Google Helped Cause the Mysterious Increase In 911 Calls SF Asked It To Solve (bbc.com)

theodp writes: Android users have long complained publicly that it's way too easy to accidentally dial 911. So it's pretty astonishing that it took a team of Google Researchers and San Francisco Department of Emergency Management government employees to figure out that butt-dialing was increasing the number of 911 calls. The Google 9-1-1 Team presented its results in How Googlers helped San Francisco Use Data Science to Understand a Surge in 911 Calls, a Google-sponsored presentation at the Code for America Summit, and in San Francisco's 9-1-1 Call Volume Increase, an accompanying 26-page paper.

Comments

Simple

[JMJimmy]

Many Android phones when you press the power button the screen activates with the "Emergency Call" touchable which means it easily enters calling mode. Since emergency services is the only valid call you can make from that screen those are the "butt dials" getting through.

More annoying is the fact that holding the power button, something that seems to happen often in my pocket, brings up the "silent/airplane mode/power off" options without having to enter the pass key. I've missed so many calls because of this damn "feature". It's a combination of bad phone design and bad software design.

Re:Simple

[EthanDemurs]

I've had this happen to me a few times, though it was never a problem. Try designating a pocket solely for your phone.

Re:Simple

[JMJimmy]

It is solely for my phone... it's the pressure when I kneel down against the outside of the pant leg. With my phone the power button is on the top corner so it seems very easy to trigger in this way. There should be a two button option for problem phones (software) and/or a button that has guards at either end to prevent evenly distributed pressure from pressing the button (hardware).

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop wearing skinny jeans.

Or don't, but i don't see your point about carrying a purse if you're going to insist on being a woman regardless.

Re: Simple

[JMJimmy]

It happens most often in khakis - ie: standard business wear. Also in relaxed fit jeans.

Re:Simple

[EthanDemurs]

You could always buy pocket T-shirts. It's certainly not the most fashionable solution, I admit.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

First time you go to pick up something off the ground leaves your phone broken on the ground.

Re:Simple

[hackwrench]

Which pockets do you put things in? I don't understand why people prefer their back pockets to put things into, or else back pocket dialing wouldn't be a thing.

Re:Simple

[lucm]

I don't understand why people prefer their back pockets to put things into

They try to look like 18 years old chicks, that's why

Re:Simple

[Darinbob]

My new phone has this problem. The "home" button also acts as an extra power button. There's no need for an extra power button, but apparently they thought it was convenient. But in Lollipop the option to disable that extra power button is removed; you are stuck with it unless you root the phone. So this means the phone can easily power itself on even when it's in your pocket. I have often found myself walking around and hearing a blipping sound coming from my pocket, only to notice that it was trying to let me type in an emergency dial number (and sometimes there is a warning that "133113313122" is not a known emergency number). Sure, I can put a bulky case around it, but then it ruins the point of having a nice phone that fits comfortably in the pocket, and many of the cases interfere with touch screen at the bottom edge or the fingerprint reader.

I do not understand the attitude from phone and operating system suppliers that they must remove customization and options with each release. Customization is a good thing to have! But I suspect in a few years we'll have just one button for convenience, and it'll be pushed before it leaves the factory.

Re:Simple

[Darinbob]

This does not work. You already designate a pocket only for your phone if you don't want it to be horribly scratched up by your pocket change and keys. This power on accidentally happens in the front pocket, especialy on my phone where the "home" key also doubles as an extra power button. I've slowly gotten a habit of taking the phone out of my pocket when I tie my shoes in the morning, but a couple of times that has led me to forget and leave the phone behind.

This is without having a bulky case to wrap around the phone though.

Re: Simple

[Darinbob]

This happens to me when I'm wearing loose grandpa jeans. I suspect it doesn't happen with khakis or suit pants, but it definitely does not have to be tight pants for this to happen. It doesn't take much pressure at all to push the power buttons, if it did take pressure someone would complain and then the next model of phone would be back to a hair trigger.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

First time you go to school wearing a pocket T-shirt leaves your glasses broken on the ground.

