All new phones from Verizon have a 911 alarm.

[ScruffyGuy]

In reality, who really gives a crap about the e911 stuff? I think it is over rated. For years before the "e911" was put into place, people survived. People made 911 emergency calls and were able to give their location without problems.

A few weeks ago I called 911, when asked for my location I then replied that my phone has the e911 capability, so can't you tell where I am. The 911 person said no, then asked for my location (which I gave her).

Its just my opinion, but I think the e911 stuff is crap let alone the stupid siren on the phone when you dial 911. And the siren is all because of Verizon reading something into the law that wasn't there.

[Jonbo298]

911 center's also have to be updated with the proper software/equipment to be able to locate where you are. So its possible the one you called hasn't gotten it yet..who knows

[Domain]

In reality, who really gives a crap about the e911 stuff? I think it is over rated. For years before the "e911" was put into place, people survived. People made 911 emergency calls and were able to give their location without problems.

A few weeks ago I called 911, when asked for my location I then replied that my phone has the e911 capability, so can't you tell where I am. The 911 person said no, then asked for my location (which I gave her).

Its just my opinion, but I think the e911 stuff is crap let alone the stupid siren on the phone when you dial 911. And the siren is all because of Verizon reading something into the law that wasn't there.

It's important to keep in mind though that even if the dispatcher can see your location, it could be way of the mark. 911 AGPS is a backup solution, not a primary method of determining location.

[ScruffyGuy]

I still think its a total joke.

[joenobody1980]

So very right you are...

BTW: RAZR v3m FW: 01.19.05(based more on VZs FW than Motorolas FW) emits the tone but 01.09.02 does NOT(based more off motorola FW than VZ)

So in other words stock motorola UI will not. It seems to be that all newer VZW phones have the alarm.

Good to know; especially since I plan to upgrade to a Razr v3m next week, when the eligibility date on my 1 year contract is up. In the meantime, does anyone know if the v325i is affected by this?

[areusche]

I still think its a total joke.

I agree.

Especially when your local 911 dispatcher doesn't have the AGPS system working

[CharlesH]

It's important to keep in mind though that even if the dispatcher can see your location, it could be way of the mark. 911 AGPS is a backup solution, not a primary method of determining location.

How much could it be off? This is the same mechanism that is used by VZ-Nav, and it seems to be accurate to within a couple of hundred feet at worst.

Another thing to keep in mind with "Emergency Mode" on phones is that this tells the phone to ignore the PRL and find any possible system to connect to.

[Domain]

How much could it be off? This is the same mechanism that is used by VZ-Nav, and it seems to be accurate to within a couple of hundred feet at worst.

Another thing to keep in mind with "Emergency Mode" on phones is that this tells the phone to ignore the PRL and find any possible system to connect to.

I've heard some real horror stories with this. What was your point with Emergency Mode? I missed the relevance.

[CharlesH]

I've heard some real horror stories with this. What was your point with Emergency Mode? I missed the relevance.

What kind of horror stories? aGPS is pretty accurate. The main issue with e911 is that so many PSAPs aren't equiped to receive the information ("budgetary limitations").

Some posters were talking about trying to disable Emergency Mode for 911 calls or using alternate numbers, and I was just pointing out another "feature" of Emergency Mode being that it ignores call restrictions.

[Domain]

Mostly that they are sometimes more off the mark than you might hope... And then sometimes it defaults to Phase 1, with just the tower location, even if it is a Phase 2 PSAP with an AGPS handset on the other end.

[macshack]

Despite arguing logic and semantics, I still have not heard anyone post a detailed set of instructions on how to remove 911 from the emergency number list in the evil verizon UI (assuming that this would fix the stupid alarm).

[Domain]

Yeah, port.

[C DM]

Yeah, port.

I thought that it was pretty much established that this wasn't limited to any specific carrier really.

[Domain]

It's not as universal as it is on Verizon, elsewhere. At least with other carriers, you still have a good chance of getting a phone without the alarm.

[burtot]

That's the thing I was getting at. If it's removed from the emergency list, it's no longer treated as a 911 call -- effectively disabling AGPS. Since it's not processed as an emergency call, theoretically Location being set to ON doesn't affect anything in reality becuase whether it's a 911 only or Location ON when emergency mode doesn't come into play, nothing triggers AGPS to begin sending a location.

The other thing is that it is important to keep in mind just becuase 911 was removed from the list, it doesn't mean the phone still won't treat 911 as a number to trigger Emergency Mode.

I tried putting 611 into my Samsung's emergency list and turned on GPS for emergency only. My GPS location icon still showed disabled when dialing 611. It made the emergency sounds, and stated "EMERGENCY" on the screen but never showed activating the GPS location mode icon. So removing 911, or any other # from the emergency list does not disable E911 GPS location on cells... at least on my Samsung. It is the fact of dialing 911 that triggers GPS location regardless of the numbers in your emergency list.