Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Biddle who wrote (32779)	2/24/2003 7:37:59 AM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196920

Tracing 911 calls By: MICHELLE MOWAD, Times Herald Staff February 24, 2003 ----- Want to know why e911 progress in PSAPs is so slow, compared even to the laggard carriers? See the bold paragraph below. ----- timesherald.com If you are one of the nearly 50 percent of callers dialing 911 for emergency fire, police or medical services in Montgomery County, dispatchers may not find you without your help. If you have been car-jacked or do not know the exact location or address of where the emergency has occurred, help may not be able to find you if you are calling from a wireless phone. The topic of wireless 911 has become very active because it affects such a wide variety of people: wireless carriers, public safety communication centers and the public at a local, state and national level. The Federal Communications Commission is seeking to improve the effectiveness and reliability of wireless 911 services by providing dispatchers with additional pertinent information about wireless callers. The FCC now requires all state emergency services be able to locate all 911 calls placed from a cell phone to within 100 yards as long as the cell phone is on and the caller's number is identified. The FCC calls this new service E911, with the "E" standing for enhanced. The E911 program is divided into two phases. Phase I requires carriers to report the telephone number of a wireless 911 caller and the location of the antenna that received the call. Phase II requires wireless carriers to provide a far more precise location information, within 50 to 100 meters. Phase II is to be complete by Dec. 31, 2005. When both phases have been integrated, any call made to 911 on either wireless or landline telephones anywhere in the nation will be able to be traced and located. Last year, slightly more than 49 percent, or 183,104 calls, were made to county 911 from wireless callers, according to Stephen Keeley, director of Montgomery County Emergency Dispatch Services. The county is not yet at Phase I capability because it can not receive the caller's wireless phone number at its call center in Eagleville. "It can tell me a 3-mile radius of the caller," said Keeley, explaining the technical workings of its current capabilities. "Obviously that is not good enough." Because of a system update approximately three years ago, Keeley estimated the cost to become Phase I compliant is between $40,000 and $50,000 for the county. Unfortunately, there is no real rush to comply, because once the county conforms to the regulations, it will have six months to start and accomplish Phase II, which is extremely costly. The Montgomery County Emergency Dispatch is waiting, like many other counties in southeastern Pennsylvania, for legislation and funding to upgrade to Phase I and II. "I can't even imagine what the cost would be," said Keeley. "It may be in the ballpark of $3 to $10 million." He said he would like to do Phase II tomorrow but there isn't the money. "Legislation needs to pass in Harrisburg to fund wireless 911," Keeley said. Until then, wireless callers run the risk of not being found.