FTFY

Re:Simple

[Solandri]

Which phone? I've got a Nexus 5 on pure Lollipop and it doesn't exhibit that behavior. Pressing the Home button sends you back to your home screen, or locks the device (from the lock screen - I have Smart Lock enabled). Long-pressing it does nothing. Swiping the home button up takes me to the Google Now screen. I think you're dealing with a modification to Android made by a phone manufacturer or carrier.

Re:Simple

[hcs_$reboot]

Many people don't value ergonomics as much as it should be. Most of these annoying problems, and a lot of others, have never been part of the iPhone/iOS, even in the early devices. The iPhone/iOS is still far ahead of Android in terms of ergonomics.

Re:Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Need to buy better phones. I keep mine in my key pocket and never had an issue.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

So when you wear your mid-90s wardrobe, it conflicts with your mid-10s technology?

Khaki pants to work? You can't loudly claim that you are wearing a FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR SUIT when wearing khakis. Amateur.

Re:Simple

[toejam13]

I have the same problem as you. The emergency call button is too easy to activate and the power menu can be activated without unlocking the screen. Both are design faults. Some third party Android editions remedy the second problem, but not the first.

My ancient Nokia brick phones had a screen lock. They also had a bypass for emergency calls. But instead of automatically dialing 911/999, it brought you to the dialer screen. The only number you could enter was 911/999. Anything else would prompt for the unlock code.

I've seen people argue that dialing emergency services should be as simple as possible, that a catastrophic injury might make navigating menus and dialers difficult. For every scenario like that, how many times have emergency call centers run out of free operators, with a butt dialer or two being enough to push them to capacity?

Re:Simple

[Darinbob]

It's Samsung, and the home doubling as power button is a Samsung feature. But you used to be able to remap it, until the Lollipop release. So not really Google's fault per se, but a continuing part of the trend to remove control and customization from users.

However, once a phone does get powered on and it's still in your pocket, then all sorts of problems will happen. There must be a way by law to dial an emergency number if if you can't unlock it (ie, you don't know the PIN or can't type it, say you pulled the phone out of someone's pocket who's having a seizure). Since everything is touch screen based now, just light jostling in the pocket is enough to make things start to happen. To emergency dial you just drag the phone symbol up about an inch, then typing a number is just basic tapping. When the phone was new you could also turn on the camera this way.

I never butt/pocket dialed with it, but it did happen on an older HTC phone that was more normal in how you turned it on. I got a call back from the 911 operators asking if I had a problem or not. Embarrassing.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Wild and crazy question: have you tried orienting the phone a different way in the pocket, i.e. power button up versus down?

This thread also makes me glad that my phone has the power button on the side rather than the top.

Re:Simple

[JMJimmy]

They just need to change the button from a press to a slide or something like that... simple to access but not simple to accidentally press.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, it's just bad software patents. Specifically the slide to unlock patent that Apple has, since that's the only obvious way to prevent accidental usage of a pocketed touch screen without requiring a password for ALL interactions.

Re:Simple

[EthanDemurs]

What if the software were to be redesigned to accept a particular rhythm of your choosing. Anything other than the chosen sequence would be ignored.

Re:Simple

[joker784]

There is also the recent case where "butt dialing" using Siri actually saved a guys life: http://www.usatoday.com/story/...

Re: Simple

[Aighearach]

You probably have metal pocket buttons that are sabotaging you. A capacitive touch screen should have minimum opportunity for this problem if alone in the pocket, so I'm assuming there is some metal getting in there. Maybe you just have too much pocket fluff buildup, and it is holding a charge.

Re: Simple

[Aighearach]

I find it works better to revert to an 80s wardrobe. With cargo pants I always can choose a decent pocket for each device.

Re: Simple

[Aighearach]

They're called "grandma jeans." There is no such thing as "grandpa jeans." Grandpas wear normal jeans. Don't let homophobia destroy your communication ability. It is OK to wear grandma jeans.

Re: Simple

[Darinbob]

Grandpa wore jeans, grandma wore overalls, and crazy uncle Joe wore his boots backwards.

Re:Simple

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

There are numerous software solutions, you just have to root your phone and loose the warranty on it first.

Re:Simple

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

I agree, and I find it especially ironic and hilarious when those same people complain because they keep breaking their phones screens.

Re:Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Pressing the Home button

On a Nexus 5? A Nexus 5 doesn't have a physical home button at all, and therefore couldn't possibly have this problem.

