# Cell phones and local 911 service **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455 "2009-08-24T03:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/1 "2009-08-24T03:22:35Z")
I have a cell phone that I bought in New Mexico some years back. When I moved to Texas about 3 years ago, I never updated my cell phone service to reflect my change of location. In other words, I have a New Mexico telephone number, but I live in Texas. So what happens if I call 911 where I live now? Will I be connected to my local (Texas) emergency services or New Mexico’s? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/2 "2009-08-24T04:18:32Z")
Calling 911 from anywhere goes to the local emergency service of where the cell phone is physically located at the time. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/3 "2009-08-24T04:23:42Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Calling 911 from anywhere goes to the local emergency service of where the cell phone is physically located at the time. In larger metropolitan areas, such as Los Angeles, the location of the cell tower can aid in determining where the 911 call is routed. For example, cell towers located next to many major freeways will generally ring to the California Highway Patrol comm center. So while you may not be on the freeway, the tower you’re latched to is next to one, and CHP gets your call instead of LAPD. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/4 "2009-08-24T15:10:04Z")
Huh. A few years ago (like, 2003 or thereabouts) I was driving on I-64 through the St. Louis burbs, when I witnessed an accident happen right in front of me. I called 911. The conversation went like this: 911: 911, what’s your emergency? ME: I’m on Interstate 64, mile marker 189 [or whatever it was]. There’s been an accident. Looks like there might be injuries. 911: What’s your location? ME: Interstate 64, mile marker 189. 911: What city? ME: :eek: I don’t know, somewhere in the St. Louis western suburbs. Interstate 64, mile marker 189. 911: What city and _state_? ME: 😕:eek: St. Louis, Missouri. I don’t know what city specifically, I’m in the suburbs on the interstate. Interstate 64, mile marker 189. 911: Unless you can give us the exact city, we won’t be able to send assistance. ME: _click_ I guess cell phone/911 technology in St. Louis in 2003 was a little behind the times. Sometimes I wonder if I wasn’t transferred to a 911 call center in India that night. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/5 "2009-08-24T15:46:46Z")
In the MA/NH area, all 911 cell calls go via a central clearing house, in the state in which the call is originated. This does cause trouble near the state lines, but in general, the State Police take the call, and either handle, or reroute it to the appropriate 911 center. Or so says my Father, the police dispatcher. I’m sure there can be quite a bit of confusion though at times. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/6 "2009-08-24T17:22:27Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Huh. > A few years ago (like, 2003 or thereabouts) I was driving on I-64 through the St. Louis burbs, when I witnessed an accident happen right in front of me. I called 911. The conversation went like this: That’s surprising. As Duckster says, calls to 911 are routed based on your location to the nearest 911 center, regardless of where your phone is registered. Interesting to note that [according to the FCC](http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/wireless911srvc.html), more than half of 911 calls come from cell phones, and they expect that number to grow. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/7 "2009-08-24T21:16:50Z")
Thanks everyone. Fortunately, I haven’t needed to use 911 since I moved here. But while driving back to Texas the other day and noticing an accident (that was already being attended to by police and fire personnel) I wondered what would have happened had I needed to report it. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/8 "2009-08-24T22:05:49Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > As Duckster says, calls to 911 are routed based on your location to the nearest 911 center, regardless of where your phone is registered. This is not correct, especially not in California. 911 calls are not routed to the nearest 911 center based on your location. CHP answers calls from freeway towers, irrespective of which PSAP is physically or logistically closer to the location of the caller. > [@](#): > > Up to this point, the CHP has maintained wireless 9‐1‐1 answering authority whenever any part of the sector coverage area of a cellular telephone tower overlaps any part of the CHP’s jurisdiction. Because of this, and the astronomical growth in wireless 9‐1‐1 call volume in recent years, CHP PSAP centers have become inundated with calls beyond what the CHP call‐takers can reasonably handle. Cite: [http://www.cio.ca.gov/PSCD/911/pdf/BlueProjectNGEN911RFI.pdf](http://www.cio.ca.gov/PSCD/911/pdf/BlueProjectNGEN911RFI.