August 20, 2007 • 9:56 am 0
Giant, synchronized reboot Windows Update smokes Skype
There was a massive Skype outage recently, lasting about three days. It remains to be seen if/how emergency calls were affected.
Basically, don’t replace your landline or cell with Skype. I don’t think anyone should rely on cellular technology for their 911 service either, but that’s another argument for another time.
Filed under: E911
July 18, 2007 • 1:30 pm 0
The Wired article highlights how the technology in most modern cell phones was used to help determine the area.
May 11, 2007 • 3:02 pm 0
Police Use Cellphone Tracking to Find Transplant Patient
I’m telling you, we’re going to be seeing more and more of this sort of thing.
January 21, 2007 • 11:38 am 0
January 15, 2007 • 8:07 pm 0
Turning cell phones into lifelines | CNET News.com
From the article:
At the end of the day, the technology that has proved the most valuable for locating lost or missing people has been cellular phones.
Filed under: E911
December 6, 2006 • 3:26 pm 0
May 31, 2006 • 10:04 pm 0
This is fascinating: GPS-based E911 implemented within the limited geographical confines of islands. Maui County is comprised of 4 islands with a total land mass area of about 1159 square miles. The statistics gathered in this situation will be very, very helpful to other emergency management officials.
The Maui Police Department is claiming accuracy to within 3-250 feet (!). We’ll see if that holds true.
Filed under: E911
May 26, 2006 • 9:43 pm 1
Duluth News Tribune | 05/26/2006 | Cell phones, laptops let the world know where you are
I actually kind of like this article, but I wish they had done a few things differently. For one, it’s still much more difficult than implied to track someone with a great deal of accuracy (“pinpoint” is used again; and so the trend continues).
What I do like is this quote from the Center for Democracy and Technology: “tracking ‘reveals sensitive information about a person that may have no relation to criminal activity’.”
Also note the mention from Skyhook Wireless‘ Jed Rice that there are no federal privacy laws for wireless location tracking.
• 9:14 pm 0
Verizon Wireless Passes E911 Compliance – 5/26/2006 10:37:00 AM – Wireless Week – CA6338660
We may have the first cellular carrier in the nation to meet the 95% minimum for mobile E911 market penetration. Of course, not everyone can take advantage of this feature.
Filed under: E911
May 10, 2006 • 3:11 pm 0
http://www.sattel.com/E911%20myths.htm
There is actually a pretty good synopsis of limitations to E911 technology here, but I wish there were a link to the independent study mentioned. Their link to a Consumer Reports article on E911, however, is worth a read even if it is over two years old. It’s the first place I’ve heard of “lock-in”, or as they describe it, when your cell phone “is programmed to preferentially seek out the signal from the home carrier even if another carrier’s signal is stronger”. At the time the article was written, all-digital cell phones were not required to use a competitor’s network if the subscriber’s network did not get through to 911. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t, but it’s certainly implied. I need to find out if this has changed in the last two years.
The Emergency Network Myths site itself is part of a larger site promoting the company, SATTEL, and their location-detection product SafeLink, which I need to research a little further.
Regardless, we’ve got a long way to go before cellular E911 is as effective as it needs to be.
Filed under: E911, Further Reading
