The blindfold is coming off.
Rowan 911 telecommunicators can now see two critical bits of information about incoming wireless phone calls.
Thanks to new technology, as many as half of the cell calls coming into the Rowan 911 center automatically display the phone number and give a general area of where the caller is.
Rowan’s 911 center will also serve as one of only 50 communities across the country that will help the Federal Communications Commission test the progress of mandated wireless enhanced information technology.
New technology is expected to have a tremendous impact on public safety agencies across the country.
More than 80 million wireless phones are now in use across the country.
The Rowan County Board of Commissioners recently agreed for Rowan to be the model community and represent North Carolina in implementing the project.
Federal officials will monitor Rowan and 49 other communities in conjunction with the National Association of Public Safety Communications Officials.
Since the advent of cellular phones, 911 and county emergency personnel have struggled to deal with calls for help since they had little idea where the victim’s call was coming from.
Rowan Telecommunications Manager Frank Thomason can hardly wait for the development of technology that will give the 911 center 20-20 vision on wireless calls.
“The technology can’t happen fast enough,” Thomason said. “This technology can save lives today, everyday.”
The goal of the new technology is simple. When a 911 call comes in from a wireless phone, a computer map display will automatically pop up, showing the exact location of the caller as well as the phone number.
Thomason cites almost daily news reports across the nation where wireless phones play a part in a rescue.
Other reports deal with tragedies such as an incident in Florida when a car overturned in a creek and trapped a woman. Confused and terrified in a car filling with water, the woman called on a cell phone but didn’t know where she was. She drowned.
More and more 911 calls here come from wireless phones. Most of the calls involve accidents on Interstate 85 or other roads.
In a mishap earlier this year, a pregnant woman was trapped upside down in her car off Union Church Road.
She called for help, and 911 equipment displayed the phone number for her cell phone.
Communicators were able to call her back and get information that aided in locating her.
Rowan’s 911 center is in the first phase of the two-phase federal mandate.
Under the first phase, all licensed carriers must provide technology that identifies the caller by number and provides the location of the tower where the call is coming from.
Four of the seven providers doing business in Rowan already have complied with that federal communications requirement. Those companies are Alltell, Bravo, Cingular (formerly BellSouth Mobility) and Sprint PCS. Three other companies — AT&T Wireless, Nextell and Verizon — have not yet implemented the technology.
The second phase involves being able to precisely locate the caller by longitude and latitude.
It will require integrating the local Geographic Information System (GIS) with the communications system.
Although the Rowan 911 center will be ready to handle this phase by the end of the year, the technology is still being developed.
All seven carriers in Rowan plan to use phones with a small GIS unit, similar to the technology now built into some cars and boats.
Currently, though, that technology doesn’t exist, said Thomason. Under the mandates, public safety centers and wireless carriers must begin to phase in the geographic coordinates by Oct. 1.
In meeting with commissioners earlier this month, Thomason had some good news. Opening the technology door for wireless won’t cost county taxpayers. A surcharge on phones will pay those costs.
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