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/9 "2009-08-24T23:44:36Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > In the MA/NH area, all 911 cell calls go via a central clearing house, in the state in which the call is originated. This does cause trouble near the state lines, but in general, the State Police take the call, and either handle, or reroute it to the appropriate 911 center. > > Or so says my Father, the police dispatcher. I’m sure there can be quite a bit of confusion though at times. A conversation I have personally had with a friendly Massachusetts State Police dispatcher (who answer cell phone calls in Mass): me: I’m calling to report a motor vehicle accident, Rte 95 north a half mile before Rte 495 MSP: In Salisbury? me: No, in Mansfield Salisbury is at the New Hampshire state line, Mansfield is on the other side of the state near Rhode Island. They’re about 80-odd miles apart. Same two roads - 495 does a big loop around Boston and crosses 95 twice. I can’t imagine someone who didn’t know what town they were in making that call. Rhode Island now has a statewide cellular 911 system that will cross reference your phone’s GPS signal (and I believe triangulate with cell towers, but I’m not certain of that) to place your location in reference to a specific street address. There are some errors (folks in the woods), but it works pretty well from what I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/10 "2009-08-25T00:05:20Z")
In my area, small towns and rural, there is a dispatch center that handles calls for the Astoria police, County Sheriff and some coordination with the state police. Each morning while having breakfast I read the previous day’s police dispatch report for my local area on line. Very interesting. Police are required to investigate any dropped 911 call, and there are a lot of them. The report lists the cell tower that the call was from. But often the phone is unavailable for call back. So unless it’s a land line, that doesn’t really narrow the area down much. There are occations where I see calls from a couple counties away that need to be redirected but the problem is not as bad as a few years ago when you might get calls directed to the local 911 from 300 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/11 "2009-08-25T00:15:05Z")
Something they’re rolling out when it comes to making 911 calls from cell phones is E911, which you can read about here: > **[Enhanced 9-1-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_911)** > > Enhanced 911 (E-911 or E911) is a system used in North America to automatically provide the caller's location to 911 dispatchers. 911 is the universal emergency telephone number in the region. In the European Union, a similar system exists known as E112 (where 112 is the emergency access number) and known as eCall when called by a vehicle. > An incoming 911 call is routed to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), which is a call center operated by the local government. At the PSAP, the call is an... ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/12 "2009-08-25T13:03:59Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > This is not correct, especially not in California. 911 calls are not routed to the nearest 911 center based on your location. CHP answers calls from freeway towers, irrespective of which PSAP is physically or logistically closer to the location of the caller. Well then I guess it would have been more accurate to say that calls are routed to the _correct_ 911 center based on your location. The point being that the OP’s call from a roadside in Texas wouldn’t be routed to New Mexico simply because it has a New Mexico area code or the cell provider’s records think he’s in New Mexico. E911 – which would let 911 operators see your location if you’re calling from a cell phone – has been very slow to roll out, even though the technology is a decade old and [we’ve all been paying for it since the mid 90s](http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Technology/story?id=1068803&page=1). ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-and-local-911-service/507455/13 "2009-08-25T14:51:04Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > Well then I guess it would have been more accurate to say that calls are routed to the _correct_ 911 center based on your location. The point being that the OP’s call from a roadside in Texas wouldn’t be routed to New Mexico simply because it has a New Mexico area code or the cell provider’s records think he’s in New Mexico. Well, the “correct” PSAP is a matter of debate-- mostly for people in urban areas. As others have noted, rural areas usually have a PSAP that dispatches all 911 calls. Here in LA, if you live next to a freeway and call 911 with your cell, it will probably ring to the CHP PSAP first. So if you need a pair-of-medics or something, they have to transfer you to the fire department dispatch center (OCD for LA Fire). It used to be really bad, CHP would take upwards of 60 seconds to answer a 911 call during rush hours. Call 911 from a landline though, and CHP won’t get the call,