AT&T said Tuesday a new nationwide service will route 911 calls from its wireless subscribers to the closest 911 call center. AT&T is using the “Locate Before Route” feature from public safety services vendor Intrado. The feature relies on GPS data from either Android or Apple mobile devices to accurately identify where a 911 call is coming from.
With location-based routing, a device can be located and routed within 164 feet of the device location, according to the companies. Prior to this launch, wireless 911 calls were routed based on cell tower location, which can cover up to a 10-mile radius. This can cause delays in emergency response, especially when a call is made within 911 call centers in border areas where state, county or city boundaries overlap, note the companies.
“In today’s environment over 93 percent of the U.S. population have cell phones and rely on these for communications. It is critical that when they dial 911 the call routing is going into the closest dispatch center,” says Kim Zagaris, Retired Fire Chief, Western Fire Chief Association – Technology and Policy Advisor. “Taking away the transfer time of the past systems and [getting a] quicker response for emergency personal responding saves valuable time.”
No action is required by the consumer or the 911 call center to have this technology enabled. The technology will be rolled out nationwide over the next seven weeks. It’s available now in Snohomish County, Washington State, as well as in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Guam. Additional regions will be rolled out over the next several weeks. The rollout is scheduled to be completed by the end of June, according to AT&T.
911 Technology Overall
Looking at 911 technology on a larger scale, the system has struggled to advance at the speed of current technology. Congress intended to pass a $10 billion upgrade for next-generation 911 — to allow dispatch centers to receive texts and videos and more easily share data between them. But lawmakers ultimately slashed that money as part of a doomed attempt to advance the Build Back Better Act last year, Axios reported.
In 2018, the FCC solicited public comments on location-based routing of 911 calls, but didn’t adopt rules. In 2020, T-Mobile announced location-based routing of emergency calls, but its technology is not yet available nationwide.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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