Cellphones may not automatically provide address, says E-Comm

911 service operator E-Comm is warning cellphone users that knowing your location when making an emergency call is now more important than ever.

Of the more than 1.13 million emergency calls the communications centre has received so far in 2019, 74 per cent originated from a cellphone. Less than a quarter were made via landlines.

With an increase in use of mobile apps that show location in real-time, this has given the dangerous impression that the exact address or location of callers will be automatically provided to 911 call-takers. 

However, that's not the case, says E-Comm's director of public safety initiatives Ryan Lawson. 

“While calls from landlines give us a person’s exact whereabouts, information from cellphones is nowhere as precise. Because location is determined by cell tower triangulation, it’s generally narrowed down to within a block of where someone is calling. That’s helpful, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for our staff to work with callers to find out exactly where they are so first responders can get to them as fast as possible.”

New technology should improve this in the future, says Lawson. 

“In the coming years, we’ll see calls delivered to 911 with more precise location and additional information about the caller, the device being used and the location from which it is calling. This means call takers will spend less time trying to determine where the emergency is taking place and dispatchers will be able to make better decisions on what resources to dispatch and where. Until then, ‘What is your location?’ will always be the first question our staff ask.” 

— Laura Brookes, Castanet