Prepaid Wireless and 9-1-1 (Urgent Communications article)

My opinion, article to follow: While, yes, absolutely "the time for talking about this is over"! But, I'd like to add, we need to use those funds collected to be able to find these phones when someone calls for 9-1-1 assistance. Denise Amber Lee had the comm center on the phone for 7 (seven minutes). She most likely, fully expecting to be found. If we're not going to do any of this any time soon, we need to educate the public on what their cell phones and 9-1-1 centers can and cannot do. Too many people are watching CSI and Law and Order and have expectations about 9-1-1 that are quite simply unrealistic. So if you're just going to keep talking, at least, educate people. The woman who died in Oklahoma, Kimberly Rae Kendrick, the young boy in Australia, David Iredale, Jennifer Johnson in Tampa, Olida Kerr Day in Miami etc........ They all expected to be found through wireless technology and were tragically disappointed. Denise's call was made from the alleged murderer's own PRE-PAID cell phone. IMO NENA, and other 9-1-1 industry experts need to start educating people on how to use 9-1-1 from any wireless phone. They can't expect a sales clerk at a sales counter, making minimum wage plus commission, selling cell phones to do that job. JMHO. I've seen some literature but definitely not enough because regular folks, outside the industry, just have no clue.


Solution may be near for prepaid wireless 911 funding dilemma

Jul 9, 2009 5:51 PM, By Glenn Bischoff

The advent of prepaid wireless phones created a nasty problem for the 911 emergency-communications sector. Where wireless operators collect 911 fees from their monthly subscribers, they cannot collect from prepaid customers because those customers don’t have billing plans; they simply purchase minutes through various retail outlets.

It’s a problem that’s getting bigger, according to Patrick Halley, government affairs director for the National Emergency Number Association, who led a panel discussion on the topic last month at the organization’s annual conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Citing various sources, Halley said that 20% of wireless phone users are prepaid and that 80% of new users in May were such customers.

Moreover, Halley cited a report from the New Millennium Research Council that predicted that 60 million people nationwide would shift to less-expensive wireless plans as a result of the flagging economy. Many are expected to migrate to pay-as-you-go options.

“This is a rapidly growing market, without a doubt,” Halley said.
Several approaches have been floated to ensure that prepaid customers contribute their fair share to state 911 funds. The one that is gaining the most momentum calls for legislation that would require retailers to tack a 911 fee onto the purchase price of the prepaid wireless phone cards they sell, in part because it appears to be the easiest to implement.

But is this approach fair to the retail community? Mark Barfield, a vice president with Radio Shack, who also participated in the panel discussion at NENA, doesn’t think so. “There are tens of thousands of mom-and-pop stores that sell these things and many won’t comply,” Barfield said. “Small businesses will think that no one will catch them if they don’t charge the fee.”

That would put any retailer that does comply with such a mandate at a distinct competitive disadvantage, according to Barfield.

“People will come into our store and ask, ‘Why are you collecting this fee when the store down the street isn’t’ — and then they will shop down the street,” Barfield said. Not only would that cost the retailer a sale, but it also could create an unfair perception in the mind of the customer, he added. “People will think we’re cheating them, when we’re just complying with the law.”

But the fact that no mechanism currently is in place to collect 911 fees from pre-paid wireless users is costing the public-safety sector nationwide roughly $200 million a year, money that is sorely needed, especially in a down economy, said Jeff Robertson, executive director of the 911 Industry Alliance, who also participated in the panel discussion.

“The time for talking about this is over,” Robertson said. “A point-of-sale model is the best way to go, so let’s get it done. We could debate this for another year, but anything that we come up with, someone will be able to poke holes in it.”

For those retailers that believe this approach to be unfair, Robertson had some simple advice: “If you don’t want to subscribe to this model, don’t sell the [cards].”

http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/news/prepaid-wireless-fees-20090709/

A tragedy in Tulsa, Oklahoma

A true tragedy. Be prepared because this is disturbing. The website says:

Warning: This is a tape of a 911 call from Kimberlyn Rae Kendrick to dispatchers in Pryor before she drowned in her car May 2. This tape may contain material that is disturbing to some listeners.
The Tulsa World requested the tape of the 911 call from Kendrick as part of its duty to inform readers about how well their government is working, said Executive Editor Joe Worley.
"We believe it is important for citizens to understand how well their emergency operations systems are responding. This case provides insight into that system and hopefully will bring discussion about possible ways to improve it.''


http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2009/drowning_911/drowning_911_play.aspx

What took so long???????? TEN MINUTES!!!! Well, IMO, and I'm no 9-1-1 expert but I have learned this much, we need to be able to locate cell phones!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Rep Mike Reynolds (R) Oklahoma, wants to cut back 9-1-1 funding?????

After ten minutes the fire department is still asking "which road?" God above.

Why are we not using GPS technology in cell phones and 9-1-1 centers? That's the tragedy here. The fire department and 9-1-1 center were doing, IMO, their best. It's the funding and not using technology that's available.

This woman was on the phone for 10 minutes. If we were using GPS technology in all cell phones and 9-1-1 centers she'd be alive today. And so would Denise. I was told I would cry when I listened to this but all it does is make me angry but my heart is breaking. I'm crying on the inside. I feel as if I'm bleeding on the inside.

She could have been saved.