Land line vs cell phone problem?

[airotciv]

I was just informed by our 911 system that if I don't have a land line and have an emergency, that they can not find my address if I can not respond to the 911 person. Yes I still have a land line. Just was surprised that they can't go here. I have no clue if it is just my state or other states, just something to think about.

[Cabin Fever]

I would guess that you'd have to be in an area where you could get service from at least three cell towers in order for 911 to triangulate a reasonable position.

Most of us who live out in the boonies are lucky to have one cell tower close enough to get service.

[arabian knight]

Because cell phones use GPS to seek out the address. And if that is the case they would not find me either.
Anybody that puts my address in and uses gps, it shows I live 8 miles further out~! lol
So I will keep the Land Line. Besides if I drop my Land Line then My Internet costs will go up, as that is part of the "deal" from my phone company.

[Wags]

Some 911 centers are equipped with GPS tracking for cell phone calls - but most are not. One thing to know about cell phones - you can sometimes get enough of a signal to get a text message out when you can't get a call through. Knowing that has saved the lives of stranded boaters and mountain climbers.

With the 4G service that Verizon is currently rolling out nationwide you will soon be able to ditch the land line Internet service - as the 4G speeds will be better than majority of DSL (and cable) service.

[Bearfootfarm]

If you "can't respond" it's not too likely you will call

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by Wags

Some 911 centers are equipped with GPS tracking for cell phone calls - but most are not. One thing to know about cell phones - you can sometimes get enough of a signal to get a text message out when you can't get a call through. Knowing that has saved the lives of stranded boaters and mountain climbers.

With the 4G service that Verizon is currently rolling out nationwide you will soon be able to ditch the land line Internet service - as the 4G speeds will be better than majority of DSL (and cable) service.

Yes that is correct but read my post above. Just because it is a GPS is not a guarantee they can find you.

[Wisconsin Ann]

Originally Posted by Wags

Some 911 centers are equipped with GPS tracking for cell phone calls - but most are not. One thing to know about cell phones - you can sometimes get enough of a signal to get a text message out when you can't get a call through. Knowing that has saved the lives of stranded boaters and mountain climbers.

With the 4G service that Verizon is currently rolling out nationwide you will soon be able to ditch the land line Internet service - as the 4G speeds will be better than majority of DSL (and cable) service.

Verizon. yah. great. <that was said VERY sarcastically> Our Altel was bought out by Verizon. Altel was the only company that covered our place. for a year we continued to get almost decent service (1 bar when using the extended antenna). A few months ago service went downhill. Recently, we're completely with options. No service within 5 miles of the house.

I'll wait to cheer about the 4G service after I see if we get ANY service back. Until then, I'll just be happy with putting in good old AT&T on a landline.

[Harry Chickpea]

If you need to call 911, you might not have done your preps or have a defense weapon, or not know the numbers for the ambulance, fire department, or police...

just something to think about...

[Windy in Kansas]

FYI, with the purchase of a Magic Jack device that you connect to high speed Internet you can then use a regular telephone through it to call 911. If you have registered the device and the assigned phone number properly it will show up on 911 dispatcher screens.

The 911 dispatcher allowed me to place a trial call to make sure and it did show up correctly.

What I'm saying is that if you don't have a regular land line but do have broadband then the MJ will serve as one.

[salmonslayer]

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

If you need to call 911, you might not have done your preps or have a defense weapon, or not know the numbers for the ambulance, fire department, or police...

just something to think about...

Harry, I am a firefighter/first responder and you can call direct to the station all you want but we cannot be dispatched unless it goes through 911. If you call one of us at the station we have to call it in to 911 and then wait for them to tone us out. Its much quicker to call 911 first.

As for not dispatching without a land line, lots of folks around here dont have land lines and there is no rhyme or reason to the county road structure so we often get directions from the dispatcher...like "go down Hwy M to the fence line where that Johnson boy lost his arm in the auger a couple years ago then go to the upper barn and the victim is in back of the grain bin". It works great for the old timers but there has been a couple times I have driven the ambulance and really had a struggle to find a place.

[farmerbrian]

Here AT&T offers a 7$ per month "will call" service (im 95% sure its called "will call", but just ask them for the cheapest service they offer)

I can only make local calls for free, all others are 3+ cents per minute. All incoming calls are free. I never call anyone from the landline except nieghbors

We use the cell phones almost exclusively so this service allow us to keep a cheap landline as a backup, 911 location, etc...

