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911 Cell Phone Question

One of my pregnant friends was asking about cell phones and 911 service as she is concerned about what would happen in an emergency especially once the baby has arrived. Her husband works for Ames PD and he said that 911 dispatchers cannot pinpoint an exact address from a cell phone call- only a general location. He said that the only way an exact location of a cell phone can be found is in the case of a missing person and the person has to have been reported missing for 24 hours. I was under the impression that if I were to dial 911 from my cell phone, even if I am unable to speak, my address would pop up and the dispatcher would be able to send assistance to my exact location. Is this not the case? My friend is considering getting a landline for this reason. December I think you asked a similar question awhile back but I can't seem to find it!
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Re: 911 Cell Phone Question

  • Wouldn't it depend on the police departments technology? I'm sure DSM has a decent GPS locating service that would make it so they'd be able to find you. Would this person not know their own address? I'm pretty sure if the preson were unable to speak, the dispatcher would ask general questions to get an idea of where they are and have them push a button/make a noise. Maybe I've seen too many cop shows/movies. lol
  • ss+elss+el member
    If there's even a disconnected landline connected to the house, she should still be able to call 911 from it. That being said, I'm not positive that 911 can pinpoint locations of calls made from these lines, but maybe her hubby can find out from his dispatch?
  • Well, their GPS cannot even find newer neighborhoods sometimes, sadly I fell into that, but I think they've got it now. There is a setting on a cell phone you can change...you need to turn your 'locate on' instead of having it on '911 only' I think...I know there is a setting that can be changed to help them locate you better.
  • imagess+el:
    If there's even a disconnected landline connected to the house, she should still be able to call 911 from it. That being said, I'm not positive that 911 can pinpoint locations of calls made from these lines, but maybe her hubby can find out from his dispatch?

    Has anyone tried this?  I've heard mixed reviews on whether it actually works.  I'd test it out but we don't even have a phone to plug in!

  • At least where my mom lives the disconnected landline doesn't work because you don't get a dial tone and therefore can't dial out at all.  She checked with her local sheriff's department and PD and they both told her the same thing.  
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  • imageVictoria6F:
    Wouldn't it depend on the police departments technology? I'm sure DSM has a decent GPS locating service that would make it so they'd be able to find you. Would this person not know their own address? I'm pretty sure if the preson were unable to speak, the dispatcher would ask general questions to get an idea of where they are and have them push a button/make a noise. Maybe I've seen too many cop shows/movies. lol

    Chances are she would be able to speak and tell the dispatcher her address but she was just playing the "what if" game and was worried that in the event that she wasn't able to speak, in shock, etc. would they be able to locate her via her cell phone. Does that make sense?

    I had never heard of being able to use a disconnected landline to call 911- has anyone had luck with this?

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  • As I understand it, cell phone calls are located by triangulating the signal from the nearest cell towers.  Emergency services can get a general idea (50-300 meters, I've read) where the cell phone caller is located -- but not an exact address like they can from a landline.

    The Polk County Sheriff's Office site says:

    If you are a cellular caller, your location will not be displayed for the dispatcher's reference. You must be able to describe your location so emergency units can respond. Be aware of your current city or town, address, highway and direction, nearby cross streets or interchanges, or other geographic points of reference.

    Some states (but fewer, as time goes by, I think) require that phone companies keep a "warm line" on landlines without paid service...but that varies from place to place -- and the duration of time they must keep the line active after canceling service also varies.  If there's not a dial tone when the phone is plugged in, then it probably doesn't have the capability to call 911. 

  • imageskh_emj_2009:

    As I understand it, cell phone calls are located by triangulating the signal from the nearest cell towers.  Emergency services can get a general idea (50-300 meters, I've read) where the cell phone caller is located -- but not an exact address like they can from a landline.

    The Polk County Sheriff's Office site says:

    If you are a cellular caller, your location will not be displayed for the dispatcher's reference. You must be able to describe your location so emergency units can respond. Be aware of your current city or town, address, highway and direction, nearby cross streets or interchanges, or other geographic points of reference.

    Some states (but fewer, as time goes by, I think) require that phone companies keep a "warm line" on landlines without paid service...but that varies from place to place -- and the duration of time they must keep the line active after canceling service also varies.  If there's not a dial tone when the phone is plugged in, then it probably doesn't have the capability to call 911. 

    This was my understanding.

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  • It doesn't work to call on a unused landline here, I've tried. :(  I wasn't sure who to call regarding getting 911 service with little or no cost on a landline phone.  You'd think that would be some sort of public service, you shoudln't have to sign a phone contract to have the ability to call 911 from your landline imo. 

    Do you think mediacomm would truthfully answer whether you can get it at little cost, or perhaps the police department would know if this was an option?

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  • imageAll-His:

    It doesn't work to call on a unused landline here, I've tried. :(  I wasn't sure who to call regarding getting 911 service with little or no cost on a landline phone.  You'd think that would be some sort of public service, you shoudln't have to sign a phone contract to have the ability to call 911 from your landline imo. 

    Do you think mediacomm would truthfully answer whether you can get it at little cost, or perhaps the police department would know if this was an option?

    I believe that in order to get the "warm line" (with 911 ability only), you have to go through the phone company (Qwest, Windstream, local utility), as they have powered circuits.  I don't think Mediacom has that ability. 

    While it sounds great as a public service, someone still has to pay for that line to be active and maintained, so I'm not sure how that would work.  I'd be interested to know more from someone who lives somewhere that provides this. 

  • I called and spoke to someone at the police department and they said that our only option would be to sign up for a regular land line service through Qwest or a smiliar company. The woman that I talked to said that there was no 911 option only that she was aware of but to contact the phone company to be sure. She also said what several of you have posted- calling 911 from a cell will show them your location withing a few hundred meters but not an exact address.
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