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Comments on news posted 2009-08-18 12:07:36: Verizon, Qwest and AT&T got a little help with landline sales today courtesy of USAToday, who penned a piece exploring how 911 services don't always play nicely with wireless phone service. ..
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 | | 911 The last time I called 911, three guys stopped in the middle ofmy block, dragged a fourth guy out of the back of their pickup, and started beating the shit out of him, taking turns while the others held him up. When I got 911, they asked me to go out there and see if the guys had weapons, in case maybe it was just a gang beating, in spite of it being a small college town 100+ miles from the nearest "gangs".
Ain't no quality of phone service is going to fix THAT problem. I think most of the problems have to do with local shortages of money, and the various things done to cover that up. Some places can't pay to update their phone tech, some can't pay their dispatchers. | |
| | | No system is perfect I used to work for a Motorola two-way radio shop, with a majority of the customers being public safety and law enforcement. I'm no expert, but I've got above-average knowledge of dispatch centers.
First off, the GPS in cellphones just isn't always perfectly accurate. When you consider the fact that GPS satellites orbit over 12,000 miles above the earth, 300m is pretty accurate. Also, cell phones are designed to grab the best signal possible. If you're near the edge of some territory, it's possible that the best tower might be in the next territory over, not the one you're actually in. Even though you're technically in County A, your call is entering the phone system in County B, and gets routed to their dispatch center. That's the price you pay for better coverage.
Also, landlines are not perfect. Like phone directories, it's just a database of corresponding phone numbers and addresses. It's very possible to have mistakes in these lists. A coworker from the radio shop made it a point to call 911 from every new place he lived. He would verify that they had the correct address come up for his call, just in case something were to happen in the future. Better to find out that 911 has the wrong address while you're moving than while you're lying on the floor bleeding.
As for newer technology, the VoIP system we have at work requires us to update a person's location each time they move. Unfortunately, we have some single networks that span multiple buildings, so it's possible to take your phone across the street and have it work, but when you call 911 they'll show up to the wrong building.
It should be just as easy to have cell phones show the home address on the account the same way a landline shows an address. Obviously that won't be useful all the time (and could actually add confusion in rare cases), but it could help. Using the example in the article, showing the home/billing address of the cellphone probably would've avoided the misunderstanding about which street it was on. It might sound like "62 Wells", but if "602 Wales" came up for the dispatcher, they would probably get the right address. If nothing else, the dispatcher could clarify by asking if she was calling from home, which only requires a simple "yes" response. The confusion would come when you really are calling from 62 Wells rather than your home at 602 Wales.
The more advanced technology gets and the more we depend on it, the bigger the problems when the technology doesn't work properly. Switching from a manual process to an electronic one at work greatly increased productivity, but everything grinds to a complete halt when the network goes down... | |
|  W8ASATieng gi vay?
join:2000-07-31
Dayton, OH
 ·AT&T Midwest
| 911 Service Doesn't Always Work A couple years ago, I was driving behind a woman in an SUV, who was weaving from one shoulder to the other on a two-lane road. She had kids in the car... I could see the car seats. Once, she crested a hill ON THE WRONG SIDE! Had their been a car coming the other way, there would have been a terrible tragedy. This continued until I decided she presented a clear danger to her children.
I called 911 on my T-Mobile cell phone, and was routed to the 911 call center in another county!! The 911 operator was not at all interested in my little emergency. I asked to be re-routed to my county, and he said he couldn't do that. Then, I asked for the non-emergency phone number of my local police department, and he said he couldn't give it to me.... soooo..... I have no idea what happened to that "probably drunk or high" woman and her kids.
A letter to that 911 call center, with a copy to T-Mobile, was never answered.
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Microwave and RF Components at www.ohiomicrowave.com | |
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