FCC Helps First Responders Quickly Locate Wireless 911 Callers

The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules that will help first responders locate people who call 911 from wireless phones in multi-story buildings. The rules will help emergency responders determine the floor level of a 911 caller, which will reduce emergency response times and ultimately save lives. The action builds on the FCC’s efforts to improve its Enhanced 911 rules, which require wireless providers to transmit to 911 call centers information on the location of wireless 911 calls. The rules require wireless providers to meet an increasingly stringent series of location accuracy benchmarks in accordance with a timetable, including providing the caller’s dispatchable location, such as the street address and apartment number, or coordinate-based vertical location on a phased-in basis beginning in April 2021. Nov 22’s Order adopts a vertical, or z-axis, location accuracy metric of plus or minus three meters relative to the handset for 80% of indoor wireless 911 calls. This accuracy metric— within three meters above or below the phone—will more accurately identify the floor level for most 911 calls and is achievable, keeping the deployment of vertical location information to public safety officials on schedule.