BUFFALO, N.Y. — It will now be easier for emergency service crews to find wireless 911 callers and send help following an AT&T's new 911 upgrade.
It's called 'Locate Before Route' and uses GPS instead of cell towers to give a more precise location for those who call 911 from their mobile device.
The new technology can narrow down the location of a wireless caller to within 55 yards. Before the upgrade, a callers location could be pinpointed within several miles with a cellphone tower signal, which could cause delays in getting emergency help.
“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. 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,” says AT&T Network Executive Vice President Chris Sambar.
AT&T says 68% of adults no longer use a landline, and 80% of 911 calls are made from mobile devices.
“Location-based routing is a significant accomplishment for public safety. 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,” says Jeff Robertson, President, Intrado Life & Safety.
This new system is only available on the AT&T network, and will work on mobile 911 calls for AT&T customers nationwide by the end of June.
For more information: https://about.att.com/story/2022/nationwide-location-based-routing.html