About a month ago I decided to ask the St. Louis County 911 center about calls that are re-routed from cell phones. I thought, if this is such a life threatening problem as AT&T asserts in their proposal, someone must be tracking it and asking the cell companies to fix it.
Here's the response, what do you think?
Your email inquiry regarding cell phone tower placement was forwarded to me for answer yesterday.
In answer to your questions:
1. Does St. Louis County track emergency calls from cell phones that are rerouted from Douglas County Emergency Services?
Answer: No, we do not.
2. How many calls are identified as rerouted from cell phone calls originating on the Duluth Lakeshore and going over to Douglas County?
Answer: We do not maintain these statistics.
In South St. Louis County, we answer numerous calls on a daily basis which have been placed by wireless callers who are in need of an alternate public safety answering point. Some of the calls require transferring to Douglas County, but we frequently transfer calls to Carlton County, Lake County, and our North St. Louis County Dispatch Center as well. Occasionally we must transfer a call as far away as Ashland, WI or Houghton, MI. Our 9-1-1 telephone equipment is configured in such way that we are able to accomplish the most commonly used transfer locations by pressing a single button on the telephone panel.
This issue is not unique to St. Louis County, it is an issue for 9-1-1 call centers nationwide. It is not limited to a single carrier, but involves all carriers. The process of transferring calls to another call center or in receiving a call as a transfer from another center is "business as usual" in our industry.
Geographic features such as the terrain, and specifically in our area, the vast expanse of Lake Superior, seem to produce an increase in coverage challenges. These, however, are carrier issues. We are not involved in the site planning or placement of cellular towers with any of the wireless carriers who provide coverage in our area.
I hope this explanation addresses the inquiry you placed to our agency.
Thank you.
St. Louis County 9-1-1 (Duluth Center)
No comments:
Post a Comment