Alpharetta is joining a pilot program to demonstrate a technology that its backers say can immediately provide a 911 dispatcher with the accurate location of a cell phone caller, speeding responses and potentially saving lives.
The city is working with LaaSer Critical Communications on a system serving that community as well as Milton. LaaSer also is in a one-year pilot program with the Chattahoochee River 911 Authority (ChatComm), which serves Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Dunwoody and Brookhaven.
LaaSer said its cell phone locator technology incorporates the existing systems of carriers and public safety answering points with a mobile handset’s WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and other applications.
Alpharetta and LaaSer cited a December 2014 incident in which a woman drove her SUV into a Cherokee County pond. She called for help on her cell phone, but her call was routed to Alpharetta emergency services, and responders had trouble locating her. The woman eventually was rescued, but she died in a hospital some days later.
“Unfortunately, her tragedy was not an isolated incident. People are impacted every day by inaccurate or missing caller location data when they call 911,” said LaaSer CEO Fred White.
