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The Curious History of the 911 Emergency System

Smartphones are infamously problematic for emergency dispatchers. They come with GPS capabilities that are hard to tap into—at least in the Uber-friendly way we're used to. People, for obvious reasons, want to send text messages. And even landlines are more likely to rely on the voice over internet protocol (VoIP) than actual analog lines. But 911 systems are often terribly out of date, and require expensive upgrades that can negatively affect the quality of service being offered to local communities. "While the existing 9-1-1 system has been a success story for more than 30 years, it has been stretched to its limit as technology advances," explains the National Emergency Numbers Association,…

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Featured

 ‘9-1-1’ Has Meant ‘Help, Please’ Since 1968

The first 911 call ever placed came from the small town of Haleyville, Alabama.

Articles of Interest

A Harvard Student’s App Could Bring 911 Into the Future

With just one click, RapidSOS sends GPS and medical information to emergency dispatchers.

A new AT&T update could make 911 calls more effective

Here's how the carrier's new location tech works when a mobile phone connects with emergency services, and how it compares to the competition.

Attackers can make it impossible to dial 911

Many internet companies have taken significant steps to guard against this sort of attack online. For example, Google Shield is a service that protect news sites from attacks by using Google’s massive network of internet servers to filter out attacking traffic while allowing through only legitimate connections. Phone companies, however, have not taken similar action.

Many 911 call centers are understaffed, and the job has gotten harder

How 911 call takers – who talk to the public – and dispatchers – who talk to responders – make decisions in part comes down to training. But training varies widely at the approximately 6,000 call centers in the country.

New Ground-Breaking Technology Making 911 Calls More Efficient and Effective

In case you missed our exciting, industry-first announcement, Intrado recently collaborated with AT&T to launch location-based routing for wireless 911 callers: Locate Before Route and everybody is talking about it.

Some 911 Call Centers Still Haven’t Adapted to the Cellphone

Nationwide, a number of 911 centers struggle to locate cellphone callers and can’t receive texts or photos, as the systems continue to rely on decades-old legacy phone lines.

The 9-1-1 Paradox

Emergency call lines in the United States rarely fail, yet they're more vulnerable than ever.

The nation's 911 system is on the brink of its own emergency

The U.S. debuted a single, universal 911 emergency number in February 1968 to simplify crisis response. But instead of a seamless national program, the 911 response network has evolved into a massive puzzle of many interlocking pieces. There are more than 6,000 911 call centers to handle an estimated 240 million emergency calls each year, according to federal data.

Want to fix policing? Start with a better 911 system

“911 call takers are gatekeepers for the entire criminal justice system. We need to start treating them that way.”

Why This 911 Dispatcher Still Wants You to Call for Non-Coronavirus Health Emergencies

When you call 911, my job is never to decide who gets help and who doesn’t. We decide the level of the emergency based on the answers you give over the phone. Then that determines the amount of personnel and/or the equipment we need to send, and whether or not you’re going to get an ambulance with sirens and more EMTs.

‘We Just Always Expect It to Work’: 911 Outage Shows System’s Perils

The causes of 911 outages can range from software problems to old-fashioned blunders. In April, 911 service was knocked offline in parts of four states after a problem caused by the installation of a light pole, a telecommunications company said.

Resources

911.gov

The National 911 Program's mission is to provide leadership and coordination in supporting and promoting optimal 911 services. This federal "home" for 911 plays a critical role by coordinating federal efforts that support 911 services across the nation.

Smart911

Be prepared for any emergency by giving public safety the information they need to better help and communicate with you.