NEWS A mobile tracking system has been developed for the emergency services to locate and help people who dial 999 - as well as catching those who make hoax calls.
It has been developed by the UK's mobile operators - O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3 - in conjunction with BT and Cable & Wireless, who connect 999 calls dialled from mobile phones to the emergency services.
The emergency services will be able to locate mobile 999 callers from the mast nearest to them and a mapping system will calculate the coordinates.
The service will work better in urban areas, tracing callers to within a 200m radius, while in some rural areas the tracking will only be able to pinpoint a caller to within a 20km area.
The scheme was initiated and directed by telecoms watchdog Oftel, which has now become part of the communications industry regulator Ofcom.
It is expected to be operational in the next few months and Ofcom said it could help save lives through faster response times from the police, ambulance and fire services, as well as catching hoax callers.
Peter Walker, senior adviser for Ofcom's technology strategy group, said over half of the 43 million 999 calls each year are made from mobile handsets.
"The enhanced service represents a major step forward in helping the emergency services to respond to calls from mobile users as speedily as possible," he said.
Just last year several private sector mobile tracking services were launched that could allow employers to monitor the location of staff.
Comments
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1. Angus Doyle
I am sure it will be used for more than tracking 999 calls. We are now truly becoming a big brother society.
2. Russ
20km in rural areas? wow, that's useful. Won't take them long to find you then, will it?
3. Chris Freestone
This functionality has existed for some time already. There are a number of mobile tracking sites on the web which allow you to register and locate people, not just employees but family members etc, with their consent usually by means of opt in/out SMS messages.
This site: <http://www.spy.org.uk/cgi-bin/childlocate.pl> gives an interesting insight into one of these services.
4. anonymous
Would be a good idea if Mobile phone companies ensure the design of keypads on the phones bear this in mind - many phones especially the Nokia 3310 or 8210 and equivelent can so easily dial 999 and then even dial the main navigator menu button to call. This happens so easily when the phone is in a pocket and other items in the pocket - maybe keys are coins press against the numbers - Sounds Fluke ? I don't think so. I have innocently dialled 999 or 999 and tonnes of other numbers or worst - 2 or 3 times in the past 2 years called 999.
It sounds very worrying.
When speaking to Nokia and the Service Provider, they confirmed if the phone is locked, by pressing 999 it unlocks the phone. Designed to make it quicker and easier when in an emergency and for people not so familiar with various manufacturers designs of the lock facility.
It certainly would be a fluke if this happened on the good old fashioned Nokia 5110 where the buttons are built more solidly and more emphasis is required to select/dial numbers.
The way round it of course is not to put the phone in a pocket.
I was concerned when I dialled them innocently, so got advice from someone who works for the Emergency Services. He confirmed they have a good idea that a mobile number is calling and identify which is a hoax or an accidental call.
But the point is this is serious and still feel it is a design fault and not just the fault of a person wanting to carry a phone in his/her pocket.
I am sure more modern models are better than the Nokia 3310 or 8210 etc.
5. Jonathan Baker
Evidence from cell phone companies was used against Ian Huntley in the 'Soham trial'. It's quite likely that more of this type of evidence will be used in the coming years, at the cost of some personal freedom. The day this type of information is collected and passed to big brother as a matter of course rather than for a specific reason will be the day I switch off my phone for good.