Franklin County 911 can now ID cell phones

Franklin County's 911 center is now "Phase Two" compliant, meaning that most cell phone calls to 911 can now be identified not just by phone number, but also with location of the caller.

Franklin County Commissioners toured the county's 911 center last week and learned of the compliance.

Using GIS (Global Information System) mapping and compatible 911 CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) software, the caller's location is identified to within just a few feet.

"The benefit to residents of our county is huge," said Commissioner Bob Thomas. "Experience tells us that many times, during emergency situations, people are too excited to give good location description or frankly, sometimes don't even know where they are."

Jerry Flasher, Director of Emergency Services told the commissioners that the cell locater/ GIS mapping system recently was instrumental in getting help for an out of town lady in the Memorial Park in Waynesboro. The reply from 911 was "Are you in a park next to a swing?" The answer was "Yes!" and help was quickly on its way.

Commissioner David Keller said, "Jerry Flasher and or Department of Emergency Services deserves a lot of credit for getting this important service up and running so quickly and ahead of schedule."

Commissioner Bob Ziobrowski commented to the 911 staff, "I am certainly a lot smarter than I was before!" referring to the 911 center visit, a part of the new commissioners' continuing county education.

Short facts about Franklin County 911 cell phone locating system include the following:

- User must have an updated cell phone. Most are 911 compliant. Contact your cell carrier to be certain.

- Presently, all but one cell provider is 911 locater compliant. The only exception is AT&T, which is expected to be compliant soon.

- After a call, caller location refreshes every 15 seconds and the exact caller's location is displayed on the 911 GIS Mapping system.

- More than 50 percent of the calls to 911 originate from cell phones.