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Americans regularly ask their Amazon Echo and Google Home devices to play music, share weather, and call friends. However, most still can not ask their smart speakers to call 911.
There are regulatory and technical reasons why devices are not always able to make emergency calls. The reliability of the Internet is a potential problem, as well as the need to transmit accurate location data and a call back number to correspondents, said emergency communications professionals.
Most loudspeakers offer only one-way calls and do not have the same real-time GPS data as smartphones. Even sending 911 call location data from mobile phones has proved difficult, as much of the country's 911 infrastructure has grown around fixed phones.
To be able to call 911 from a smart speaker, one would need to add a monthly 911 service charge that customers or tech companies will have to pay to support the call center infrastructure. ;emergency. Current 911 monthly supplements vary from state to state or county to county, but typically range from $ 0.25 to $ 3.00; they are included in the bills of subscribers of the wireless and fixed network.
A regulatory exemption that avoids certain calling services such as Skype from reaching local emergency call centers has so far shielded smart speaker manufacturers from the need to overcome these obstacles.
The Federal Communications Commission is in the early stages of review – and has asked the telecommunications industry – whether it should adopt stricter rules similar to those for 911 calling or landline calls for services such as mobile applications or higher surveillance devices that can call 911. It is unclear whether these new rules would apply to smart speakers, as many do not currently connect to the system.
An Amazon spokesperson said customers could use Echo Connect, a device that can be connected to landlines or other fixed-line services, to make emergency calls. Standard Amazon Echo and Echo Dot cards can not make emergency calls. "I can not speculate on our future plans," she said.
"It is necessary to adhere to a number of technical and regulatory guidelines to allow 911 calls," said a Google spokesman, adding that customers could use the Google Assistant app on their cell phones to dial 911.
Dan Henry, Director of Government Affairs of the 911 Industrial Group, the National Emergency Number Association, is supportive of adding emergency calls to such smart speakers, provided that "I can not wait to get in touch with you. they provide location information and a callback number.
"We believe that 911 needs to evolve," Henry said, and that the mechanisms in place should be able to pick up the torch and connect to 911. "
Bridget Taylor, 62, of Jonesboro, Art., Fell out of her bathtub this spring, but she did not have her cell phone with her to call for help.
"As soon as I got up, I thought, 'Alexa is in my voice and I wish I could scream: call 911,'" she says. Taylor, who pays about $ 40 a month for her elderly mother's emergency help button, said she hopes smart speakers like the Echo would one day eliminate the need for her to buy one. for herself.
It's important to tell kids the limits of smart speakers, said David Hill, chairman of the media and communications board of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Children eight years old and under, in particular, may think that the device is capable of doing tasks that adults know beyond the capabilities of the gadget or that there is a small person inside, said the Dr. Hill.
"As part of your family safety meeting," said Dr. Hill, "you want to explain how to call 911 and make sure kids know that Alexa will not do it for you."
Write to Sarah Krouse at [email protected]
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