Canadian wireless carriers have improved their 911 services to allow first responders to more accurately pinpoint a person's locale in the event of an emergency.

In early 2009, the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) mandated that all Canadian cellular providers must offer location-based 911 services by February 2010. Previously, while a landline phone call to 911 is very easily mapped to determine a caller's exact location, calls made from a cell phone were a bit trickier. It was only possible to determine an approximation of the person's locale based on the closest cellular tower.

With the latest revisions, the CRTC says that emergency responders in "most regions of the country" can now more accurately locate someone calling 911 from a cell phone. Likewise, 911 calls made from a cell phone can now more accurately be routed to the closest emergency response centre. This is achieved using GPS and triangulation technology that can determine the person's exact longitude and latitude. The accuracy will depend on the particular model of cell phone, as well as reception in the area where a call is being made. But the range will typically be within 10-300 metres of the caller. To put this in perspective, in rural areaa, the range prior to this change could have gone as far as 20 kilometres!

Eros Spadotto, Executive Vide President of Technology Strategy at Telus, called the roll-out a "complex and technically challenging project." Indeed, back in April 2009, Bernard Lord, head of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), admitted that deployment would be a "significant challenge" to accomplish in the 12-month timeframe.

"We are delighted that wireless service providers have risen to the challenge of upgrading their 911 services," says Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. "Canada is now one of the few countries where 911 operators automatically receive location information from the moment a call is placed from a cell phone. Thanks to the collective efforts of everyone involved, the safety of Canadians will be greatly improved during emergency situations that require quick action."

The new technology has already been tested with more than 121 call centres across Canada; currently, nine call centres are still experiencing technical difficulties. However, the CRTC says a solution will be found for the remaining nine within the "coming weeks."

Telus says that "most" handsets in use by its customers have the technology required for the enhanced 911 services; and all models currently being offered through the carrier support it. Bell says the service works with compatible handsets on the Bell or Solo service "wherever wireline 911 service exists in Canada." Compatibility with specific phones can be checked at www.bell.ca/E911.

Those handsets that do not support the enhanced GPS will still successfully dial through to 911, but will send location information in the old manner; based on the closest cellular tower.

"Location information is crucial for police, fire and ambulance services responding to people in distress," comments Stephen Howe, Chief Technology Officer for Bell Mobility. "all the more so when wireless callers may not even know their own precise location. Improved E911 offers emergency responders a significantly greater ability to arrive at the right spot at the right time."

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