Today, APCO President Gigi Smith served as an invited witness at a hearing entitled “Locating 911 Callers in a Wireless World,” held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. The hearing focused on the unique location accuracy issues associated with calling 9-1-1 from wireless phones.

During the hearing, President Smith emphasized that the prompt and effective dispatch of appropriate emergency services to any reported event is dependent upon obtaining the best location information possible from the caller. In addition to addressing the location technologies that have been deployed for wireless 9-1-1 service, President Smith provided a practitioner perspective on the special skills and procedures employed by 9-1-1 call-takers to help determine a wireless callers’ location.

President Smith offered that APCO stands ready to work with the wireless industry, location technology vendors, partners in the public safety community, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to explore new wireless location accuracy solutions that make sense for public safety answering points and the general public. Further, Smith noted that APCO would also support revised FCC rules that require improvements for indoor location accuracy over a reasonable period of time.

The full text of President Smith’s written testimony can be found here.