Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/91181
Emergency 911 In short, it uses the device's own radio signals to identify its location, eliminating any dependency on satellites or other network hardware. RFPM can locate all callers across any air interface and in any environ- ment, eliminating limitations related to phone type or network technology. RFPM works well in non-line-of- sight conditions such as dense urban and indoor envi- ronments, complementing GPS, and is highly reliable for mission-critical public-safety applications. Societal: Changing Habits The explosion of smartphones led to changing habits among U.S. mobile users. Beyond being a simple voice instrument, phones now are used for text messaging, taking and distributing photos, recording videos, etc. E911 infrastructure and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) have struggled to keep up with these changes, when not ignoring them altogether. Nowhere was this better illustrated than during the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shootings, where students hiding from the gunman were unable to silently text 911 call takers and thus avoid giving away their whereabouts by talking on their phones. Stemming from that, the FCC will require that callers have the ability to text to PSAPs. In addition, there's also great interest within the public-safety community to be able to receive actionable information on emer- gency situations (e.g., images from fires, etc.) as part of the 911 call process. High-accuracy location, already part of the public- safety infrastructure, could be better integrated to provide detailed intelligence for first responders and emergency callers. For example, when texting 911, similar emergency calls in a given radius could be iden- tified to alert authorities to larger emergencies, such as a terrorist attack or natural disaster. Transmitting a geo-tagged photo could help emer- gency responders locate someone in a crowded sports stadium or shopping mall. And indoor location, which RFPM uniquely enables in a software-only solution, is vital in the example of a school shooting, where students are huddled under desks or in closets, away from GPS signals. Societal: Reliance on Mobile Devices Indoors Sources ranging from the Environmental Protection Agency to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to J.D. Power cite a drumbeat of statistics to illustrate the fact that society depends on mobile devices to operate in all environments: only a mobile device for daily communications, and phone but primarily rely on a mobile device for daily communications. time indoors, whether at home, work or in a shopping mall, theater, restaurant, etc. on wireless networks originate indoors. The logical outcome of all this indoor calling from Figure 3. FCC first adopted an Enhanced 911 location mandate in the late 1990s, stipulating that wireless-network operators must identify the phone number and cell-phone tower used by emergency callers within six minutes. However, as the accuracy of location technologies improved, emergency responders and consumer-advocacy groups called for FCC to strengthen its mandate to reflect improved accuracy capabilities. 28 GEO W ORLD / OCTOBER 2O12 mobile devices is that the percentage of 911 calls placed from mobile devices indoors is increasing. Although PSAPs don't track this statistic, the FCC states that 70 percent of all 911 calls are made from a mobile device, so a significant amount of those calls are assumed to originate from mobile devices indoors. In addition, there's a difference between an "indoor" location in sight of a window and better able to receive external signals vs. "deep indoors" (e.g., in the center of an office building or shopping mall), where external signals are unlikely to penetrate. In the case of "deep indoors," alternate technologies may be required.