The push is on for U.S. carriers to meet the FCC’s October deadline for Phase II of the commission’s mandate to pinpoint 911 callers using cell phones. To-date carriers such as AT&T Wireless have cited less than satisfactory results in large-scale tests of their systems.

Carriers should take note that U.S. Wireless Corporation, based in San Ramon, CA, has confirmed that its RadioCamera™ caller location system has passed a series of tests for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) satisfying the Phase II requirements.

The FCC requires that new systems locate calls within 100 meters two-thirds of the time and within 300 meters 95 percent of the time.

Acting as a neutral party, between the FCC and wireless vendors, the NENA requested a demonstration and trial of U.S. Wireless’ E-911 solution, as part of its efforts to assess the state of available location technologies, said Mark Adams, executive director of NENA. The organization hopes that other wireless location technology vendors will allow it to evaluate their location systems, so that the industry can ensure the safety of the public.

Conducted over a period of nine days in Seattle, WA, the NENA’s trial of U.S. Wireless’ E-911 caller location solutions involved evaluating over 16,000 location ‘fixes’ at 18 stationary test points and 9 mobile test routes, encompassing a wide range of environments from dense urban to expansive freeway locals. The NENA concluded that U.S. Wireless’ RadioCamera caller location system meets the FCC’s accuracy requirements.

RadioCamera is a network-based E-911 solution that uses Location Pattern Matching technology to locate wireless phones, regardless of the surrounding environment. The system does not require users to purchase new or upgrade their handsets, a bonus to carriers and users.

For more information: http://www.uswcorp.com/USWCMainPages/PressRel/pr93.htm