On 1/25/07, Loren Cress <[email protected]> wrote:
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Jeff Lasman wrote:
> I have landlines in both my office and my home.
<snip>
>
> For 911 access (yes, I've known this for some time).
I may also be mistaken, but I am under the impression that even
landlines in homes that have no service subscription (such as mine)
are required to maintain a dialtone and 911 availability. I haven't
actually checked the phone lately to see if there is a tone, but I
know it had one for at least a couple of months after my service was
disconnected. I have no idea if that also applies to businesses.
As far as i know it does. All phones are supposed to have access to
911. The downside to having a disconnected land line or cell phone is
that while it can call 911. In the event you get disconnected from 911
they cannot call you back. Something to consider. A basic subscriber
line is generally less then $10, but with taxes and what not your bill
comes closer to $18, at least mine with Verizon does.
I and my wife both have cells with good service; I got tired of paying
through the nose for service I didn't ever use; they got tired of me
not paying them $900 that I owed them. Go figure.
Wow they have some nerve! hehe
IIRC, I have dialed 911 (at my home in the mountains) and they knew my
address, if not my GPS coordinates. Not sure how, maybe they did get
my coordinates. But I have a terrible memory, so that could be
completely bogus.
As well as seeing your address in plain text similar to the way you
see caller ID. Many 911 centers use mapping applications that plot the
caller location according to County/City records. Just like looking up
your address on Google Maps or similar site. They can see adjacent
roads and etc which can be helpful information. Not all use aerial or
satellite imagery, sometimes its just a simple black and white drawing
of the cities roads. Land line locations are easy to plot as your
address comes in directly form the ALI DB provider, in many cases the
phone company does this themselves. If the 911 center is capable as
well as your phone and the cell tower then the location you are
calling from via cell phone can be plotted as well. This info can be
replotted during the duration of the call as well to determine if you
are moving. VOIP is somewhere in the middle of the two as it does not
fall technically into either class of service. If you have Vonage or
similar then your address could be added to the ALI DB easily.
However, what if you have one of the Linksys 802.11x phones that you
can carry in your pocket and use at any wi-fi hotspot. How is the 911
operator to know this? The technology is there to obtain your location
but not everyone has it or access to it just yet. As well the
standards to regulate it are still being worked out.
- --
Loren Cress
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
minds. -- Albert Einstein
You know, Hobbes, some days even my rocketship underpants don't help.
- -- Calvin
The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the
government and I'm here to help. -- Ronald Reagan
Just because nobody complains doesn't mean all parachutes are perfect.
- -- Benny Hill
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