Re:Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

I had an iPhone way back in the day and it was always calling people without my knowledge, usually those at or near the top of my contacts list.

I've never had any of my Android phones do this, or call 911, but I imagine it's possible on certain phones. There are so many kinds of phones, so who knows?

Re: Simple

[TangoCharlie]

While that is a very good idea, why can't I simply choose not to have the emergency dialer displayed on my lock screen?

Re:Simple

[Dr_Barnowl]

The case is what makes the difference for me ; without the case, I've had an occasion where the phone factory-reset itself ; not so hard on Android, only requires pushing the power and volume buttons in a particular order.

With one of those flexible plastic shell cases, pushing the buttons requires more effort than a pants crease can manage.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

The American School System sure must suck. When will you people take care of the enormous bullying problem?

Re: Simple

[TheRaven64]

Because the emergency dialler requirement is not intended solely for the person who owns the phone. It's expected that any telephone that you pick up (land line or mobile) will work for emergency calls. This is also why landlines can still make emergency calls even if they are nominally disconnected by the phone company.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

When all those being bullied are properly armed and trained. Typical US public school has to much muscle and not enough brain.

Re:Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Android also doesnt automatically dial 911. It brings up a dialer screen for 4 digits.

Re:Simple

[c]

They just need to change the button from a press to a slide or something like that

Seems to be what they've done in 5.1.x... at least, nothing on the lock screen appears to respond to just a press or a press-and-hold. It's all slides or double-tap.

Re:Simple

[Coren22]

Would a tight warranty be better than a loose one? If it is loose, it might fall off the phone randomly.

Re:Simple

[Cro Magnon]

I don't understand it either. I keep my phone in either my shirt pocket or my front pants pocket. I don't want to sit on the damn thing.

Re:Simple

[Coren22]

You're just holding it wrong.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/m...

Re:Simple

[omnichad]

With my old non-smartphone 133113313122 was a valid emergency number! It would ignore all the wrong digits and see: 133113313122, and 112 is the international emergency number. And this was even with a keypad lock engaged. A good design would reset the dial string on an invalid entry. Instead, it could take hours to finish dialing the emergency number, but it would get dialed in my pocket.

Re:Simple

[omnichad]

I've had a Nexus 5. It doesn't have a hardware home button.

Re: Simple

[Chris Mattern]

why can't I simply choose not to have the emergency dialer displayed on my lock screen?

Because the phone must be able to dial 911 even if it's locked. That's the law.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no such thing as "grandpa jeans."

Yes, actually there are.
But even if we ignore the existence of Bib Overalls, 'grandpa jeans' are any jeans worn with the waistband somewhere near or above the middle of your chest. Usually with suspenders.

It's basically the exact opposite of how gang-bangers wear their pants around their knees.

Re:Simple

[ultranova]

A good design would reset the dial string on an invalid entry.

What if your hands are shaking because you're dying because the terrorist who's trying to nuke New York just shot you, and you need to warn Bruce Willis before you do? Getting right 3 in a row might be quite hard in those circumstances. So it's not really a good design, unless you want the nuclear terrorists to win.

Re:Simple

[omnichad]

You tell my local dispatcher to be more forgiving of butt-dialers, then. They're the ones letting the terrorists win. Instead, they literally told me to buy a new phone.

Re:Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

It's kind of ironic because the purpose of the lock screen is to prevent people from butt calling 911. That's the only reason the lockscreen exists.

Re:Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Unfortunately, it works exactly as designed.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Its also a way that is apparently only 'obvious' in hindsight.
Were it *actually* obvious, someone else would have been using it in the decade+ of cell phones before Apple entered the scene. Instead, everyone was using buttons (either physical or virtual) because *that* is what was obvious.

Re:Simple

[Darinbob]

Well then, if there's a possibility of a real emergency then those phones should be constantly connected to the hotline, 24/7. They just keep listening until someone says "help, I can't touch my phone or interact with it but tell someone that the aliens are landing!"

Re: Simple

[Swave An deBwoner]

Are you talking about US federal law or some state or local law?

