Arlington, TX, October 8, 2020 — The North Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1) has seen an increase in citizen requests to connect their home address to their cell phone number after the coronavirus pandemic forced households indoors. 9-1-1 technology does not allow for this solution and it would put callers at risk by preventing life-saving care from arriving in time.
When dialing 9-1-1 from any location using a cell phone, telecommunicators receive the caller’s approximate location. Traditional location information is provided by the cell phone company while supplemental location information is supplied from data from a cell phone.
If a 9-1-1 call was made by a cell phone number associated with a private residence address, responders would be directed to that residence. Even if the call was made elsewhere, which would slow the response and create life-threatening risk if the responders arrived in the wrong location.
North Texas citizens concerned about telecommunicators identifying their residence’s accurate location during an emergency can utilize a landline to make the 9-1-1 call. Landlines are associated with a specific private residence address that are stored in a database for that service area.
NCT9-1-1 is an early adopter in the emergency number industry and has implemented innovative technology such as supplemental location accuracy, What3Words, and cloud-based mapping solutions to assist in accurately identifying 9-1-1 calls. The district will continue to bring 9-1-1 telecommunicators the best tools available to provide life-saving care to its service area. Citizens can contact the district here.
###
About the North Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1)
The North Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1) is responsible for 40 plus Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in the 13 counties surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The district supports these PSAPs through maintaining and upgrading 9-1-1 equipment, providing up-to-date mapping information, training 9-1-1 telecommunicators, educating the public on the proper use of 9-1-1, and monitoring PSAP functionality and compliances. NCT9-1-1 serves a population of 1.7 million and 10,000+ square miles.