The Federal Register estimates that of the 240 million 911 calls made each year, approximately one-third of them come from wireless phones. Obviously some people carry cell phones for a sense of security. With a cell phone, a person can call 911 from just about anywhere. But the irony is that sometimes calling from a landline phone yields faster 911 service. And in a life-or-death event, minutes and seconds count.

The ability to address that problem is why public safety officials are excited about a $40 million grant recently announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The funds will help 911 call centers route calls from wireless phones and IP-based phones more quickly and efficiently.

Daphne Roe, chief of the California 911 Emergency Communications Office, said that to her knowledge it's the first funding from the federal government in the last decade that's specifically for 911 upgrades.

"So this is a really big deal for us. It's fantastic," she said.

California got $4.3 million, and is one of 30 states to receive funding. The grant mandates that states also match their award amount. California will use the money for a pilot in northern California that will locate 911 callers who are dialing from wireless phones by using GPS coordinates.

"Initially our primary concern is getting wireless 911 calls delivered to the appropriate response agency -- the first responders -- as quickly as possible, which is why we're moving to ‘X-Y' routing. What we're doing today is routing based on the cell sector. This [project] will give us the ability to route on latitude and longitude."

Roe said that having the more accurate GPS data will save time because public safety answering points (PSAPs) -- the centers that take and answer 911 calls -- won't have to re-route calls as often to the correct public safety agency. For example, sometimes the call centers have to send a call from a local police department to the highway patrol because a wireless caller's exact location isn't known.

The California pilot also will address load sharing among the PSAPs and give them the ability to evacuate and take 911 calls with full functionality from another location. If the pilot is successful -- Roe said it will take three years to complete -- its innovations likely will be deployed across the state, she said.

The federal grant will help states implement improvements prescribed by the Ensuring Needed Help Arrives Near Callers Employing 911 (ENHANCE 911) Act of 2004.