Time4aNAPPremium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL | reply to RARPSL
Re: Keep Local Important Numbers Handy said by RARPSL:Why is it so hard for the Phone Company to accept the dialed 911 and switch it to the local Police Number (just like dialing *xx will speed dial a number that I tell it to if I have Speed-Dial service)? The Phone company knows where my land-line is located and can set the Phone Switch in the CO to dial the appropriate number. That way even if the is no local 911 call center, dialing 911 will still route it correctly (ie: To the local Police emergency number that you are supposed to dial in the absence of 911 support). First of all, it's not the phone company's responsibility. With all of the bellyaching about VoIP providers, you might get that impression, but it's not true. (The special requirements placed on VoIP providers might be well-intentioned, or might be the result of lobbying by the ILECs to hurt the competition.) The fact of the matter is that all emergency services that can be dispatched from a 911 call are provided (or not--it's up to the voters) by local governmental agencies.
The mega-Bell ILECs, who own and operate all of the central office, tandem and some of the long distance equipment aren't interested in serving your community. They don't care whether you live or die. If you do die, they'll keep taking their money, or sue your estate.
They also aren't about to open themselves to any liability if they don't have to. As you can see from this thread, people aren't really picky when it comes to placing blame. So unless there's a contract, and that contract indemnifies them of any and all liability due to their failure to keep their end of the bargain, they're not doing it. The local governments are protected by statutory bans on suing government agencies.
There are also practical considerations. For example, your local police station might take a dim view on getting a flood of calls meant for the fire department and/or rescue squad. There's also the matter of jurisdiction. You and your neighbor might live on the same street, use the same post office (and 5-digit Zip Code), but you could be outside of the city limits. You know it, your neighbor knows it, but how does the phone company know it? Rarely does a telco central office cover the exact same territory as a local government does. As small towns' borders expand outward, residents who might have been equidistant from two or more municipalities back when phone service was first established might find themselves connected to one town's central office, while all of their new neighbors are connected to another's, just because it has a newer and more capacious switch.
The bottom line is that you either have a formal, federally funded 911 service, or you have a list of 7, 10 or 11-digit numbers to call. If you're smart, you still have those other numbers handy, because nothing is perfect.
I grew up in a small town that had its own police force, but couldn't afford a dispatcher and radio system of its own. So our police department was dispatched by the county. I live in an unincorporated area of that same county, and can recall 458-1000 just as fast as I can 911. The local fire department is another story. I could probably get the number of the firehouse somehow, but because they're dispatched by a regional network of overlapping dispatch cells, protocol dictates that they have to be dispatched from that system, so that every unit's location and status is known in case of a mutual aid call.
Most people don't bother to learn details like the above, using 911 as a crutch. And it is a fine crutch indeed, 99% of the time. That remaining 1% is up to you. |
