wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
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| reply to SilverSurfer
Re: Dumb
said by SilverSurfer  :said by wifi4milez :said by major marco :Yes, nine one one works beautifully during ordinary circumstances. However, the nanosecond there is any kind of natural disturbance, my cell phone service quits working and I'm shit outta luck with emergency services. What you are describing has nothing to do with E911. E911 was designed to allow emergency operators to locate a phone that dials 911 so they know where to send the first responders. What happened in your case was that when the EQ hit a few hundred thousand (maybe even over a million) people started dialing on their cell phones, and the towers and "cellular" networks got overloaded. E911 wont fix that issue, and realistically there is no way of fixing that issue. I'm not convinced E911 is strictly about locating First Responders. This paper elaborates and fully discusses the issue much better than "Kathyrn V"'s analysis above. Registration is free as is the paper itself. Thats an incorrect assessment. E911 is used for one purpose, and one purpose only. It's sole purpose is to locate callers (geographically) so that first responders can find them in the event that they are incapacitated and can not speak or otherwise communicate with the operator. When dialing from a landline, E911 communicates the callers address to the nearest PSAP (public safety answering point. This allows the dispatcher to visually see what kinds of first responders are in closest proximity to the caller, and to subsequently dispatch them. Wireless E911 on the other hand, works a little differently. Given that you are calling from a mobile phone, that number (obviously) isnt tied to a physical address. In this case it is done using one (or more) forms of radiolocation to pinpoint the user. It has been a federal requirement that all handsets produced in recent years allow for radiolocation, most commonly in the form of GPS. Contrary to what most people believe, almost all newer phones have a GPS receiver in them just for this purpose (and no, you cant hack it to give you directions!). If the phone doesnt have GPS, the PSAP can triangulate your location based on the AoA (angle of arrival) that they determine when comparing the signal (to you) from at least two different cell towers. The other common method of locating a caller using E911 is TDOA (time difference of arrival). This method basically figures out your location based on the time it takes your phone to communicate with nearby towers.
The bottom line is that its pretty crazy how accurate E911 is, and most people dont even realize they can/are/will be tracked (and located) if they dial 911 from their cell phone!
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If history teaches us anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly.
-Ronald Reagan-
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