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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 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) by debanqued@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org

19 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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[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 2 points 1 hour ago

911 center: Okay, what is the phone number of the phone you are testing (so we know which inbound call to disregard)?

Your argument stems primarily from that point.

The purpose of contacting them is not to identify what phone number will be making the call. The purpose of contacting them is to ensure they are not currently in the middle of a mass casualty incident that you don't know about.

They don't care what number you will be making the call from. They care that they have the time and resources available to take it. If your test call is successful, you will tell them that it was a test call.

As for your argument about not having a phone to make the initial call, it's 2026, not 1926. You have a phone, it's in your hands right now, and you're using it to read this.