[TELECOM] Wireless and 911

Today's (Sunday Aug 25) headline article in the Los Angeles Times "Cellphones swamping 911 system" is about the inevitable horrible overload of the wireless 911 system because it is, in effect, the "auto club" to the average dim bulb.

Because of this many calls to wireless 911 are being delayed or lost.

So much for having a wireless phone as your "home phone."

But, those of us who understand how this stuff works are wasting our breath trying to tell most people about real E911 and wireless 911.

I don't even trust Vonage to get it right; i.e., they are neither fish nor foul when it comes to 911.

This is one of about three reasons I keep a wireline appearance in my residence even though I have Vonage.

Reply to
Sam Spade
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Interesting.

One thing I do -- as a University of Georgia faculty member -- is make sure I know the direct line number to the Campus Police so that if something happens on campus, I can call them without going through the 911 system.

Reply to
mc

Could anyone comment on the following questions?

1) Is 911 now universal through the U.S., that is, does every US phone support at least some form of 911? 2) Originally 911 (from the 1960s) siezed the line and routed to an emergency center, but it did not provide any database display. Extended 911 did this and some other features. Does the entire US now have E911? 3) On new cell phones, there is supposedly a locator function so that the 911 dispatcher can tell where a cell phone call is located. I can't believe that's universal (the 911 center having the technology to do that) in the U.S., indeed, I suspect only a few places can do that.

Thanks.

Regarding campus emergency response, which has been in the news lately per VaTech, I think a simple thing like a central bell signal system and loudspeaker would be more effective to communicate instructions in an emergency than mass emails or cell phone messaging, and maybe cheaper, too. Buildings already have fire bells, use them in a coded sequence for different alerts, eg, stay in class, air raid, disperse, etc.

Poor communication is blamed for VaTech, but I think when something like that happens--which is totally an irrational and unpredictable act--there really isn't any effective defense at all. In other words, keeping people locked down inside may be more dangerous than dispersing them, or vice-versa. No one could know in such a situation the right answer. I don't think anyone could say--as critics are doing--what VaTech could've done better or differently in response to the shootings. I know family members are very upset, but it doesn't change anything.

I hate to say, but situations like this are unavoidable. Thank goodness they're extremely rare. There are lots of very unstable troubled people out there, but very, very few actually go do what this guy did. Many incidents were totally unexpected.

Colleges are implementing all sorts of high tech measures in response and I can't help but wonder if its overdone. (Same thing with high schools after Columbine). Sometimes our cures are worse than the disease.

[public replies please]

P.S. I used to have a client at an office complex that had, surprisingly, no security at all. You'd park and walk right in. (Recently they fenced their grounds and have a guard challenge you.) There was a nice feeling of informality about the old way that I miss these days, needing to show my ID card everywhere I go bothers me.

Reply to
hancock4

Makes sense: not everything that "happens" is an emergency.

Also, old 911 list a university as the main entrance address! Fat lot of help that would be in an emergency. Experienced E911 operators know the number of the Campus Police by heart, I'll betcha!

So, my question is, does E911 these days list more detailed addresses within a campus?

Reply to
Rick Merrill

It can. It depends on whether or not the campus switch network has been upgraded to suport E911 (multiple ANIs) and has made use of that feature. There are also several companies that make add-on products that add that capability to older switches. Approximately 1/3 of the states mandate that campuses locate emergency calls fairly close to the origin.

David

Reply to
Eagle

I'll bet after V.Tech 100% of the states will mandate multiple ANI!

Reply to
Rick Merrill

Depends on the campus phone system. If the campus phone system just hands the call off on an analogue trunk, there's no way for the E911 system to tell where it comes from in any more detail than the switch room at the college.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

That is why our local sheriff publishes both a 10 digit emergency number and a 10 digit non-emergency number.

***** Moderator's Note *****

What's the schedule for implementing 311? It was supposed to be the universal "non emergency" number.

Bill Horne Temporary Moderator

Reply to
B

B wrote: ....

AFIK, it is 'approved' but not mandatory:

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Reply to
Rick Merrill

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