Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!pacbell!ames!lll-winken!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: DT5Y@cornella.bitnet (Peter Fleszar) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Can There Be 'Fake' 911 In Rural Areas? Message-ID: Date: 7 Aug 89 22:49:08 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 29 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 280, message 2 of 7 Hello net_peoples, I have a question concerning 911 laws and practices and the meaning of life in general. Some of us know that some huge metropolises such as Ithaca have no 911 service, and that anyone who dials 911 on a phone in such benighted areas as this is given to the regular telephone company operator off in the Twilight Zone somewhere. Now, small counties like Tompkins (Ithaca) and Cortland (nearby, where I live) typically have a centralized dispatcher for fire and ambulance, usually accessible from one phone number in the entire county. The dispatcher also can call out on the inter-agency police frequency and (in Cortland at least) can call on the sheriff's and city police frequencies (yes, two, one for each. Imagine! :-) ). Now, what is wrong with telling the local telco to route 911 calls to the Fire Control dispatcher instead of the telephone operator? (Other than that it makes too much sense, of course...) There was an unfortunate incident here last year when someone who had just arrived from New York City was being threatened - she called 911 like she was taught back in grade school, but it took something like 90 minutes for the cry for help to circulate among the telebureaucrats and police agencies. But the city police did arrive - just in time to call the coroner. I realize that the 911 cobbing together I envision would not be a complete substitute for a 'real' 911 dispatching system, but why wouldn't it make a good alternative for travelers and others ignorant of the 'proper' numbers? Pete N. Peter Fleszar, KB2CCL dt5y@cornella.bitnet dt5y@cornella.cit.cornell.edu 'Always peek before you poke.' Acknowledge-To: