Interesting article on developments with emergency calls. LINK:

https://blog.gao.gov/2018/03/1...m_source=govdelivery

Interesting. I wouldn't have thought their technology would be static for so long.

I think it would be immensely helpful if the act of dialing 911 from a smart phone then activated transmission of video from the cameras, continuous transmission of voice, and GPS location from the phone. In cases of active shooters this could provide a great deal of information, as well as calls for domestic violence, traffic accidents and even medical calls - a picture is often a much more useful tool than a simple description. Additionally, if the feeds could be held open even if the caller hangs up that could be useful. Of course the privacy issues would need to be worked out, but if it only began after someone dialed 911, I would think it could be reasonable.

If people knew how discombobulated the average 911 system is, they would be baffled.

After working fire/rescue/EMS/LE in 5 different counties since 2000, the most bassakwards tiny hick county did it the best, before it adapted the ‘big city’ ways.

Any improvement would be good.

having to call dispatch either emergency or via non-emergency numbers for work a lot, it does suck.

1. I'll call the local City Office and push 1 for police, and they can send an officer out to me or get one to call me. Only when they're open Mon-Thurs 8 to 5.

2. if they're not available, the non-emergency number sends me to the local dispatch - but they sometimes have to transfer me to city dispatch or I'm asked if I can hold. This is because only 2 or 3 of the 10 cities around here have their own dispatch, but not their own number for it and dispatch can get busy, i'm sure.

or 3. If I dial 911, it takes me to another dispatch that answers calls for several departments and sends them on over to that department's officers.

Typically, with options 2 and 3, I can't get a specific officer to call me back through here since these services can't see who is working or anything. they just take my call and forward it to the right PD. I just give a case number and hope the right officer calls me back or that the officer who calls me is somewhat familiar with the case report.

Obviously I don't know everything behind the scenes, but that's just what I gather from my calls. It probably has more to do with various cities and departments using various dispatch call centers and such than the aging system alone. But the tech upgrades may be to blame for some of the agencies using different dispatch systems as well - all about cost and such.

Damn; I was hoping for Porsche-porn.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
If people knew how discombobulated the average 911 system is, they would be baffled.

After working fire/rescue/EMS/LE in 5 different counties since 2000, the most bassakwards tiny hick county did it the best, before it adapted the ‘big city’ ways.

Any improvement would be good.

Preach it Brother! I've been dispatching for 11 years now and sometimes even I can't figure out how the damn system works.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
Damn; I was hoping for Porsche-porn.

That's what I thought.

Actually this is an E911 system. "E" is for enhanced. 911 gets you connected to the designated PSAP (Public Safety Access Point) while E911 does the same connecting plus passes on phone number and pertinent location information. The original E911 information came from the linesmen's files kept by the various local phone companies.

This article says nothing. The challenge of wireless 911 calling is to translate the device's perceived latitude and longitude to a physical premise address, intersection, or well known geographic point (mile post along a highway, a park, a lake, etc.). Once that is determined, the correct PSAP could be identified and the call, or emergency signal, is routed there. The PSAP's established protocol would now handle the RFS (Request for Service).

Various wireless phone service providers report latitude and longitude differently. All report what they think it is, but most are considerably different from one another. A fudge factor set of formulae would need to be created based upon provider as reported to a particular PSAP. Creating these fudge factors is a real bitch to create and takes continual fiddling with. You would be amazed how much off this information is among wireless providers.

I would imagine an "Emergency" button push would be handled similar to a 911 call hang up.

Me three

quote:

Originally posted by wbw:

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
Damn; I was hoping for Porsche-porn.

That's what I thought.

Right? What's with the ambiguous, click-bait thread titles?

I had an alarm company tech at the house one day for some maintenance and the tech accidentally caused the system to dial 911 and then hang up. I had two cops at my front door in less than 3 minutes. Being in a low crime area helps I’m sure. I imagine most major cities are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of calls - both legitimate and nonsensical. Technology may not be the answer to an overwhelmed system.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Interesting. I wouldn't have thought their technology would be static for so long.

Haven't read the article yet, but back in the day I worked for the largest manufacturer of 911 systems in the country. As a lot of the LEOs here know, public safety gets attention when something goes wrong, but most of the time government leaders tend to take public safety -- like 911 -- for granted; and are miserly with funding for anything, especially costly new technology.

In 1999, I was part of the group our management put together to visit and advise governmental entities (cities, counties, etc.) that their antiquated 911 systems were going to crash on Y2K.

Some of these folks were running technology that dated back to the 1950s. Of course, a lot of these cities and counties were rural, but not all of them. In fact one of them was one of the largest cities in the country.

I can still remember the Asst Chief of that City: "Do you mean to tell me that at midnight Dec. 31, the City of Los Xxxxxxx is going to be without a 911 system." Those were some pretty *interesting* meetings.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
If people knew how discombobulated the average 911 system is, they would be baffled.

Any improvement would be good.

Lol. We have a brand new regional center for the last two years. Started with four cities. Room for sixteen. It’s failing. It will just be our city by summer. No one else wants in and one has left. The other two are leaving.

The 9-1-1 Pings are not exact so we get a general idea. Have never gotten a good GPS unless I can call the person back and have them tell me their coordinates off their phone. Usually only works with crashes since they can sit there and talk. We were told people could text in emergencies. Hasn’t happened yet.

We would get a lot of calls from people trying to dial the exit code for come Carribean locations. Instead of 011 , they mistakenly dial 911. We didn't care if they stayed on the line. instead they hang up and refuse to pick up the return call requiring officers to be dispatched.