US Army Veteran Seeks Funding To Build 911 Cell Phone Business

by Antoine Brooks
(California, USA)

Do you know who will answer your call to 9-1-1 placed from your cell phone?

Did you know that last year in the US alone 60% of calls made to 9-1-1 were from cell phones and some estimates state that as much as 20-30% were unanswered, placed on hold or dropped!

Did you also know that oftentimes even if they are answered, your call is taken by a random call center based on where the cell tower routes your call? Usually it's not in your local calling area. The call is answered by the Highway Patrol or the County and has to be re-routed once the call-taker has obtained enough information to determine how and where to properly route your call for help.

Last year (2008) in California there were 13.4 million calls made to 9-1-1 from cell phones, and despite this volume, some cities have decided not to take wireless 9-1-1 calls. Instead, the California Highway Patrol or County dispatch center handles them. The location information is then transferred back to the city from which the call was placed.

Of all of the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in California only about 2 dozen are not taking calls from wireless devices. This may sound great; however these locations are some of the larger PSAPs in the state, which receive a large volume of calls and by not taking their wireless calls they are routed to the CHP, which overwhelms their system and why you may get a busy signal or a hold message when you call 9-1-1 from your cell phone.

The CHP also takes all wireless 9-1-1 calls placed close to freeways.

Consider this: You're out alone shopping for the Holidays, you've forgotten to eat anything and your blood sugar gets too low. It's all you can do to dial 9-1-1 from your cell phone before blacking out! Who will help you? How will responders get information from you or about you?

My name is Antoine Brooks, the co-founder of ME911. Our company has considered this very question and has come up with a cost-effective solution! Having served 23 years in the US Army and currently mobilized as a Reservist, I have used my experience, knowledge and expertise gained from events such as 9/11, deployment to Iraq, and the Hurricane Katrina Rescue effort to build a company that addresses this issue and will save lives.

My company has developed and deployed the initial version of our service and technology, and we're now seeking further funding, grants or investment in order to continue operations and improve on our service. Our service fills a void that our government has identified, but has not began to address. You can't predict when a disaster or emergency will happen, but you can be prepared!