WEBVTT - Why Can't 911 Find You If Lyft Can?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here. Whether you're trying to order a

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<v Speaker 1>ride or figure out what restaurants are nearby, you've probably

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<v Speaker 1>grown accustomed to the notion that your smartphone continuously tracks

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<v Speaker 1>your location. But you may be surprised to discover that

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<v Speaker 1>while phone apps seem to be able to find you

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<v Speaker 1>pretty easily, operators can have a much more difficult time

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<v Speaker 1>pinpointing your location in an emergency when you call for

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<v Speaker 1>help from a mobile phone. That's because wireless service providers,

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<v Speaker 1>which are required by the Federal Communications Commission to provide

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<v Speaker 1>callers locations to nine one systems, often are using data

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<v Speaker 1>from different, sometimes less precise sources than your phone uses

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<v Speaker 1>to pinpoint a location, and according to the FCC website,

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<v Speaker 1>of nine one one calls are placed from mobile phones.

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<v Speaker 1>In Sacramento, TV station Fox forty demonstrated the extent of

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<v Speaker 1>the problem by having a producer stand on a street

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<v Speaker 1>corner and make test calls to the local d N

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<v Speaker 1>system using phones from several different wireless providers. They got

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<v Speaker 1>disconcertingly varied results. One carrier's data was able to pinpoint

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<v Speaker 1>the caller's location within twenty six feet that's about eight meters,

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<v Speaker 1>while another errantly gave a location that was a mile

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<v Speaker 1>away that's just over one and a half kilometers. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's a scary problem because when the nine one system

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<v Speaker 1>gets an inaccurate location, it means the police, the fire department,

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<v Speaker 1>or the ambulance crew may lose precious time trying to

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<v Speaker 1>find you. That's the sort of delay that has tragically

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<v Speaker 1>proven fatal in more than one case. So why does

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<v Speaker 1>nine one one sometimes have more difficulty finding callers than

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<v Speaker 1>say lift? For decades, wireless providers have relied upon information

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<v Speaker 1>from phones, pinging cellular towers, and from the Global Positioning

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<v Speaker 1>System also known as GPS to provide location estimates for

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<v Speaker 1>nine one one systems. You'd think that would work pretty well,

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<v Speaker 1>but according to Evelyn Bailey, executive director of the National

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<v Speaker 1>Association of State nine one one Administrators and former head

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<v Speaker 1>of a once first enhanced nine one one system, those

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<v Speaker 1>methods aren't always so reliable. She said, it depends upon

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<v Speaker 1>the infrastructure that's available where the collar is located. Let's

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<v Speaker 1>say you're outdoors in a place where you're close to

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<v Speaker 1>a cell tower and the GPS signal isn't obstructed, you're

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<v Speaker 1>probably okay. But if you're out in the mountains where

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<v Speaker 1>cell coverage is spotty, or inside a building containing lots

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<v Speaker 1>of metal in a densely developed urban area, it could

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<v Speaker 1>be a lot tougher. Your phone, though, has other ways

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<v Speaker 1>to locate you. Thanks to technological advances by mobile phone manufacturers,

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<v Speaker 1>your device can use your proximity to Wi Fi networks

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<v Speaker 1>and Bluetooth beacons, and even readings from the barometer that

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<v Speaker 1>you probably didn't realize was built into your phone. That

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<v Speaker 1>data comes from what's known as the user plane, and

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<v Speaker 1>historically wireless carriers haven't trusted it as a location source

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<v Speaker 1>to fulfill their regulatory obligations. But even if they did,

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<v Speaker 1>Bailey notes that existing nine systems aren't engineered in a

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<v Speaker 1>way that makes it easy for them to accept that

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<v Speaker 1>data into their location stream. Fortunately, though, the wireless telecom

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<v Speaker 1>industry and organizations representing systems have been working together for

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<v Speaker 1>years on finding technological solutions, and as of the FCC

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<v Speaker 1>issued new regulations that set a timetable for improving the

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<v Speaker 1>accuracy of the location information the carriers provide. By one,

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<v Speaker 1>they have to be able to provide a dispatchable location

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<v Speaker 1>at least eight percent of the time a dispatchable location,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning one that's within a hundred and sixty four feet

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<v Speaker 1>or fifty meters of where a caller is located. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>they have to be able to provide barometric pressure from

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<v Speaker 1>any phone that measures it, which could make it easier

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<v Speaker 1>to pinpoint altitude and figure out what Florina building a

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<v Speaker 1>caller is calling from. The industry is also working on

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<v Speaker 1>developing and testing the National Emergency Address Database. This will

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<v Speaker 1>include the locations of WiFi hotspots, Bluetooth beacons, and other

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<v Speaker 1>parts of the modern world electronic infrastructure. Eventually, the database

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<v Speaker 1>will be able to accept data that consumers provide about

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<v Speaker 1>their home WiFi networks if they choose was to provide it.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Tiger and produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Clang for iHeartMedia and How Stuff Works. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and lots of other pointed topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>our home planet, how stuff Works dot com.