What you need to know about cell phones

When you dial 9-1-1 from a cell phone, the coordinates that appear on the dispatcher’s screen are very different from those that appear when you dial 9-1-1 from a land line.

A land line sends the 9-1-1 dispatcher the real address where the phone is plugged in, along with the associated name and phone number.

With a cell phone, geographic data (longitude and latitude) appear on the dispatcher’s screen, showing where the caller is within 10 to 1,200 metres, based on the global positioning system (GPS), triangulation technology and signal strength.

To find out more

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) - Location of calls made from cell phones  

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