[TELECOM] Re: Emergency call boxes still in use article

If you can't get dial-tone at the local C.O. you can't call _anywhere_
> If you can't get get a trunk out of the C.O. you can't call remote. > If there's no free trunk _into_ the 911 center, you can't call _them_.

Ok, given that, how do suburban areas today, which have enormous population growth, deal with such issues? Those areas never had fire call boxes.

And what about the many cities that have removed their callboxes?

I can't help but wonder that the huge decline in price of electronic equipment has enabled the basic landline phonecos to have far more spare capacity than it once did. Years ago it was simply too expensive to waste trunks and switchgear, no longer. (Same reason a $500 PC today is many times more powerful than a $2,000 PC of 25 years ago). Thus, I think the occurences of no dial tone or lack of trunks would be extremely rare today.

Having a 911 center overwhelmed with incoming calls is another story.

You simply "don't know what you don't know."

I routinely -- as in several times a week -- encounter 'unable to complete your call' intercept messages and/or fast busy.

Not getting immediate dial-tone _is_ rarer today. Attributable in part to _fewer_ residences per exchange (more multi-line residences). when "sh*t happens" you're not going to have three separate people in the same house picking up separate lines and all calling 911 -- nor all making calls to see if grandma is ok.

'digit decoders' have gotten cheaper, it's easier to justify higher ratios per exchange.

Trunks, on the other hand, are still relatively "expensive". and always will be. Before you consider things like '3-way' calling, that can tie up more trunks than premise lines.