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Fankhauser discovered that when internet phone users call 9-1-1, their correct address may not show up.
"Seconds are critical in this line of work," said Capt. Jay Wheeler of the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center. He said the location of internet phones are displayed to dispatchers based on phone company information. Usually it is where the user registered the phone when they first started service. If the person has moved, and they didn't register the new address, 9-1-1 may not get the call.
As an example, Capt. Wheeler told us about a 9-1-1 call that came in looking like it was coming from a location near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
"The caller was in the Air Force and recently moved to Japan and the call was routed to us," Capt. Wheeler said. The call that appeared local was actually from 6,500 miles away. Luckily, dispatchers here were able to quickly send the call to an emergency center in Japan. So who is at risk of this happening to them? Wheeler said anyone who uses internet phone service providers and that includes homeowners, businesses and schools where internet-based phone accounts have not been updated.
Derea Watson of Clearcity said the power to fix this problem is in your hands and it is relatively easy to make sure your call to 9-1-1 comes in correction to the dispatch center.
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"It's up to the consumer to either call their provider or log into their account and make sure their information is correct," said Watson.
Even then, Watson said you should not rely entirely on the phone to give 9-1-1 dispatchers your location. For that reason, if you call for help using an internet phone, the dispatcher will ask you several times to identify your location so that emergency crews will be able to find you.
Still, Rick Fankhauser has a concern about people using Voip phones during an emergency.
"If they can't speak, they can't get their address out," Fankhauser said.
Last year alone, the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center took in nearly one million calls. Dispatchers there said more and more people are using internet phones, cell phones and even texting to call 9-1-1.
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