https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Tracking, Monitoring & Control


News

AT&T teams with Intrado to provide location-based routing of 911 calls

AT&T teams with Intrado to provide location-based routing of 911 calls

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 11th May 2022

Wireless emergency calls from AT&T customers will be routed to 911 centers based the caller’s location—not the location of the cell tower used to make the call—throughout the nation by the end of June, AT&T announced yesterday.

AT&T claims it is the first carrier to launch location-based routing, thanks to a new “Locate Before Route” feature from Intrado that leverages GPS and “hybrid information” from a 911 caller’s device to provide more accurate location information to a public-safety answering point (PSAP). This new routing method is accurate within 50 meters of the device, while the previous routing method—based on the location of cell towers—provides estimated locations in an area with a radius of up to 10 miles, according to an AT&T press release.

This legacy cell-tower-based location has been particularly problematic when emergency calls are made by callers who are near the edge of PSAP territorial boundaries, because the tower used to make the call could be in a different PSAP territory—or even a different state—than the location of the caller. Public-safety representatives have long cited this issue as a reason why some 911 calls are misrouted to the wrong PSAP, which often can result in delayed responses as information from a 911 call is transferred to the proper PSAP.

Kurt Mills, executive director for Snohomish County (Wash.) 911—the first PSAP to test the location-based-routing capability—said he believes location-based routing will save valuable time, allowing first-response agencies to provide help to the public more quickly.

“We share a busy border with King County and are thrilled with the significant decrease in 9-1-1 transfers,” Mills said in a prepared statement. “We know that 9-1-1 transfers delay emergency response and the winner here is our community. We very much appreciate the public-private partnership between our agency, AT&T and Intrado that allowed us to be the first in the nation to implement this new routing technology.”

Chris Sambar, executive vice president of AT&T Network, echoed this sentiment.

“Providing our customers with reliable connectivity and high-quality service on America’s largest wireless network is what we strive for everyday at AT&T,” Sambar said in a prepared statement. “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.”

To prepare for the rollout, AT&T conducted “rigorous testing” to ensure that the technology would route calls to the appropriate PSAP without introducing any delays in call delivery, according to a statement provided by an AT&T spokesperson to IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

We conducted testing in our lab and in the field over the past 18 months to analyze 911 call flows and identify any areas where we could improve the call flows to get us to where we are today,” according to the AT&T statement.

Location-based routing already is available in 16 states—Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota—and Guam, according to AT&T. The rollout of location-based routing for 911 will continue during the next several weeks, and the new functionality is expected to be available nationwide by the end of June.

This rollout does not require any action by consumers or PSAPs, according to an AT&T spokesperson.

During the past decade, technology used to locate devices that use cellular networks has improved dramatically, resulting in significant growth within the location-based-services industry. While satellite-based GPS remains the foundation of location information, location-based routing also incorporates “hybrid information” from other sensor-based technologies, according to a statement from an AT&T spokesperson provided to IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“When a 9-1-1 call is placed from a mobile device, hybrid location uses multiple sensors on the device to locate it through different sources,” according to the AT&T spokesperson’s statement. “These sources include GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, pressure from the atmosphere, and orientation relative to gravity.

“The sensors on the device will use the most reliable information from these sources to provide the most accurate location, whether indoors or outdoors. This … can avoid the common issues of GPS, like the inability to provide location when traveling in a tunnel or losing track of location when in a city.”

Accurately locating wireless callers who dial 911 is particularly important today, when 80% of 911 calls come from mobile devices and 68% of adults do not have a landline phone in their residence. Improving the accuracy of location information from wireless 911 calls—whether initiated outdoors or from inside a building—has been a priority for the FCC in recent years.

Jeff Robertson, president of Intrado Life & Safety, said he glad to see AT&T implement location-based routing for 911 calls.

“Location-based routing is a significant accomplishment for public safety,” Robertson said in a prepared statement. “I’m proud of our collaboration with AT&T and look forward to continued innovation with them as we combine our technologies for the benefit of public safety—doing the right thing for the right reasons.”

 

Tags: homepage-featured-4 5G Alerting Systems Companies Coverage/Interference Critical Infrastructure Dispatch/Call-taking Enterprise FCC Federal Government/Military Incident Command/Situational Awareness Internet of Things Interoperability IoT/Smart X Long Term Evolution (LTE) News NG-911 Policy Public Safety Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet State & Local Government Subscriber Devices System Installation System Operation Test & Measurement Tower & Site Tracking, Monitoring & Control Wireless Networks News

Most Recent


  • Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding
    A coalition of public-safety associations today reiterated its support for federal legislation that would provide the funding needed to pay for 911 centers to migrate from legacy technologies to an IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) platform that is designed to support multimedia communications, as well as traditional voice calls. Representatives of the Public Safety Next Generation […]
  • AT&T teams with Intrado to provide location-based routing of 911 calls
    Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny
    Web Roundup Items from other news organizations Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny Blinken postpones trip to Beijing after Chinese spy balloon spotted over U.S., officials say To protect satellites, secure your networks, chief of space ops says Ransomware offlines Arizona’s largest school district Mending the fabric: FCC says to file broadband-location challenges […]
  • The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless
    Verizon had high hopes for private wireless networking. The company had predicted that by now it would be well on its way to making billions of dollars from the sale of custom 4G and 5G networks dedicated exclusively to its enterprise customers. Indeed, during 2021 Verizon execs pegged the total addressable market for private wireless at around […]
  • Phishers trick Microsoft into granting them 'verified' Cloud Partner status
    Late last year, a group of threat actors managed to obtain “verified publisher” status through the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP). This allowed them to surpass levels of brand impersonation ordinarily seen in phishing campaigns, as they distributed malicious applications bolstered by a verified blue badge only ever given to trusted vendors and service providers in […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Commercial carriers commit to adopting technologies to improve 911 location accuracy
  • FCC adopts new rules for Z-axis vertical location of wireless 911 callers, but critics question their practical use
  • NextNav selected by ‘top wireless carrier’ to deliver Z-axis location for 911 calls
  • AT&T: Joe Marx outlines efforts to provide a dispatchable address for indoor wireless 911 calls

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding dlvr.it/ShwGfn

4th February 2023
UrgentComm

Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny dlvr.it/Shvpw3

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless dlvr.it/Shth0P

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

Phishers trick Microsoft into granting them ‘verified’ Cloud Partner status dlvr.it/Shqngn

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Shapeshifting robot can morph from a liquid to a solid dlvr.it/Shqk9K

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Automakers against stampede to BEV dominance dlvr.it/ShpX08

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

FCC nominee Gigi Sohn headed for third Senate hearing dlvr.it/ShpDcZ

1st February 2023
UrgentComm

Sign up to learn how to successfully manage your Motorola ASTRO® 25 System: spr.ly/60143j8fp https://t.co/XcxiUwzN27

1st February 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.