Calling From a Cellular Phone
Cellular Phones - Special Concerns
If you call 9-1-1 on a cell phone, your location may not automatically display, as it does when calling from most home/business phones.
Be Prepared to tell the 9-1-1 Call Taker…
- The location of the emergency - EVEN IN AN AREA THAT HAS LOCATION TECHNOLOGY
(Address, street intersection, city, municipality, county, mile marker, landmarks, etc.)
- Your cell phone number
- What the emergency is and what type of assistance is needed
- Since you are calling from a cell phone, your call may be disconnected if the signal is lost. Be sure to call back if you are cut off.
- When calling 9-1-1 on a cellular phone, be sure to stop if you are in a moving vehicle. It is difficult to obtain all of the information needed if you are getting further from the emergency.
A 9-1-1 call made from a cellular phone will certainly be answered. However, the additional information such as the caller’s property address and the appropriate emergency service agencies, which serve the caller’s location, will not be available to the call taker. Cellular phones cannot be given a property address, because they do not have a fixed location and therefore all cellular callers will have to verbally describe their location to the call taker when placing a 9-1-1 call. It is important, therefore, that all cellular callers be constantly aware of their location when traveling, and if possible, use the intersection and property signs to assist in determining where they are calling from in the event of an emergency situation. Ideally, a caller should tell the call taker what the closest civic address to the location of the emergency is, as well as the municipality that it is in. Stating the name of the village or small town might not be enough information if it is within a larger township or municipality.
It is also important to note that even though a cellular call may originate from within Grey County, the call taker may not be the Owen Sound Police Services Board. Cellular phone calls are routed based on the cell tower that receives the call. These towers do not follow municipal boundaries and, therefore, a 9-1-1 call placed from a cellular phone may be answered by a call taker other than the Owen Sound Police Services Board. Regardless of which call taker answers the cellular call, emergency services can still be dispatched to the scene of the emergency if the cellular phone caller knows the correct location (ie. the property address) from which he or she is calling.
Check Mobile Road Safety for other pertinent information.