Only about a quarter of American households have a landline phone. According to the Federal Communications Commission, about three-quarters of 911 calls last year were made from cell phones.
However, cell phone service is not always available. (Landline phones also malfunction from time to time.) Do you need a landline to call for help to be safe in an emergency situation, such as a power outage or cell phone service outage?
After talking to experts, my conclusion is probably not, at least for most of us. But it’s worth having a backup plan in case you need help or calling the burger joint when your phone dies.
Here’s some advice on how to make calls and text messages during a mobile power outage.
Moments like Thursday’s wireless service outage also show that our rapidly changing technology habits challenge the capabilities of 911 service. Here’s what you need to know:
How to call or text when cell phone service is unavailable:
If you have WiFi at home or work, you can usually route calls and texts that way. Additionally, if your Wi-Fi is turned on, emergency services will know where you are even if your phone is disconnected.
To turn on WiFi calling on your iPhone, go to the Settings app and tap Cellular. Find “WiFi Calling” and turn it on.
On an Android smartphone, try tapping the Phone app. From the three vertical dots in the top right corner,[設定]Choose. Select “Calls” and then “WiFi Calls”. Turn on the setting if it is not already on. (Steps may vary depending on your Android model.)
Use your phone’s SOS service. If your cell phone service is not working, check if there is an “SOS” icon in the top right corner of your phone. You can also dial 911. Additionally, some newer iPhones have an option to route emergency requests through a satellite connection.
Have a backup cell phone provider in your home or a neighbor’s home. Brian Fontes, CEO of NENA, an organization representing 911 reporting agencies, said he plans to talk to neighborhood groups about which cellphone providers they use. That way, if one person is on his Verizon and that provider fails, he can still use T-Mobile to contact the person next to him.
You can also consider using a second phone or Apple Watch with a different cell phone provider than your primary phone.
Use calling apps like WhatsApp, Zoom, etc. or FaceTime: It won’t help you contact emergency services, but if you’re at home or in a coffee shop and want to call a friend or use internet service, you can make a call or send a message.
Do not call 911 to “test” if your phone is working. Some emergency systems said they were receiving calls Thursday from people checking to see if their cellphones could call 911. I want you to stop doing that. “If you can make a non-emergency call to another number via your cell phone service, 911 service will also work,” he posted on X, a Massachusetts official said.
Our technology is a challenge to emergency services
Not so long ago, nearly all calls to 911 came from a landline number associated with an address. Even if you couldn’t speak, the emergency services knew where you were.
Now it’s even more complicated.
If you’re calling 911 from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, or if you’re on the 14th floor of an office building instead of the 2nd, emergency services need to know exactly where you are. Emergency responders can take advantage of automatic 911 calls and in-vehicle collision detection services from Apple Watch devices. Depending on your location, you may also be able to text 911.
In most cases, the 911 center knows where you are. However, this may not be the case.
“We’re running into the most serious problem with 9/11 incidents,” said Jacob Saul, administrator of the Arlington County Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management Agency in Virginia.
Tom Wheeler is one of nine former FCC commissioners who recently asked Congress to fund a digital modernization of the 911 emergency response system.
They say this modernization gives emergency agencies an accurate location at all times, gives responders a floor plan of the building where the fire broke out, and allows medical teams to assess the scene of a car crash via video call. It is said that it will become like this.
Some 911 systems now include these features. Others don’t.
“Our daily lives as consumers incorporate the benefits of digital technology,” Wheeler said. “Why wasn’t that incorporated into public safety?”
(Wheeler said he is an investor and advisor to RapidSOS, a company that provides technology to 911 centers.)
