Is Technology Being Used Effectively To Help 000?

There are already plans in place to restrict mobile access for 000 time wasters, but is technology being used to maximum effect to help locate genuine emergencies?

Picture from Wikimedia Common

Andrew Colley and Stuart Kennedy at Australian IT report that the National Emergency Communications Working Group is pushing for regulations to be enhanced to ensure that telecommunications companies enhance their efforts to geolocate 000 callers. The group also wants all VOIP providers to provide access to 000 services, something which doesn’t happen at the moment.

With GPS features now increasingly common on phones, it’s easy to forget that the majority of Australia’s huge installed base of mobile phones don’t allow any more accurate geolocation than can be achieved using mobile towers, which becomes less effective in less populated areas. ACMA is currently reviewing the rules surrounding emergency calls, and will release its findings in December.

Calls for triple-0 reforms [Australian IT]