Locate an Emergency Caller Using Wireless Phone

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

The U.S Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed rules to help emergency responders better locate wireless 911 callers. The proposed rule changes stem partly from Americans’ increasing use of wireless phones, especially from indoors.

Reports quoted by Government Security News indicate that 73 per cent of 911 calls in California are made from wireless phones and that about 80 per cent of all smartphone use occurs indoors, according to the FCC.

The commission’s current Enhanced 911 (E911) rules, first introduced in 1996 and last updated in 2010, require wireless providers to automatically transmit location information to 911 call centers, but only apply to outdoor calls. The proposed rules would focus on indoor environments such as large multi-story buildings, where “first responders are often unable to determine the floor or even the building where the 911 call originated.”

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The proposed changes would require wireless carriers to provide horizontal location information within 50 meters for 67 percent of calls from indoor locations within two years. In five years that would apply to 80 percent of calls. A caller’s vertical location would also have to be provided within three meters for 67 percent of calls within three years and 80 percent of calls in five years.

Innovation and technology is developing to make it easier to locate devices from indoors, according to the FCC. Such a system does not currently exist in Israel and experts say that it should be made widely available to emergency services.