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From: motcid!ellisond@uunet.uu.net (Dell H. Ellison)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: What the 911 Operator Knows
Message-ID: <16352@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 23 Jan 91 16:39:41 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 61, Message 1 of 10


In article <16299@accuvax.nwu.edu>, das@cs.ucla.edu (David A.
Smallberg) writes:

> Apparently, not everyone knows that the 911 operator knows where
> you're calling from: a man in Calabasas (southwest San Fernando
> Valley, Los Angeles) phoned 911 to warn of a bomb on a flight 750 to
  ...
> there when the police arrived!  I wonder what percentage of the
> population does not know how much the 911 operator knows.

> [Moderator's Note: When 911 service first started here in Chicago many
  ...
> suit by the ACLU to stop 911 service here (as an invasion of the
> privacy of the caller to the police) failed, and in the process, the
  ...
> daily. Despite the extensive PR, most folks do not know about Caller
> ID yet or 'call screening', the service I find very useful.  PAT]

Actually, I find it very interesting that most people don't know that
there are two flavors of "911" service:

1. 911 (basic) service provides a central location where all emergency
   calls (dialing `911') are sent where they are answered and the
   necessary organization is notified (e.g. police dept., fire dept.,
   etc...).  The callers phone number and address are NOT known.

2. E911 (Extended 911) service is essentially the same thing, except
   the operator IS provided information about where the call is
   coming from.

As a side note, in the Chicago suburb where I live, I don't have any
911 service, yet I am charged $0.75 on every phone bill for that
service.  I guess they have to get enough money before they can
install it.  (Which should be just about the time that I move away.)

To the Moderator: By the way, how wide spread is Caller ID available
in the Chicago suburbs?  I would be very interested in getting it.  I
think it would be great!


[Moderator's Note: Our 911 service here was the 'E' version almost
from the beginning, back in the mid-1970's.  A state law here requires
all communities to have 911 service but many of the suburbs do not
have it because they share phone exchanges in common with other small
suburbs and few of them can agree on *which* suburb (on the same
exchange) should handle the incoming call. None of them want some
other suburb exercising any control over their police, etc.  We had a
very crude version of '911' for thirty years before calling it such.
Under the old system, 'POLice 5-1313' was translated by each CO into
some other number and then forwarded to the police, who received the
call on (various)-1313; i.e. Wabash 2-1313, Haymarket 1-1313, and a
dozen others. A big wall map had minature lights which would flash off
and on showing the CO placing the call to give the police a good idea
where to start looking for the victim/criminal, etc.  

As for Caller*ID in northern Illinois: there is no such animal, yet.
'They' say it would be violate the privacy rights of callers. Area
312/708 is about 75% fully CLASS equipped at this point; more COs are
coming on line almost daily. Caller*ID is there, but not being offered
at present. IBT/GTE/Centel have filed tariffs but expect it to be
several months before approval is granted.   PAT]