Every Second Counts

Dominic Li explains the importance of accurate and reliable location information for wireless 911 calls.

“When lives are on the line and every minute could potentially mean the difference between life and death, there is little room for error”
-Lee Richardson

Mobile phones have become the dominant means of communication throughout the world. For this reason, governments everywhere are currently investigating how to process the ever-increasing number of emergency phone calls (911, 112, etc.) coming from mobile phones.

According to the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) records, more than one third of 911 calls were from mobile phones. In other parts of the world, this percentage exceeds 50 percent of emergency calls.

With mobile phones, the person calling could be almost anywhere. Also, in emergency situations, people are often panicked or disoriented and cannot provide their exact location. As a result, it is difficult for government agencies to respond to calls coming from mobile phones and to send the appropriate emergency responders.

When lives are on the line and every minute could potentially mean the difference between life and death, there is little room for error. Distressed callers need to be accurately located regardless of their environment or the type of mobile phone that they are using. Designing and deploying a wireless location platform allows governments to improve emergency response times, increase the number of emergency calls that can be processed, and maximize valuable public safety resources.

In emergency situations, every second counts. Emergency responders refer to the Golden Hour, which is the first hour after an incident takes place. If care is administered within the Golden Hour, the victim's chances of survival are greatly improved. When someone calls an emergency number, often the person does not know exactly where they are, may not speak the native language, or may not be able to speak at all. For all of these compelling reasons, it is necessary for governments to empower the call-takers with the ability to quickly and accurately locate mobile phones in emergency situations. In short, the ability to accurately and reliably locate the incident improves response times, and ultimately, saves more lives.

Today, virtually everyone carries a mobile phone. Furthermore, people feel compelled to report an emergency situation. This has caused an exponential increase in the total number of emergency calls. A car crash on a major highway can generate hundreds of emergency calls. By knowing the location of the caller, the call-taker can quickly deduce that the caller may be repeating the emergency incident of a previous caller. While the call-taker must answer every call, having the location information accompanying each call allows the call-taker to quickly qualify that call and move onto the next one.

Emergency responders often spend precious time searching for the location of an emergency. Sometimes, additional vehicles or even costly helicopters are deployed in order to simply assess where the emergency is. With location information, call-takers can cross-reference the origins of calls to rapidly determine the exact site of the emergency. The ability to quickly and accurately locate emergency callers allows emergency services to be deployed more rapidly and efficiently, saving precious minutes and precious funds.

Mobile network operators typically select the TruePosition U-TDOA Location Platform because of its ability to locate any type of mobile phone, in any environment, including indoors, inside a car and in urban, suburban, or rural areas – all with high accuracy and reliability. Today, TruePosition has more than 75,000 TruePosition Location Measurement Units (LMUs) installed, which locate more than 5 million emergency phone calls each month.

The E911 system in the United States, with its ability to quickly and accurately locate mobile phones in the time of need, is widely regarded as an overwhelming success by the emergency response communities. Thanks to the advances already made in the United States, other countries around the world have a solid foundation to build on.

As Vice President of Marketing and Portfolio Management, Dominic Li oversees the development and execution of TruePosition's portfolio and marketing strategies, as well as the management of the corporate brand.