Emergency Communications: Wireless 911 (E-911)

Most people are comfortable with dialing 9-1-1 (1-1-2 in Europe) from their home or business phone, and expecting nearly instant results on their doorstep from emergency responders.   What is less clear to them and even seasoned government and business professionals is the level of technology infrastructure and operational processes required to provide these 911 services, but for most of them it doesn’t matter – it works, and that is all that matters.

Nearly all of them would be horrified to find out that dialing 9-1-1 from their cellular phone would likely give them far different results.  Emergency dispatchers today responding to wireless 911 calls cannot, for the vast majority of these calls, determine the caller’s current location, often jeopardizing response time and too often resulting in the victim not able to be found in time (see http://www.nena.org/Wireless911/Tragedies.htm for examples of these tragedies).

Already well over 150,000 911 calls a day are made by wireless callers according to CTIA, and that number will continue to grow rapidly as the number of cellular subscribers grows, as consumers discontinue their landline service exclusively in favor of the mobile phone, and in general the mobile phone becomes an integral part of most American’s everyday life.  This has enormous implications with respect to the design of our public safety system and overall how we approach homeland security, and how our federal, state, and local officials develop and implement policy and allocate funds.  Wall Street needs to understand how wireless 911 will be deployed, who the players are, and how allocated funds will flow and be utilized. For businesses, large and small, the increasing importance of wireless communications in many aspects of business infrastructure and everyday operations requires their leaders to take an active role in understanding the technologies are evolving.  E911 infrastructure being put in place has enormous potential to provide businesses new and exciting opportunities to improve their operations and develop new businesses.  Consumers need to understand the current limitations and direction of wireless 911 calls, and they and their advocates need to understand the potential implications on the protection, or lack thereof, of their private, personal information.