[houndlover]

Here we can register our cell number with the local 911 dispatch. They put it in the computer and then they can find us, it's pretty simple. Daughter is a local firefighter and verified this. Also, there is a reverse 911 system that automatically calls all numbers in an exchange in the event of an emergency, we are registered with that too. Not having a land line for the last 5 years, in a very rural area, has not impacted us at all. Most local emergency information is available to us via facebook! I usually know something is happening before my non techie neighbors.

[Harry Chickpea]

Originally Posted by salmonslayer

Harry, I am a firefighter/first responder and you can call direct to the station all you want but we cannot be dispatched unless it goes through 911. If you call one of us at the station we have to call it in to 911 and then wait for them to tone us out. Its much quicker to call 911 first.

As for not dispatching without a land line, lots of folks around here dont have land lines and there is no rhyme or reason to the county road structure so we often get directions from the dispatcher...like "go down Hwy M to the fence line where that Johnson boy lost his arm in the auger a couple years ago then go to the upper barn and the victim is in back of the grain bin". It works great for the old timers but there has been a couple times I have driven the ambulance and really had a struggle to find a place.

The area where we live was one of the very first to have a 911 system. When we moved, we had to get an address that was exactly X number of yards from one of the 911 base points. Since we own property on both sides of the street, we had to get special dispensation for our mailbox not to be the same as our 911 address.

I try to hold off being judgmental, but the system where you are seems whacked.

[berrley]

Last week I had to call 911 because my 4 year old had a febrile seizure. These are a fairly common thing, but at the time I didn't know what was going on. She was convulsing, choking, and her mouth was blue. I thought she was dying in my arms.We do not have a land line. We have Magic Jack which goes through our computer. I could not get the magic jack to work (sometimes it works fine and sometimes we have to use the mouse on our computer to pull up the dial screen and then dial it manually which is not acceptable when you are needing to dial 911) I looked on the floor and my cell phone just happened to be laying right there. I was able to use it to call 911 and had to give them my address. The time it took to give them my address was way more time than I wanted to waste in the situation I was in.
My daughter is perfectly fine now and all is well. I had a land line installed today. I realize this may not be the case for everyone, but most of the time I have no idea where I last set my phone down, and in an emergency I would not be able to locate it. I don't ever want to be in the situation I was that day. Just something for everyone to think about.

[free-2-b-me]

I believe here in NY - I don't know about other states - you can register your cell phone with 911 . This gives them an address for reference when you call 911 from your cell phone .

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

I would guess that you'd have to be in an area where you could get service from at least three cell towers in order for 911 to triangulate a reasonable position.

Most of us who live out in the boonies are lucky to have one cell tower close enough to get service.

even with 3 towers and good cell service the numbers are often off by a hundred feet or more , they can be distorted by buildings and obstructions to radio signal, and many 911 dispatch centers don't call back cell calls where they do call back land line call and send a deputy

basicaly of you pick up a land line and dial 911 even if you don't talk, they call back and or send a deputy

cell , maybe they call back maybe they don't and they may not send a deputy as they often figure you were moving hwen the call was made.

the only unsolved murder in the area is in madison wi , the victim called 911 but could not speak , they did not call back the cell as was SOP standard opperating procedure dispatch gets so many cell call hang ups they stopped calling them back as it was usualy someone reporting an acident and then the officer pulled up because 5 other people had reported the same accident already.
all data for that call was recorded and when they trianulated the address for the call it came out to a different address on that street.
now that was an apartment building and 20-30 feet make it a different address but thats in an urban area with good to very good cell service.

yes , hard line , copper phone lines do have failures , but they are so much more reliable than most other options , they work with no power from your side (makes sure you have a corded phone in the house not all cordless) they have batteries and backup generators at the central office

yes , i am a phone technician , but not for the phone company.

yes, i have a corded phone and a land line into my house

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

any area that doesn't have a good fire number system needs to get one , here the fire department or township brings you out the post and fire number and puts it at your drive way and records where it is for 911 records and thier own maps

the fire numbers were actualy so much better than the existing addresses that now the fire number is the address in most town ships

[Cabin Fever]

Can anyone explain how the use of GPS can track a cell phone? Cell phones don't have GPS built into them.....right? If a cell phone did have GPS, they'd have to have a clear view of the sky to determine its lat/long coordinates.

[sammyd]

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gps-phone.htm

[caroline]

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

If you "can't respond" it's not too likely you will call

Not really---I was a medic on the rescue squad and there were plenty of times a person could call but then lost consciounses after the call. We had enchanced 911 for landlines.

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

If you need to call 911, you might not have done your preps or have a defense weapon, or not know the numbers for the ambulance, fire department, or police...

just something to think about...

If you are alone and hurt yourself badly and are bleeding out, you might want to consider 911. Just a thought.....