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The Origins of 911 in Canada

Canada pioneered the concept in North America when Winnipeg introduced the 999 system in 1959, a precursor to 911. At the time Greater Winnipeg was a collection of 16 municipalities, each with at least two phone numbers to remember in an emergency. That meant a person would potentially have to know 32 phone numbers to call in a crisis. The city based its system on the 999 call centre used in London, England, which chose 999 because it was easy to remember and to dial, but was unlikely to be dialed by mistake on a rotary phone. The system was ahead of its time. It would be almost another decade before the first 911 call centre opened in the U.S., in Hayleyville, Alabama in 1968.

How 911 Works

When it began, the system simply directed all emergency calls to one call centre, which made dispatching ambulances, police and fire trucks more efficient. Over time, phone numbers were cross-referenced with addresses, giving 911 operators the ability to know where a call was coming from, even if the caller couldn't give the address. This was called Enhanced 911 and is now the standard across most of Canada.

How 911 cellphone calls are located

In Canada, 911 operators can't find the location of a caller who is using a cellphone, despite advances in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. In the U.S., dispatchers use one of two methods – GPS or signal triangulation. GPS location uses the signals from global positioning satellites, provided cellphones have a special receiver chip and the network is set up to calculate that information, then send it to the dispatcher. GPS requires an unobstructed view of the sky, so calling from indoors or parkades creates problems. Triangulation calculates the location of the caller using the distance and direction of the signal to the cell tower. Towers must be outfitted with special receivers to do this. Triangulation becomes more reliable when there are more towers to draw from, but can be problematic in remote areas. The U.S. has been using this technology since at least 2005.

How 911 Internet phone calls are located

Tracking an Internet phone call, or voice-over Internet protocol (VOIP) call, is difficult since the call travels online. One method that has been proposed is to cross-reference the Internet protocol (IP) address of the phone call with the home address of the owner of the modem. This would allow dispatchers to tell where the phone is accessing the Internet, or at least the vicinity. However, it requires co-operation between the Internet phone companies and the Internet providers, who are reluctant to share customer data with outside companies. New York started locating VOIP calls this year; Canada is still a long way off.

Misconceptions

It is impossible to “pinpoint” the location of a cellphone call to 911, and dispatchers don't like to use that word. The majority of cellphone calls can be located to within 50 metres, but sometimes the margin of error extends to more than 150 metres. However, knowing the vicinity is better than nothing for emergency crews. Such location technology can only be used when 911 is dialled and is not available on regular calls in the U.S., which are protected under privacy laws.