MSU researchers identify why 911 calls are delayed, failed, or dropped
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-Sep-2025 13:11 ET (2-Sep-2025 17:11 GMT/UTC)
An estimated 240 million calls are made to 911 in the U.S. each year, with wireless devices accounting for 80% or more of these calls. Making sure emergency calls connect and stay connected to 911 dispatchers is essential and could have life-threatening consequences. MSU researchers found that in certain situations, 90% of emergency wireless calls failed to connect to 911 within 120 seconds but have developed an app to correct this.
Guan-Hua “Scott” Tu, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, and his team observed that despite sufficient wireless signal coverage, users may still experience prolonged emergency call setup times, call initiation failures, or call drops.
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