Wireless

Tarrant County 9-1-1 Wireless Facts

• · Wireless calls are the dominant source of 9-1-1 calls in Tarrant County.

  · Most PSAPs/ECCs supported by Tarrant County 9-1-1 District average over 85% wireless calls to 9-1-1 monthly.

  · Wireless calls to 9-1-1 differ from traditional landline calls to 9-1-1. A key difference is how a 9-1-1 wireless call routes to a PSAP/ECC.

  · PSAPs/ECCs receive the calling party’s number and location of the caller by x and y coordinates (longitude and latitude). These coordinates are converted to a mapped location on the call-handling equipment.

  · Wireless locations are usually accurate to within approximately 30 meters of the callers’ actual location in Tarrant County.

  · Wireless calls are most often routed by the location of the caller’s device. This is often referred to as Location Based Routing (LBR). If the location of the caller’s device is not available to route the call, the 9-1-1 call is routed based on the location of the cell tower.

  · When wireless networks are busy, wireless calls may route to PSAPs/ECCs outside the jurisdiction where the 9-1-1 call is made.

  · An active cell phone plan is not required to have service from a carrier to call 9-1-1. This is an “uninitialized” cell phone. Provided the device has battery life and cell service, a 9-1-1 call can be made.

  · Calls received from uninitialized phones will not provide a callback number and may not provide accurate location information to the receiving PSAP/ECC.