Cellular phones have made it very easy for citizens to report traffic accidents and other emergencies that are not near traditional telephones. This gets emergency assistance to victims faster, and this has saved lives. There are however, several major problems with cell phones and their impact on 9-1-1.

Can I call 9-1-1 from my cell phone?

Yes, but it is not the same as your home or business phone. When you dial 9-1-1 from a cellular phone, you will be connected to a 9-1-1 center, but it might be the wrong one, especially if you are near the border of two cities or counties.

Be prepared to give your location and the City or County if needed. You may get a dispatcher in a bordering County and they may not recognize the street name you give them.

Is my location known when I call 9-1-1?

NO! That is the big problem with cellular phones today, the 9-1-1 dispatcher does not know where you are.

We often receive calls from neighboring counties and we try to transfer these calls to the correct 9-1-1 center.

Because we now have "Phase II" service from most wireless carriers, we at least know which tower your call is using and, in most cases, a latitude and longitude location which will be displayed on our Computer Aided Dispatch mapping. We can usually get close to your possible location but it will not be exact. Your ability to describe your location will be very helpful.

Funding from cellular phones -  Wireless phones pay a small fee per month to help cover the expenses of handling their calls. 9-1-1 is a free call to cellular customers, you are not billed for the minutes used.

The Future of wireless phones & 9-1-1

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ruled that wireless telephones must begin providing 9-1-1 service similar to wired phones. More and more people are using wireless phones and this will ensure they can access emergency services using their wireless phones.

Phase I - Now - Wireless phones must provide the tower address that is receiving their signal and the phone number to the 9-1-1 center. This will help us narrow down where you are if you are not sure. We can also try to call you back if the connection is lost. This is a big improvement over the original situation.

Phase II - Now - Wireless phones must provide a location within 125 meters 67% of the time. This will be a great improvement and will bring wireless telephones up to a comparable standard with wired phones. 

9-1-1 centers will have computerized maps to display the location of a wireless caller. Your latitude and longitude are your "virtual address" when dialing 9-1-1 from a wireless phone.