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As an indication of the times, residents who live around Waterloo, Iowa can now text their 911 calls to the 911-call center.
This represents the first county in the United States to go online with this type of addition to the traditional enhanced 911.
To those who have a robust understanding of the 911 system, apologies in advance for the simplistic explanation that follows.
As 911 first entered the public square, it was merely a number that linked a caller to a specific call center. It was universal and easy for anyone, anywhere to know what number he or she could call in times of trouble. One of the shortcomings of this original system was that a caller might not necessarily know where they are at the time of the emergency. The caller’s inability to report an accurate location to the 911-call center was immediately identified as a problem needing correction.
Within a decade, enhanced 911 was brought to the market place as the prevalence and performance of computers increased. Most 911-call centers in the United States are operating with the E911 system. The benefit of this system is any landline that is used has an address that corresponds with the phone from which the 911 call is placed. Essentially every phone number in the US has a special unique identification number with the phone company. This unique identifier is tied to an address, and this information, when the line is used to call 911 is sent to the call center. Stated another way, it is a “super” caller ID.
During the 1990’s cellular phone providers and manufacturers were required to begin building towers and phones with the capabilities of reporting a location when a 911 call is placed. The problems that have been experienced in this advancement are related to the technology.
Landlines are located within a specific geographic location, and thus can be easily directed to the closest response agency and call center. Cellular phones are essentially very complicated two-way radios. This mobility translates into a confusion of sorts as to who answers the call, and where the caller maybe in relation to the 911 call center. The federal requirement, in an effort to deal with the confusion, was to establish regional or countywide call centers just for cellular calls. The reason for the cellular call center is due to the need for an additional step of contacting the correct jurisdiction. The county may have a dozen communities within it, and each may have their own police, fire and EMS response. The county takes the cellular 911 call, gets the information from the caller, and any location information, and then transfers the call to the appropriate jurisdiction. This may sound complicated, but once call centers are established and operating for a time, they become quite efficient.
Now for the current technology, and it is considerably different from simple cell towers and moving phones.
Texting moves from the mobile device to the cell tower. From there, it moves through the provider’s network to whatever server they are using, in any number of states. It is directed then to the intended receiver, in whatever state or location via the cell tower.
Due to the multi-state nature of texting and instant messaging, the ability to accurately direct and transmit the message to the appropriate 911-call center can be immense. Texting does not necessarily carry all of the location information of a traditional 911 phone call. Texting simply looks for the tower where the mobile device has the strongest signal. Cellular 911 uses triangulation, as required by the Federal Communication Commission, pulling location from three cell towers.
The technological challenges in text 911 still need to be worked out. Now that there is a system, up and running in the United States, look for more areas to move further into the technology.
Currently, T-Mobile subscribers in the Waterloo, IA area are the only ones that can utilize this service. Again, as the system is used, and the bugs are worked out, look for additional carriers to participate.
The system, as reported, allows an individual to text their message to 911, and then receives follow up texts from the 911-call center for additional information. One of the immediate follow up texts that a texter will get is for location, or zip code.
As with any 911 call, remember to keep a simple script in mind. Know your location.
Stay fire safe, and thanks for reading.
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