The reason I ask is because I tested some copper phone jacks that once-upon-a-time had landline service to them but no longer have service, and there is no dialtone (but there is still power to make the lights on the phone light up). Thinking that perhaps one could still call 911 without a dialtone, but not wanting to waste EMS time handling a bogus call I contacted Verizon support (1-800-VERIZON) to ask.

The representative I spoke with said that a disconnected landline cannot dial 911; that the requirement to be able to do so holds only for wireless phones.

Re: Simple

[Swave An deBwoner]

Googling a bit (see, on-topic :-)) brought me to this from 2009:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2009/05/update-about-911-and-disconnected-landlines/index.htm

At which time it appeared that NY State (where I tested this) was one of the states that had some sort of "soft-tone" requirement. Apparently that is no longer the case.

As some of you have pointed out in our recent post, Using your cell phone as your home phone comes with a risk, some states do require local carriers to maintain a "soft" or "warm" dial tone, which allows you to call 911 on a line that has been disconnected or is otherwise inactive.

An up-to-date-list of affected states is elusive; we struck out in obtaining one from the FCC and some industry groups. However, the following are likely states for some form of soft-tone requirement; we assembled the list from data in an FCC report published in 2000 (Adobe Acrobat software required) and a North American Numbering Council (NANCE) report published in 2002 (link requires Microsoft Word or compatible word processing software).
...
However, we can't confirm that coverage is in effect in all those states today. Also, some soft-tone coverage is limited, in time or other respects. For example, according to the NANCE report, emergency service in Oklahoma is mandated for only 30 days following the suspension of service. In Ohio, the period is only 14 days.

Re: Simple

[Aighearach]

Sorry kiddo, but I was there. Maybe your neighborhood was just behind the times? MC Hammer had his parachute pants, and people wanted to copy him but they didn't want the weird pants that nobody sold so they compromised with baggy cargo pants. I still have mine. I could fit a pack of 10 5.25" floppies in the big pocket.

Re:Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

As ab iPhone user I can only tell that you are carrying it wrong.

Re:Simple

[Plumpaquatsch]

You're just holding it wrong.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/m...

http://dontholditwrong.tumblr....

Re:Simple

[cwsumner]

Try a small pistol holster, maybe of the type that clips inside the waistband. They are strong enough that they should prevent the screen being triggered.
I bet some of the holster makers already have some made for smartphones, just look around. If not you can probably find one that would work.

Re: Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Also stretches out your t-shitt pocket super-fast. Phones these days are /heavy/.

Simpler

[Edis Krad]

Or you could stop putting your phone in your pants pockets. Either or :3

Re:Simpler

[JMJimmy]

Sorry, not going to start carrying a murse.

Re:Simpler

[lucm]

What about a belt clip? It worked for Batman.

Re:Simpler

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/c...

Re:Simpler

[Anonymous Coward]

Arm sheath and shirt pocket are also options.

Re:Simpler

[Darinbob]

These don't work well for the flat pda style of smart phones. Unless you make the thing extra bulky.

Re:Simpler

[Darinbob]

If a belt clip is dorky, then an arm sheath is douchey. And shirt pockets don't work if you have tee shirts (ie, 75% of silicon valley). Plus it falls out of shirt pockets when you bend down to tie your shoes.

Re: Simpler

[Anonymous Coward]

No! Stop that! Not here! Shew! Shew!

Re:Simpler

[amiga3D]

Where the hell else can I carry it? I've got jeans and a t-shirt. The phone fits in my jeans pocket so that's the only logical place to put it. I guess I could get a belt clip and have it catch on everything but I think not. How about they could just make it where I have to actually unlock the screen to make a call? Problem solved!

Re:Simpler

[Anonymous Coward]

iPhones don't have this problem, mostly because those guys all have purses.

Re:Simpler

[Anonymous Coward]

Those phone are so big these days, why can't they just put wheels on them? It's almost at the point where it's easier to carry my friends than my phone.

Re:Simpler

[slazzy]

Agreed, I started glueing mine to my head, looks cool and I get better reception!

Re:Simpler

[turbidostato]

"Where the hell else can I carry it? I've got jeans and a t-shirt."

That's exactly why I use a fisher-style vest in summer.

Re: Simpler

[Anonymous Coward]

Were you trying to write 'shoo'?

Re:Simpler

[Crypto Gnome]

Slipons FTW!

