Technology for 911 System 'not Where It Needs To Be,' Officials Say
Since the inception of the 911 emergency call system in the 1960s, new technology, such as wireless and VoIP, has been accommodated, but the service is not where it needs to be, said David Furth, FCC deputy bureau chief-Public Safety…
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and Homeland Security Bureau, during the Diane Rehm Show on NPR Tuesday. Steve Souder, Fairfax County, Virginia, director-Department of 911, agreed, saying 911 has been solid as a rock, but infrastructure improvements are needed to accommodate the technology that is available to everyone in America with a smartphone -- photos, text messages, video. The biggest concern public safety officials have when someone calls is finding the caller if the call drops or the caller wasn't able to give an address, said Eddie Reyes, Alexandria, Virginia, police deputy chief. Because 98 percent of Americans think their location is easily determined on their wireless devices, they don’t think about Reyes’ concern. But the GPS can take a long time to kick in on someone’s cellphone and when a call is coming from inside a building the elevation is just as important as the address, Furth said. To upgrade the location services in mobile phones, the federal government is going to have to shoulder very little cost, said Richard Bennett, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Center for Internet Communications and Technology Policy. Instead, most of the cost will fall to the manufacturers and carriers, he said.