Serious problems with cell phone 911 call locations

[Anonymous]

"If anyone (that I know) has an answer he would"

As long as it doesn't cost $300. ;=]

[Rex Sanders]

The operator kept asking him for the nearest cross-roads and simply would not accept that there were no roads anywhere nearby.

Operator failures are part of the problem in multiple ways. Apparently some 911 call centers have the ability to "re-bid" on longer calls, but do not do so by policy, for unknown reasons.

Several years ago, my old truck blew a transmission on a major US interstate freeway, roughly in the middle of nowhere. We spent 45 minutes on the mobile phone arguing with AAA emergency road service before they sent a tow truck to find the only broken down vehicle on 100 miles of freeway.

Like your story, they kept asking for exit names, mile markers, or some other reference. As the sun was setting, all we could see was the freeway, desert washes, and hills. The tow truck driver from Elko said he gets that story all the time.

Unlike your story, AAA does not have access to cell phone locations. If we had called 911, in that remote location, we probably had only one cell tower visible, and a Phase 1 location wouldn't help much.

Be careful out there. Stay found. Even on major freeways.

— Rex

[Ryan “Rudy” Oury]

Read thru this whole thread and didn't see anyone else mention much of this so figured I'll throw my two cents in…

I worked as a tower-monkey for ~2 years, building cellphone sites for the major carriers all over CO, WY, KS, and have a pretty good "behind-the-scenes" grasp of at least parts of the cell industry. A couple things to note…

1) Verizon has the best network, hands down. They put up more towers, build them better, have better antennas, equipment, lines & locations. Doesn't surprise me at all that their locations tend to be more accurate.

2) The infrastructure that is in place to make a cell phone call work is staggering! I worked for a company in Denver only ~3 years ago and at the time, there were roughly 30,000 cell phone sites in the Front Range alone (Ft Collins to Co Springs). Thats for only ~4 million people? A city like LA has 60-70k individual cell sites!! And each of those sites costs from $500k-$3M to install. When I hear people gripe about not having service somewhere (especially if somewhat remote or hilly), I have to laugh. Believe me, if the cell companies could cover those areas, they would. They want you streaming movies and chatting it up from every hilltop & valley in the world, but it costs a ridiculous amount of money.

3) an interesting "backlash", if you will, has occured w/ the transition from analog to digital phones. The digital signals do not "propogate" (bend around obstructions) as well as the older analog signals did. So, as everything has transitioned, the carriers have had to install twice the towers for the SAME coverage, let alone to keep up with the unbelievable demand for bandwidth.

4) unobstructed, a cell tower CAN send/receive a signal for 100's of miles… but even in the flats of Kansas, they're still every 10-20 or so. In cities, some cover as little as a couple blocks. major sports arenas have 10-20 cell cites INSIDE them to handle the bandwidth. Why watch the game in front of you when you can stream it on your phone :)

5) one little pet peev… if you're on a cell call and it gets dropped, do NOT apologize and do not accept an apology from the other person. There are a MILLION things going on to make that call happen, and while the equipment is changed regularly, you'd be shocked at how archaic some of it is. You twisting your head the wrong way, or moving your hand was NOT the reason the call dropped. I promise.

So, outside of hopefully being a little insight to something most people don't know, all that is to say partially what others are saying… do NOT rely solely on a cellphone to get you out of anything. Regardless of if you're in the woods or in a big city, know where you are. maps/compass, knowledge of how to use, awareness of surroundings, etc are still absolutely crucial, even in this GPS technological world. I do weep for the "techno-brats" as they seem to be called around here who think their phone will save them from anything… it won't. At least not yet :)

[Bob Gross]

Good post, Ryan.

I was the vendor engineer whispering into the ear of the network engineer that was chasing the tower monkeys around the site.

–B.G.–

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