Re:Simpler

[Anonymous Coward]

Strapons?

Re:Simpler

[Anonymous Coward]

These don't work well

FTFY

Re: Simpler

[Guignol]

:)

Re:Simpler

[Pax681]

Where the hell else can I carry it? I've got jeans and a t-shirt. The phone fits in my jeans pocket so that's the only logical place to put it. I guess I could get a belt clip and have it catch on everything but I think not. How about they could just make it where I have to actually unlock the screen to make a call? Problem solved!

fucking simple... I buy trousers (or pants to you yanks :P ) with my stuff in min... cargo trousers, the map pocket is great for yer phone when paired with bluetooth headset.
I also buy shirts/tops at times with phone in mind.It's not rocket science
But no... it always boils down to.. " WAAAAH... moan moan moan"
So just for you..... have a gander at this

Re:Simpler

[Angeret]

Heh-heh. Nice one. Bloody first world problems, eh? I've been using belt clips since my first mobile phone and never had the issues mentioned by people. Maybe I'm just not treating my costly hardware like cheap disposable rubbish. If using a belt clip makes me such a horrible person as noted by someone else earlier, well - fuck! It's not like they're the kind of person I'd want to meet, is it?

Re:Simpler

[PPalmgren]

If you can't put your phone in your front pocket where you won't ever butt dial and instead put it in your back pocket, news flash, you're already wearing a "murse." Its just in the form of ball-crushing tight pants with no space.

Free the dangly appendages, wear more comfortable pants!

Re:Simpler

[Chris Mattern]

I've been using belt clips since my first mobile phone and never had the issues mentioned by people.

What I've been thinking all this time. I actually use a case with belt loops--that way it can't accidentally pop off my belt.

No accidental dialing. No cracked or scratched screens. No lost phones. I've got very little sympathy for these people when a simple solution exists.

Re:Simpler

[PRMan]

What about a belt clip? It worked for Batman.

Why do you think I wear one?

Re:Simpler

[Locke2005]

I just had by Galaxy S5 fall out of my shirt pocket when I over to pick something up. $130 to repair the cracked screen. Kicking myself because i knew better than to put it in my shirt pocket to begin with. What is the best way to guarantee a phone doesn't get dropped? My daughter carries her iPhone 5s in her hand all the time and drops in almost daily. So far, she has succeeded in destroying a $90 Otter Box case, but not the phone itself.

Re:Simpler

[Darinbob]

Put it in the pants pocket, it makes sense. However the phone makers, who are all shouting "you're holding it wrong!", probably disagree.

And everyone is different too. I keep my keys in my pockets all the time. All day, all night, then I swap them to new pants. However my father would always remove all his change and keys from pockets when he got home and put them in a tray in the dining room, and retrieved in the morning. Other people put the phone on the nightstand. Some never put the phone down because they use it all day long.

Smart phones are still new enough that we haven't figured them out yet.

Re:Simpler

[zwarte piet]

Don't bend down in Silicon Valley.

Re:Simpler

[operagost]

Neil Harbisson laughs at all of you.

Re:Simpler

[JMJimmy]

Except that I do keep it in my front pocket and it still "butt dials".

Re:Simpler

[Angeret]

Nice. I don't wear a belt otherwise I might have gone that route myself. My current one is a very slim but solid 2-part plastic job with a ribbed surface for grip. (Ooer!) One part is good enough to stay on the back of the phone (Galaxy Note II) with cutouts for speaker & camera on the back, volume & power either side & plenty of space for 'phones, USB & S-Pen top & bottom and also has slightly raised edges to keep the screen from hitting ground if dropped on a flat surface. The other part has a ratchet rotating clip with a kickstand built in - can prop the phone up in landscape when inserted face out. Never had it pop off as the clip has a spring that would make a gin trap nervous. In the hand adds about 3mm width and nothing to length, mebbe about 1mm on depth, on the hip it's nigh undetectable with either a Bluetooth piece or a wired set with the cable running up under a T-shirt. I wear it 1 notch off vertical on the left hip and the phone is dead easy to pull or replace left handed (I'm a natural right) - draws almost like a pistol from a holster but without the corpses.

