How to call 911 in a different area code

[AgentEL]

I'm just asking for curiosity's sake. No real emergency right now.

Anyways, I have a cell phone with the area code 510.

I moved to the 619 area, but I never changed my phone number, so it is still 510. If I simply dial 911, I will likely reach the Bay Area emergency services.

What should I do if I need to place an emergency call in the 619 area? Does 1-619-911 work?

 

[Winchester]

It should automatically go to the nearest 911 center since it goes through the tower that you are closest to first.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

The area has to have 911 functionality to start off with (not too many of those left that don't). After that, it's up to the cell folks to decide how 911 routing is handled.

If you are from NY and are in LA and dial 911, you'll reach LA dispatch of some sort. How the cell system handles it depends on area. It may go to a dispatch which asks you what you need, or may go directly to the local police or sheriff. That sort of thing.

Regardless, if you have an emergency, you only need to dial 911 to reach local help. Doesn't matter where the cell phone is from, no other dialing needed. Just 9-1-1. Nifty system

 

[theNEOone]

am i the only one that thinks that this is a stupid question?


=|

 

[slikmunks]

lol, imagine, if you're in LA and you're from NY and you dial 911... and you got emergency services in ny.... nypd would be like w-t-f mate!?

 

[TheToOTaLL]

 

[crumpet19]

a long distance 911 call?
"Yes, I'd like to report a robbery in California...."

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: theNEOone
am i the only one that thinks that this is a stupid question?


=|

It's not a stupid question, but not for the reason that he stated.

How, for instance, would you call for help for someone you know is in trouble but lives a long ways away?

AFAIK 911 call centers can route to a local dispatch.

Viper GTS

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: theNEOone
am i the only one that thinks that this is a stupid question?


=|

nope. i think its a good question.

if he dint know then asking is a Good thing. better to find out now then when he needs it. pitty you think someone wanting to find out how to be safe is stupid.

 

[ucdbiendog]

here's the problem with 911 on the cell phone:

I live in california and all 911 calls from a cell phone go to the calif. highway patrol. I live near sacramento, and i have heard of cell phone 911 calls going to the CHP office to a city about 35 miles south (stockton). Do other states do the same thing? I honestly just feel better dialing it on a land line because they pinpoint your location immediately. ....cuz i dial 911 all the time... =/

 

[Spoooon]

Actually, I had wondered about that myself. I assumed that it would go to local 911 first, since the call would go to a local tower. It's good to know for sure.

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: theNEOone
am i the only one that thinks that this is a stupid question?


=|

It's not a stupid question, but not for the reason that he stated.

How, for instance, would you call for help for someone you know is in trouble but lives a long ways away?

AFAIK 911 call centers can route to a local dispatch.

Viper GTS

indeed. that's prolly what happens to people who live in the boondocks, miles and miles away.

 

[thomsbrain]

yeah, 911 calls all go to the CHP no matter where you are in California, so even when you lived in 510, you still wouldn't have reached the local authorities. if you need to call local people, the best bet is to call 911, then tell them to transfer you to the emergancy line for the city you're in. or at least, that's what i would do. i've never had to 911 in my life.

 

[crumpet19]

Originally posted by: ucdbiendog
here's the problem with 911 on the cell phone:

I live in california and all 911 calls from a cell phone go to the calif. highway patrol. I live near sacramento, and i have heard of cell phone 911 calls going to the CHP office to a city about 35 miles south (stockton). Do other states do the same thing? I honestly just feel better dialing it on a land line because they pinpoint your location immediately. ....cuz i dial 911 all the time... =/

I'm not sure about other carriers but, Sprint PCS/Vision offers this service. My phone (Sanyo 4900) has a feature which allows the carrier to track my location as long as I'm on the Sprint network. Personally, I keep this feature turned off because I like my privacy. But, regardless of whether or not Location Tracking is turned on, Emergency Services can still track my location when calling 911.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

And FWIW, 911 can you get you to pretty much where ever in the country you need to be, same for the operator. You can always hit 0 and tell them you need emergency services in whatever, and they can patch you through. 0 and 911 are pretty nifty if you read up on them, all sorts of neat stuff they can do.

If you need to get through to someone that's on the phone (their line is busy), an operator can knock the person off and put you through. Better yet, if the person left the phone off the hook, the operator can still make it ring

Sad that I'm so fascinated with it, I know

You can also do a line check by dialing 211 and then your number (no area code). The telco will come on the line with an automated message of some sort. Hang up. Your phone will ring. Weee, makes you feel important (at least it works for GTE here).

Don't dial 112 by accident though...many cities have 112 patched as 911, as 112 is the UK equivelent of 911.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Originally posted by: crumpet19

Originally posted by: ucdbiendog
here's the problem with 911 on the cell phone:

I live in california and all 911 calls from a cell phone go to the calif. highway patrol. I live near sacramento, and i have heard of cell phone 911 calls going to the CHP office to a city about 35 miles south (stockton). Do other states do the same thing? I honestly just feel better dialing it on a land line because they pinpoint your location immediately. ....cuz i dial 911 all the time... =/

I'm not sure about other carriers but, Sprint PCS/Vision offers this service. My phone (Sanyo 4900) has a feature which allows the carrier to track my location as long as I'm on the Sprint network. Personally, I keep this feature turned off because I like my privacy. But, regardless of whether or not Location Tracking is turned on, Emergency Services can still track my location when calling 911.

It's actually federal legislation that by like 2005 (I think that's the right year, may be 2004) that cell towers and phones must be able to locate the position of the call within 300 feet :|

I like my privacy too. Apparently too many people not giving proper information or hanging up. Current 911 systems don't receive call information on phone owner/address/etc. like land lines do.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

QP

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

QP

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

QP

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Freaking board

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: ucdbiendog
here's the problem with 911 on the cell phone:

I live in california and all 911 calls from a cell phone go to the calif. highway patrol. I live near sacramento, and i have heard of cell phone 911 calls going to the CHP office to a city about 35 miles south (stockton). Do other states do the same thing? I honestly just feel better dialing it on a land line because they pinpoint your location immediately. ....cuz i dial 911 all the time... =/

Yes. 911 cell phone calls usually go to the state patrol in my area too. Unless I'm directly on a freeway or state highway, the state patrol must first transfer me to a different dispatch center, and then I need to know my exact location and report it to a second dispach center in order to receive emergency help.

Nearly every new cell phone sold today is ready for location-based 911 service, but wireless carriers themselves aren't. The FCC has allowed wireless providers until December 31, 2005 to fully comply with new rules requiring location-based Enhanced 911 service.

Presently, if I call 911 from a land line, it goes through to the correct dispach center immediately, and they know my location within a few seconds. Some day, E911 service will offer similar functionality for 911 calls dialed from a wireless phone.

 

[iwearnosox]

The one and only time I called 911 with a true emergency it was busy, for over 10 minutes. I had to call an operator who broke though to the 911 call center.

 

[sillymofo]

The 911 emergency system is automatically triangulated if you called by cell and if by land line, then they know where you're calling from, even with ID block.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Had to use 911 via cell phone on I40 near the Tx/OK border on Turkey day. Cell number was from NV.

I told the dispatch where I was and they routed me to the local sheriff. Total time was less than 3 minutes between the start of call and completion of the call with the sheriff dispatcher. Lucky I was standing at a mile marker, so I could identify my exact location to everyone.