Transitioning Norway’s healthcare telephony: From ISDN to packet-switched networks

The Health Services Operational Organization for Emergency Network HF (HDO) undertook a profound transition, shifting from an ISDN-based telephony infrastructure to state-of-the-art packet-switched networks, for PSAPs and emergency rooms. This imperative change was driven by Norway’s decision to sunset ISDN by the end of 2022. The transition was completed within a year, maintaining uninterrupted healthcare services for 113 (emergency number for emergency medical services) and 116117 (non-emergency number for medical information) throughout the process. The journey involved replacing 12,000 phone numbers and overhaul of infrastructure across 19 locations. To facilitate this change, three new network cores were meticulously constructed, ensuring that the healthcare sector was well-prepared to meet the demands of the future. While PSAPs continue to use ISDN-based control room solutions, preparations are underway to introduce new packet-switched systems, in compliance with NG112 standards. The network’s readiness for this transition is facilitated by the deployment of SIP to ISDN gateways, to seamlessly support existing solution and while being ready for new packet-switched solutions.

This webinar explores how this was done, experiences from the work, improvements, and how they now will move to an new PSAP solution, everything with no operational impact.