911 director urges elderly, others to maintain a land line phone

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911 director urges elderly, others to maintain a land line phone

9-1-1 in the News, Community | April | November 14, 2011 at 9:11 am

BUFFALO, MO — The director of Dallas County 911 told those in attendance at the Nov. 2 meeting of the Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce that certain people might want to maintain a home telephone line in order to improve response time in case of an emergency.

During the chamber’s November meeting at Hip Pocket Pizza in Buffalo, Joe Bright said it might be wise for the elderly, those in poor health or those with young children to keep their home telephone service.

“If you call from your home phone, it traces back to that address,” said Bright. “Cell phones are less predictable.”

Bright said Dallas County has an enhanced 911 system, which is better than basic systems serving 17 other Missouri counties, but that this county’s system is not perfect.

“If you’re in one of those 17 counties, you may – or may not – be found if you can’t give them a location,” said Bright, concerning the use of cellular telephones.

He added that Dallas County 911 continues to have problems tracing calls to various locations for calls made from some cell phones, including those of AT & T, which is one of the country’s largest wireless providers. Bright also explained the 911 fee listed on a customer’s telephone bill does not directly benefit local 911 agencies, but instead goes to cell phone companies for research and development.

“That fee on your bill does not go to us, but goes to the cell phone companies,” the local director said.

Bright stressed Missouri ranks extremely low in terms of funding for wireless technology and that additional funding would be helpful to all 911 governmental entities within the state. He said that any effort to collect such a fee in this state would most likely require a vote of the people.

“More funding would help those 17 counties to become enhanced and would also help the other agencies,” said Bright. “But a lot of state representatives have taken an oath not to raise taxes without a vote of the people.”

In addition, he said the major reason for maintaining a home phone is relatively simple.

“If we get a 911 call, until we determine there is no problem at that address, we will send someone out,” he said.

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