Nearly half the 911 calls received last year at the Douglas County Emergency Communications Center came from cell phones.

Unlike calls made from land-line phones, dispatchers taking cell phone calls have no way to pinpoint where those calls are coming from.

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER Jim Ramsey takes incoming calls for dispatch. An increasing number of 911 calls are being made from cell phones, and dispatchers cannot pinpoint the location of callers.

“We have the equipment. There just isn’t a way to transport the information to the equipment,” center director Jim Denney said.

And that is a glaring deficiency plaguing 911 systems throughout most of the country, according to a report on 911 presented this year to Congress.

The nation’s 911 emergency telephone system is reliable and effective but falling behind advances in wireless technology, according to the report prepared by the National Emergency Number Assn.

The association gives the nation’s 911 system an “incomplete” for wireless-locating ability and a “D” for keeping up with telecommunications changes.

On the plus side, the 911 system gets an “A” for quality of service and “B’s” for availability and public awareness.

Lawrence was one of the first cities in the country to get 911 in 1969. In 1993, enhanced 911 was installed, allowing dispatchers to see on a screen the address from where a 911 call was being made.

Last year, however, 40 percent of the 40,000 emergency calls made in Douglas County came from cell phones, Denney said. That was up from 15 percent in 1998. No address is shown for those calls. Moreover, callers using cell phones are often mobile at the time a call is made.

Listing an address on a 911 call assures that law enforcement and other emergency personnel will know where to respond, even if the caller doesn’t know where they are calling from.

The problem can’t be solved alone by the nation’s 911 managers. Cell phone service carriers must obtain the right equipment for transporting that information to dispatch centers. And unlike Douglas County, not all 911 systems in the state have the equipment needed.

“In Kansas, we’re at least a year or two away from that,” Denney said.

State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, has been working with Douglas County to try to resolve the issue through the Kansas Legislature.

Sloan said lawmakers are discussing legislation that would provide monetary assistance for counties lacking the equipment, .

	The NENA Report Card to the Nation and other information on 911 service is available at the National Emergency Number Assn. Web site

Legislation also would require cell phone users to pay a fee for enhanced 911 service. For years, land-line phone users have paid a 911 fee on their phone bill.

“I’m hoping this will get resolved this year,” Sloan said.