“Can I Hear Your Now?”… Oh Please Not Now!

You are in bed, you hear someone busting in, you sneak into the bathroom to avoid the intruder. You dial 911 and all the sudden a constant beeping occurs, obviously giving away your location. In interrogation the perp admits he was able to kill you because of the cell phone noise. Is Verizon liable for a tort?

Farfetched? Short of the murder just described, a scene very similar to this has already happened folks.

“I think it’s a danger to everyone,” she says.

Carol, who asked that her last name not be used for fear of making herself or her land a target for vandals, called for help recently when she arrived at some vacant property she owns in east Austin and found her security chain gone.

She grabbed her new Casio G’zOne phone from Verizon Wireless, which to her horror made an audible alarm when she called 911.

Fearing vandals were still on the property, she hung up and hid, then put her hand over the earpiece and dialed again to muffle the sounds.

“I was afraid the criminals were down the driveway and they would hear and they would know somebody was doing something and they would come out to stop me,” she said.

The alarm is not ear-splitting, but it is loud enough to be heard at least several yards away.

Verizon’s response?

Sheryl Sellaway said:

“The tone our customer experienced is our interpretation of Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act calling for a provider of telecommunications service to offer service that is accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities. The tone, indicating that 911 has been dialed, is one of several features designed to make wireless service is accessible and easy to use, especially for those with disabilities. Other features include a voice command key where customers can use their voice to dial by name or number; a voice echo feature so that a person who can’t see can hear the number or letter if sending a text; read back text messages and speech output of signal strength, battery strength, missed calls, voicemail, roaming, time and date.”

The FCC’s response?

But the FCC said Section 255 of the Telecommunications Code requires that phones let a caller know a 911 call is underway, but does not require an audible alarm.

“The Commission has not implemented any rules pursuant to Section 255 that would require the use of any tones concerning 911 calls,” a spokesman said.

Gee Verizon, we think you are blowing corporate smoke. I figure once an incident like we describe occurs in a death and you are listed as a co-conspirator you might turn the tones off?

Linky.