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Colorado: to test the 911 service, you must first place a normal call to the 911 center. WTF, they don’t think you might be unable to make normal calls (the very reason you need to test 911)? (puc.colorado.gov)

submitted 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) by debanqued@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

From the linked FAQ:

How can I make a test 9-1-1 call? To make a test 9-1-1 call, you need to first contact the 9-1-1 center that serves your area. The non-emergency numbers for Colorado's 9-1-1 centers are available here(opens in new window). If you're unsure which 9-1-1 center serves your area, call the 911 Program at 303-894-2871, and we'll help you identify the 9-1-1 center for the location you want to test from.

When you call the 9-1-1 center, ask them if it would be okay to make a test 9-1-1 call. If they are particularly busy or are handling a major incident, they may ask you to call back at a later time.

When your phone cannot make normal calls for whatever reason¹, you obviously want to know if 911 calls will at least work. And the idiots design a test procedure that requires normal phone calls to work.

① Typical reasons why you may be unable to make normal calls:

You have a GSM phone with no GSM chip, or unsubscribed chip.
You are on a prepaid plan and have no credit.

So indeed the telecom industry has a glaring competency problem.

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[–] debanqued@beehaw.org 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (1 children)

I’m confused what you think a better alternative would be? If there was a test number, what if that worked, but you couldn’t call the real 911?

A test number would suffice in some situations. When an incompetent VOIP provider takes an action to block calls “for security purposes”, they cannot legally block /all/ calls. 911 calls must be permitted. And 911 test calls would obviously require the same status. I do not trust their competency. But if their call blocking allows a 911 test number through, it proves that their blockade is not a simple crude block on /everything/.

A test number would not be the only solution. With some services you can set the CID to whatever you want. So in principle a CID of 555-1212 could have special meaning to 911 receiptionists. So a tester would set the CID info to that number before calling 911.

911 is not always instantly answered by humans. When answered by a machine, there could be a cancel code. E.g. dial “119” after connecting to cancel it.

There’s no way around it: to be absolutely sure your phone can contact 911, you have to… dial 911.

Sure, if you need that extra level of certainty. In the typical cases that I mentioned (no GSM subscription), a test number would be sufficient. It would show that the dialed number reaches a switch that treats it.

[–] dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Sounds like a bunch of good ideas. Have you considered proposing those to the people who can actually implement them?