PARKERSBURG - Wood County Central Telecommunications has the ability to track callers using cellular telephones in emergency situations.
The Wood County 911 center is equipped with cell-tracking technology that can give dispatchers the coordinates of cell phone callers. The Federal Communications Commission has required that 911 centers in the country install and use this technology and Wood County is one of the first in West Virginia to implement the system.
The technology at the 911 center cannot track cell phones while they are not in use, said Duane Jones, mapping and addressing coordinator and technical assistant for central telecommunications.
"I know people worry about that," Jones said. "People see it on television. The government may have that technology and cell phone companies can probably track your cell phone when it's not being used, but we can't do that."
When 911 callers use a cell phone, the system can provide dispatchers with the phone number, cell tower location and coordinates of the caller, Jones said. Some cell phone companies do not provide exact coordinates, but provide information to triangulate the location within a few meters using cell towers, he said.
"When you take a cell phone call, the person may be on the move, so you get the coordinates of where they were when they made the call," Jones said.
However, Jones said dispatchers can use the system to get updated coordinates to track the cell phone as it moves. Tracking an abductee locked in the trunk of a moving car is one extreme example of how this technology would be useful. Jones said the federal officials began advocating the technology after an incident in which a motorist ran her vehicle off the road, but couldn't give dispatchers an accurate location. Her vehicle couldn't be seen from the road and, unfortunately, she perished before rescuers could get to her, Jones said.
"One of the more common uses is to track callers who are passing through the area and have no idea where they are when they call," Jones said.
Cell phones do not have to be equipped with a useable GPS system for the 911 tracking to work. Any newer cell phone can be tracked, he said. All of the major companies who provide local cell phone service are online with the technology. Jones said 911 officials are still working with some of the smaller companies to bring them online.
"We're mostly just trying to get all of the companies on board with it. We're working with some of the smaller vendors," he said. "Sprint, Nextel and Alltel are all already on board."
Jones said the system is not fool-proof. The signal can be corrupted or ghost signals and signal echoes can cause the system to report incorrect coordinates, he said. However, failures of this magnitude are not common, he said.
"I would give it a good 90-95 percent success rate of getting a good lock on a cell phone caller," Jones said.
The technology will only continue to improve, making it even more reliable, Jones said. Even now, the life-saving potential is enormous.
"There's no doubt in my mind it has the potential to save lives," he said.
