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911 Calling
“911” is the universal number to call for an emergency in the United States. Dialing this number will connect you to Police, Medical, and Fire emergency services. “911” was developed long before the cell phone. Back in the late 1960’s, miles and miles of telephone lines connected your house or business to the telephone company through switches. If you dialed “911”, your call would go through a “911 switch” and be routed to a Public Safety Answering Point (dispatch center). The dispatcher would then notify first responders to the emergency. By the year 2000, 99% of the United States had “911” service. But what happens when you’re driving down the road and you make a call on your mobile phone? Calls are no longer routed through telephone lines but over radio waves. How can a dispatcher pinpoint your location? A dilemma until the FCC adopted Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. By embedding a GPS chip into the software, dispatch centers now can get an idea of your location by triangulating or “pinging” cell towers. Not a perfect system, but as technology improves, so will “911” accessibility and reliability.
All of us have experienced “dropped” calls from time to time when reception is lost with the cell tower. Topography, such as mountains and canyons; buildings; rain; and other types of obstacles all influence your reception. Remember, your phone must be on and you also must have continuous service to dial “911”. |
