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0 pointsKeverw6y ago0 comments

Based on your location, but I know that there's stories about location not being accurate, remember seeing a report that some Pizza app and ride sharing apps can be more accurate. Someone told me on their cell phone 911 went to state's highway patrol instead of the city police, not sure if true or not since haven't had to dial 911 from a cell phone.

However if you have VOIP, not all VOIP providers support 911 but the ones that do want you to set a 911 address on your account itself, phone number or for a specific Analog telephone adapter - ATA Device from my understanding. I know our cable company provides phone service and the old modem had a sticker warning about VOIP and E911, not sure if the new one does or not since haven't looked at it too much.

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2 comments · 2 top-level

kempbellt6y ago

Just guessing based on how the technology works, but I would presume that when you initiate an emergency call via a cell phone call, the best location indicator that emergency services receive is "somewhere near tower X", since you are just making a voice call.

Apps running on the phone have access to your phone's GPS and can get more precise location data, if you have allowed it. Using an emergency app (Active911, Smart911, etc) will provide more specific location data to emergency services, but these are applications that rely on data and GPS to be working and may not work in as many situations as a simple 911 call.

As far as who receives the call, I imagine it is just based on who the tower is preconfigured to forward the call to. If the tower you are connected to is close to a highway, you'll probably get highway patrol. If you're in town, you'll probably get local police.

gknoy6y ago

> I know that there's stories about location not being accurate

If possible, try to use a land line, because the emergency calls are often routed to a different location when made with a cellular phone. This may not be true everywhere, but at least where I live in northern CA cellular calls are routed in such a way that response time can be 20-30 minutes slower than if made via a land line. When experiencing cardiac arrest, the difference in minutes can have a profound effect.