The biggest cellular carrier in the US – AT&T, said it’s now enabling the location-based call routing service for those who’re calling 911.
Compared to the regular 911 routing we have today, this location-based type will spot the caller more accurately, thus supplying the help quickly. Also, AT&T said it’s the first carrier to use FirstNet to have emergency communications end-to-end encrypted.
AT&T’s Location-Based Routing Service
To date, anyone calling the 911 emergency service with their wireless phone is supposed to provide their location for seeking help. At times, when there’s no location provided, the 911 call center tends to spot the caller with their nearest cellular tower, probably within a 10-mile range.
This may often delay the help due to the large distance. Thus, telecom companies are now working on new technologies to make these calls better. In this pursuit, AT&T announced location-based routing support to all its users in the US, where their device’s GPS is used to offer them faster 911 help.
Whenever an AT&T user calls 911, the company will send hybrid information, including the device’s GPS, to spot the accurate (around 50 meters) location of the caller. This will help 911 in dispatching the nearby service quickly, who otherwise be needing more location details to find the caller.
AT&T said only the dispatcher would get to see the accurate location, and it even uses FirstNet to end-to-end encrypt the emergency communications for public safety.
Talking about this, AT&T’s EVP, Chris Sambar, said
“Launching this industry-leading public safety solution allows us to ultimately help improve the connections and efficiency for our wireless customers by offering more accurate service when making emergency calls.”
This is rolling to all the users across the US, with some states like Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and Guam having already.
