FCC Mandates Text-to-911 From All US Wireless Carriers

An anonymous reader writes "On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to require all U.S. wireless carriers and popular messaging applications to support texting to emergency response units via 911. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile implemented this capability back in 2012; the FCC's vote will make it mandatory for all carriers that operate in the country as well as all messaging applications that interconnect with the SMS structure in the U.S. to follow suit. One technological hurdle this mandate faces is the difficulty of tracing "the exact physical origin of a text message, particularly in residences with multiple floors."" Somehow I doubt that cellphone calls are consistently traceable to that degree, either, and I've lived in houses with extensions spread over several floors, too.

text is easier to give addresses

[AndroSyn]

I think in some regards being able to send an SMS in an emergency, with important details like the exact address(including quadrant in cities like Washington DC). There are often cases in DC where they send an ambulance or something to the correct street address but the wrong quadrant and end up being 5 miles away from where they need to be.

Carriers aren't the weak point

[PvtVoid]

The problem is that local emergency infrastructure is incapable of handling the technology. Every call 911 from a cell phone, for example, in New York? You get sent to a centralized, state-wide call center, and the first thing they ask is: "What town are you in?" Then they manually route you to an emergency center nearby. They have no infrastructure to use the location info from your phone, despite the fact that it has been mandated in the cell phones themselves for many years. People have died because of this, but there is no funding to upgrade the system.

You can make the phones as high-tech as you wish, if you don't back it up with government funding for the corresponding infrastructure, it's completely useless.

Re:Great!

[Gavagai80]

What carrier changes you for 911 phone calls? You don't even need a SIM card to make a 911 call.