Kennesaw Acworth 911 use new tech to pinpoint emergency calls

KENNESAW, Ga. - The Kennesaw Acworth 911 center has new technology that they say can give a more precise location of a 911 caller.

It's called What3words. It's a free app that converts GPS coordinates into a unique three-word address, pinpointing a 10-foot-by-10-foot-area.

"What3words a seamless way to go about finding someone in a moment of crisis," said Kennesaw Police Officer David Buchanan. 

Tech enhancements for Kennesaw Acworth 911 center

There are times when people call 911 and, for various reasons, whether they're lost or confused, cannot give their exact location. Kennesaw Acworth 911 is now using What3words to help pinpoint exactly where they are.

"If there's some sort of emergency going on and police, fire, EMS are needed. This is a way to cut down the time of response," said Officer Buchanan.

What3words has assigned every 10-foot-by-10-foot square on the surface of the Earth three distinct words. 

How does What3words work?

Nikki McGraw, the director of the 911 center, showed a scenario of how it works. 

If someone is in City Hall and calls 911 but doesn't know exactly where they are in the building, a 911 dispatcher could send them a text with a link. The caller would click on the link, three words would appear. The caller would then read those words to the dispatcher, in this case it was flock-pursuing-storage. The dispatcher types those words in and the caller's exact location automatically pops up. 

"In this scenario, when we dispatch the officers, they wouldn't have to come running through all different directions. They could strategically plan on where to enter," said McGraw. 

How accurate is the new 911 tech?

What3words is most often used in situations where someone is lost or is on a trail in a park and needs medical attention but can't give a specific location on the trail. 

"If they were to call on a cell phone, we would have a 30-meter circle around where they might be. This gets us down to right where they are on the trail," said McGraw. 

Mcgraw says it's a gamechanger. 

"We can tell our officers or other first responders the three words they type it in their phone, they know exactly where they're going. So, we're talking seconds to get to the people instead of minutes," said McGraw.