Occasionally a stat emerges that reveals the trials and tribulations of our 911 operators have it. Pocket dialling has been the cause of many distractions and has potentially stood in the way of actually saving somebody in need. Over the years we’ve seen the service and response times improve – mostly thanks to the GPS within smartphones.
Today, in a press release, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that they are looking for feedback from the public on how the 911 services could be improved. They’ve tapped Tim Denton to be the Inquiry Office and he’ll be compiling a report to show the CRTC end of May 2013, but the formal review will be sometime in 2014-2015. So no changes anytime soon. The release also noted that “Mr. Denton will conduct research on 911 services in light of the telecommunications system’s ongoing evolution to next-generation networks based on Internet Protocol.”
There’s 3 main topics that are a the centre point of the public consultation:
– The performance and adequacy of the technology currently employed by 911 services, such as that used to locate a caller using a cellphone
– the issues related to the provision of 911 services on next-generation networks, including how systems should be designed and the appropriate institutional arrangements, and
– policy considerations on 911 matters.
