"911 do u hv an emrgncy" ???

[Pudge]

In a bid to bring the life-saving emergency service 911 into the 21st century, the FCC is looking at letting citizens report crimes through text messages and even stream video from their mobile phones to emergency centers.
Established as a national standard in 1968, 911 handles more than 230 million calls a year — 70 percent of which now come from mobile phones.
The last real overhaul of 911 by the FCC came in 2001, when mobile carriers were required to allow 911 to identify the location of callers either through GPS or cell-tower data. In the middle of the decade, some internet telephony companies were also required to implement 911 calling that would route emergency calls to the appropriate local center — a non-trivial task given the mobility of laptops and equipment using voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP).
But the 911 system still can’t handle text messages, multimedia messages or streaming video, all of which could be very helpful to first responders. A system that could handle those messages would also allow people to report crimes without being overheard, which could be useful in situations ranging from kidnapping to seeing someone being robbed on the street.

More at the link.

FCC Updating 911 for the Texting Generation, SRSLY | Epicenter*| Wired.com







I can see the advantages to this, but I'm just not so sure. Mulling this one over a bit. Discuss.

[Willowdared]

I think the FCC needs to spend time in a Comm Center to see first hand the challenges 911 call-takers have dealing with cell 911 calls.

In California, 911 calls from cell phones were originally routed to CHP, and it's only been in the past few years that various agencies upgraded their systems to accept by nearest cell tower. Needless to say, we've experienced a big jump in call volume.

The location we get depends on the quality of the cell phone, and how many cell-towers are in the caller's area. We either get the address of the nearest tower, an approximate location based on a two-tower ping, or a triangulated location off three towers.

We already have a problem with people using 911 for non-emergencies, and with cell phones we have the additional problem of butt-dialing 911 calls, babies and children getting old cell phones to play with (but can still call 911) and pre-paid cell phones, which do not allow incoming calls.

From an officer safety stand point, the call-taker tries to interview a person to get as much information about the suspect, weapons, direction of travel. This information will not be in a text, and we will certainly have to make a call-back...not possible if it was a pre-paid cell.

As for video? I can just imagine the videos we will get from lost/unprepared hikers (a regular occurrence in our back-country) of anonymous tree-stands and rock formations with the expectation that we can find them.

[Second Chance]

I can see where the application could be useful, but will just tax the call takers even more than they already are........

[MacLean]

It's on the way here in King County, which already has phase 3 for cell phones.

You show up on a map if you have the phone capable of providing the data.

[Willowdared]

It's on the way here in King County, which already has phase 3 for cell phones.

You show up on a map if you have the phone capable of providing the data.

That's the key right there...we still get a lot of phase 1/phase 2 cell calls. And those pre-paid cells are strictly phase 1. Even phase 3 only gives an approximate location, so you could be calling from an apartment complex and officers may not find you.

We also have huge rural areas with limited cell service because there is no demand for cell towers and not enough customers to warrant installing them.

One of the other issues we have run into is hackers using clone cell phones. We call for subscriber info and find out the person with that cell number may even be in another state.

There is a great deal to be said for hearing the reporting person, and with swatting becoming an issue, not to mention the mentally ill with their elaborate reports of shootings, I think it's important to remember that just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done.

It's not just call-takers who will be affected by this...officers are going to be sent out on calls with limited details that will turn out to be paper calls because "I was just robbed!" is very often "someone took something out of my unlocked vehicle sometime in the last 3 days."

[MacLean]

That's the key right there...we still get a lot of phase 1/phase 2 cell calls. And those pre-paid cells are strictly phase 1. Even phase 3 only gives an approximate location, so you could be calling from an apartment complex and officers may not find you.

We also have huge rural areas with limited cell service because there is no demand for cell towers and not enough customers to warrant installing them.

One of the other issues we have run into is hackers using clone cell phones. We call for subscriber info and find out the person with that cell number may even be in another state.

There is a great deal to be said for hearing the reporting person, and with swatting becoming an issue, not to mention the mentally ill with their elaborate reports of shootings, I think it's important to remember that just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done.

It's not just call-takers who will be affected by this...officers are going to be sent out on calls with limited details that will turn out to be paper calls because "I was just robbed!" is very often "someone took something out of my unlocked vehicle sometime in the last 3 days."

We get phase 2 calls too.

The solution is pretty simple really, don't respond to them unless there is something said in the call that prompts it.

As you know, the "special relationship" only begins when you converse with a call receiver.

[gopherpuckfan]

I can haz amberlamps?

[Ducky]

If you have time to text something, you damn well have the time to call. If it's not important enough to rate a call, you don't need assistance.

[lewisipso]

Our 911 system of doing things is the most stupid thing we have in the chain of response. If things haven't changed in the last 24 hours this would just clog the transfer of information further.