In case you missed our exciting, industry-first announcement, Intrado recently collaborated with AT&T to launch location-based routing for wireless 911 callers: Locate Before Route and everybody is talking about it.
For context, this location-based innovation automatically transmits wireless 911 calls to the appropriate 911 call centers nationwide; callers can be located within 50 yards of their device location. This means that emergency calls through Intrado’s Locate Before Route, improves both speed and accuracy in location identification, ultimately saving more lives.
Prior to this new technology, wireless 911 calls were routed based on the location of cell towers, which can cover up to a 10-mile radius, losing precious seconds. For a more in-depth look into Locate Before Route, read our blog, Transforming How 911 Calls are Routed to Public Safety.
So, what are people saying about Locate Before Route?
Snohomish County (SNO911) in Washington State was the first in the nation to fully integrate Locate Before Route into their 911 system:
“You’re adding, at a minimum, 30 seconds of transfer time, plus probably another 30 seconds of time for the center to figure out this isn’t in our jurisdiction,” said SNO911’s executive director Kurt Mills. “It can be the difference between life and death.” (HeraldNet)
“We share a busy border with King County and are thrilled with the significant decrease in 911 transfers,” Mills said in a prepared statement. “We know that 911 transfers delay emergency response and the winner here is our community. We very much appreciate the public-private partnership between our agency, AT&T and Intrado that allowed us to be the first in the nation to implement this new routing technology.” (Urgent Communications)
Dan Koenig, senior manager for 911 Program Services for the Public Safety Department in Palm Beach County, states that this new technology will play a huge role in saving lives.
“Cell phone towers can be several miles away. So, your call can go to other jurisdictions. It could go to the city next door. The call taker would have to go through and question the person, taking up some time and then they would have had to transfer the call," said Koenig. “When you’re dialing 911, you’re already in some sort of distress. This way we can help the caller and ease them.” (WPBF News)
Jeff Rossen, Chief National Consumer Correspondent at WPBF News, gives a glimpse into how Locate Before Route works, live, in-action in this video.
Executive vice president of AT&T Network, Chris Sambar, reiterated the importance of accuracy and reliable connectivity within this new feature.
“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,” Sambar said in a prepared statement. “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.” (AT&T)
Locate Before Route is a public safety game changer, especially now that 80% of 911 calls come from a mobile device and 68% of adults do not have a landline phone in their home.
Jeff Robertson, president of Intrado Life and Safety, states, “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.” (Urgent Communications)
Locate Before Route not only helps route the call to the correct PSAP, it also provides the dispatcher with location information sooner.
When privacy and security is top of mind, Adan Pope, chief technology officer of Intrado, reassures that location tracking only occurs during an emergency call.
Pope says, “This can only happen while a 911 call is initiated and in progress – not before and not after.” (PopSci)
Locate Before Route streamlines 911 wireless caller location information to PSAPs for quicker, more accurate response – and can be the difference between life and death.
Interested in learning more about Intrado Locate Before Route?
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