8.4 9-1-1 Databases: Service Orders, ALI & Routing Records, Number Portability & Database Management

8.4 9-1-1 Databases: Service Orders, ALI & Routing Records, Number Portability & Database Management

Quick Answer: Legacy E9-1-1 depends on a chain of databases. Service providers send Service Order Input (SOI) files to the 9-1-1 database management system provider (DBMSP), which validates each address against the MSAG, builds ALI records, and updates selective routing (SRDB) records that map each telephone number (TN) to an ESN. Providers use their own Street Address Guide (SAG) at order entry. Number portability, tracked in the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC), moves numbers between carriers and requires coordinated ALI updates. NG9-1-1 shifts much of this work to GIS-based validation and routing, LIS location, and Additional Data Repositories, while NIEM exchanges and third-party databases add context. The E9-1-1 database can be telco-hosted, self-maintained at the PSAP, stand-alone at the PSAP, or individually provided.

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1. Types of 9-1-1 Databases

The Street Address Guide and the MSAG

NENA's data standards for service providers and 9-1-1 jurisdictions (NENA-STA-059, the successor to NENA 02-011) describe how the DBMSP and each service provider supply their SAG at E9-1-1 conversion to help build an initial MSAG. The same standard warns that actual telephone customer records should not be used to create the MSAG, because the MSAG must reflect the jurisdiction's authoritative addresses. Customer records may help build a preliminary SAG, but TN records are not loaded until the jurisdiction approves the final MSAG.

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2. The Legacy Database Update Flow

[Customer Order] -> [Service Provider Order System (checks SAG)]
                               |
                               v
                     [SOI File to DBMSP]
                               |
                    MSAG validation passes?
                    /                     \
                  YES                      NO
                   |                        |
    [Build/Update ALI + SRDB Records]  [Fallout/Error Report to Provider]
                   |                        |
    [ALI Nodes & Selective Router]     [Provider Corrects and Resubmits]
                   |
    [PSAP ALI Display on 9-1-1 Calls] -> [PSAP ALI Discrepancy Report if wrong]

• Fallout (error) records are service orders that fail MSAG validation. The provider must correct them, or the customer has no valid ALI record.
• ALI discrepancy reports come from telecommunicators who see wrong information on a live call. The 9-1-1 database coordinator routes them to the responsible provider or addressing authority.
• Timeliness matters: A new line or a move is not safe for 9-1-1 until its ALI and routing records are current.

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3. Number Portability and 9-1-1

Local number portability lets customers keep their telephone number when changing carriers (wireline portability arrived in the late 1990s, and wireless portability in November 2003). The NPAC records the current provider for each ported number, and carriers query it to route calls.

For 9-1-1, porting requires two coordinated database actions: the old provider releases its ALI record for the number, and the new provider claims the record and updates it with its own information (NENA data standards define service order function codes for these steps). When either step fails, the PSAP may see the old carrier's data, stale address information, or "record not found."

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4. Relational Databases, Interfacing, and Data Streams

Relational Database Basics

• Tables store records in rows and fields in columns (for example, a TN table, an MSAG table, and an agency table).
• A primary key uniquely identifies each row (such as the TN), and a foreign key links tables (such as the ESN linking a TN record to agencies).
• Queries (typically in SQL) join tables to answer questions, such as which agencies respond to a given telephone number.
• Referential integrity rules prevent orphaned records, such as a TN assigned to an ESN that does not exist.

Interfacing and Data Streams

• ALI to CAD: The call handling equipment passes ANI/ALI data to CAD over a serial or IP data stream (often called an ALI "spill"), so incidents start with location already filled in.
• CAD to other systems: CAD exchanges data with records management, mobile data, NCIC and state systems, and other CADs through defined interfaces and web services (7.2).
• Data quality and security: Interfaces need validation, error handling, audit trails, and access controls, including CJIS requirements when criminal justice information is involved (9.2).

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5. Where the E9-1-1 Database Resides

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6. ESZ, ESN, and MSAG Development and Maintenance

1. Initial creation: Build ESZ boundaries with responding agencies, assign ESNs, and create MSAG ranges from authoritative addressing, using provider SAGs as a starting point.
2. Finalization: The jurisdiction reviews and approves the MSAG before TN records load.
3. Error correction: Work fallout and discrepancy reports promptly, fixing whichever source (MSAG or provider record) is wrong.
4. Maintenance: Update ranges and ESNs as addresses, annexations, and response areas change.
5. MSAG/GIS/ALI synchronization: Reconcile the three data sets; NENA 71-501 recommends at least a 98% match before relying on GIS (8.3).
6. NG9-1-1 database management: Shift to GIS data stewardship, Spatial Interface provisioning, and discrepancy reporting as NG9-1-1 replaces tabular routing.

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7. Operational Traps & ENP Exam Watch

• SOI vs. SAG vs. MSAG: SOI is the provider's service order update file, the SAG is the provider's internal address guide, and the MSAG is the jurisdiction's authoritative 9-1-1 address guide.
• Do Not Build the MSAG From Customer Records: Customer records can contain errors that would become "valid" if used to create the MSAG.
• Porting Needs Two Actions: The old provider must release the record and the new provider must claim it; a break in either step causes bad ALI.
• Third-Party Data Is Advisory: Supplemental databases add context but do not replace authoritative ALI or NG9-1-1 location.
• Location of the Database Drives Resilience: Telco-hosted, self-maintained, and stand-alone models fail in different ways, so COOP plans must match the model (Chapter 12).