puts the use's cell phone first in line for the next available calling queue.  This si especially important when there are no available local radio access channels.  however, it is important to note that WPS users do no moopolize all available cellular resources by ending ongoing calls to allow their call to complete.  The high probability of completion feature assists in call completion after a radio access channel becomes available.  The WPS phones are marked with a unique "NS/EP" call marking y the cellular network switching equipment.  The telecommunication networks recognize this call marking and activate their High Probability of Completion features.  As a result, this feature will increase the probability of call completion should network blockage or congestion occur.  Lastly, the terminating radio channel priority features gives the cell phone receiving a call from a WPS phone priority access.  This is important should the receiving cellphone receive many incoming calls from different sources.  However, it is important to note that the WPS phone will preempt cellular calls in progress or monopolize all available cellular resources.