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When reporting a fire, best to use a land line
Just some clarification: The communications system for fire and emergency response locally is very "state of the art" and the dispatchers are extremely professional. Many of the issues lie with the multitude of access methods used to report emergencies. Many of the newer "smart" phones are GPS enabled so that they can relay location information to the 911 dispatcher. However, some phones are not GPS enabled and/or the owner choses to disable the feature. This means that the location must be gleaned from the cell tower location which is far less accurate. Additionally, GPS enabled phones will give a location in LAT/LONG coordinates which then have to be mapped and only give a location on a map, not a specific address (GPS coordinates can be off by as much as 300', making locating a specific incident/address difficult.) Land-lines, the "old style" are assigned to a single address so the information can be stored as a fixed location in the computer dispatch system and, even without any voice communication, the address is available. A word to the wary: the "new" system in many landlines uses a "VOIP" system, or "Voice over Internet Protocol". This is the system used by most providers that bundle phone, internet, and cable. The phone signal actually goes through the cable internet system and may not be tied directly to your address. Check with your phone system provider to be sure. In short, the 911 system is very good but constantly playing catch-up to the technology changes that are occurring. When using 911, regardless of what phone you use, always stay on the line until the dispatcher says it is OK to hang up, know where you are and be able to tell the dispatcher the address of the emergency, give your name and call back number if asked so they can re-contact you if necessary, and only use the 911 number in a true emergency to prevent overloading the system.— February 25, 2015 9:05 p.m.