KETR Local
7:40 pm
Sun May 29, 2011

Cell phones presenting problems in emergency

Commerce – Commerce Police are working to resolve an issue when emergency calls are placed using a cell phone.

They say there's a glitch where sometime a call will be routed to a different agency. According to a statement, police will work to determine the location of which towers and which carriers are in the city, then test the systems before working with the actual cell phone carrier.

911 callers are asked to identify the location from where you're calling to better assist operators so they can quickly transfer calls to the proper agency. If you don't know the exact location that you are calling from, knowing the street you are on or a physical characteristic of the area such as a store or landmark will help 911 operators to pinpoint your location.

With the 911 system, your cell phone number will show up but your location may not always show up to the exact area where you are calling from. This can create a big problem, especially when there is a major emergency.

The cell phone system differs from when you call from a landline phone because your location is pinpointed to a residence and an address from that phone.