OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Lots of people assume that if they call 911, dispatchers will know their locations without having to say anything -- but that's not true for about half of cell callers.
Gannett Wisconsin Media and USA Today have checked records for emergency calls -- and many from cell phones only tell the dispatcher where the nearest cell tower is. Some provide no information at all.
That's because the 911 system is built for land-lines, and it relies on relay data for cell callers. If you need help and you can't speak for some reason, the dispatcher might have to make digital requests for locations. That can take valuable seconds when lives are at stake -- and it doesn't always work.
Gary Bell of the Association of Public Safety Communications' Officers estimates that about half of 911 cell calls don't give accurate locations. An official of Winnebago County's public safety unit says the same thing.
Bell says the best way to get a caller's location is for the caller to provide it -- and for now, technology should only be a tool.
Federal rules require 40 percent of 911 calls to accurately transmit locations by 2017 -- and 80 percent by 2021. Federal officials and cell providers say it's not feasible for many improvements to happen sooner.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)