It has to be the cheapest, thinnest, lightest thing I've ever used but still affords good protection. Think I paid about £5 for it. Certainly beats the Krusell ones I used to use for Nokia & HTC phones years back. I just don't see the problem with using either a belt or clip type - can't figure why people have so much against them, and like you say - no issues at all with mis-dials or damage and I've had this phone two & a half years, some of that spent in a electrical engineering environment shunting heavy switchgear about.

Re:Simpler

[Plumpaquatsch]

Except that I do keep it in my front pocket and it still "butt dials".

Wow, you must have a really big butt, if it reaches all the way to the front pockets ;-)

It was a short presentation

[93 Escort Wagon]

Full transcript of Google's remarks follow:

Uhh... We're sorry. We're really, really sorry.

Re:It was a short presentation

[Anonymous Coward]

They actually said : "We deny we are the root cause of this issue and instead of providing some solutions, we only take full credit for identifying a known issue and making a nice presentation about it to brush up our corporate image."

Or...

[Anonymous Coward]

You could, maybe, stop wearing those ridiculously uncomfortable skinny jeans and actually leave "room" for your phone, in a FRONT pocket?

Re:Or...

[sectokia]

Yes the iPhone and software are perfect and not a contributing factor, you are just pocketing it wrong.

Re:Or...

[JMJimmy]

You could, maybe, stop wearing those ridiculously uncomfortable skinny jeans and actually leave "room" for your phone, in a FRONT pocket?

I've never worn skinny jeans in my life and always put it in my front pocket and unintentional calls/commands happen a LOT.

Re:Or...

[lucm]

You could, maybe, stop wearing those ridiculously uncomfortable skinny jeans and actually leave "room" for your phone, in a FRONT pocket?

Impractical. How are you supposed to play "pocket pool" if you start putting stuff in your front pockets?

Re:Or...

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

My Skinit Cargo case keeps this from happening. You actually have to purposely press the power button, in the years I've used that type of case I've never accidentally dialed anyone. And until two months ago when I dropped the phone face down onto a gravel covered concrete parking lot, the phone looked practically new. I'm sure other cases provide similar protection.

Re: Or...

[Anonymous Coward]

I wear normal bootcut jeans and place my phone in a front pocket.

The phone is a HTC m7, top mounted power button.

It does not comfortably sit sideways in my pocket (mostly too long and doesn't bend around my leg)

Upside down or right way up, screen out or screen in fits very comfortably (at least an inch more pocket space exists _ it isn't up against the pocket seam or anything). Bending down to tie my shoe, or leaning forward on a chair will cause my phone to reboot. This isn't cause it to bring up the power menu , I mean hard reboot after 4 seconds leaning foward.

My jeans aren't super tight, without my belt fastened they do not stay up comfortably. My belt is not involved in touching the power button.

The phone is pin code locked in my pocket.

Seriously bad design being able to reboot it from locked with a top mounted button.

Re: Or...

[SScorpio]

The HTC One M7 don't have a user accessible battery. It's hardwired to reboot the phone because otherwise a software glitch that crashes the phone could brick it until it ran out of power.

I used to have a Morphie power case for mine, but the power button on it was even more sensitive. My wife with the same setup didn't have issues with her purse. But even the loose extra side pockets of cargo shorts would allow it to get pressed.

My solution was figuring out that I didn't need the extra power from the case and switching to a $2 silicon case that makes the power button slightly recessed. I haven't had issues since.

Re: Or...

[Anonymous Coward]

I've had an iPhone 4s and a 6 plus and never accidentally dialed 911 or anyone for that matter. I put my phone in my front pocket by itself. Keys go in another pocket.

You could do like woman do and put it in your bra. I think Kramer invented a man bra. I believe he called it the manzeir. Great invention.

It's your ass calling

[PPH]

"Help! My owner has me trapped in these tight jeans!"

Re:It's your ass calling

[Anonymous Coward]

"Butt Dialing in San Francisco", that's the title of the next blockbuster romantic comedy, starring an Android, a widowed man with a kid and the whole Department of Emergency Management.

Google phones cause death

[Anonymous Coward]

By flooding the 911 system with invalid empty calls, it's harder to get access to first responders in areas that have a predominance of Android phones over iPhones.

Re:Google phones cause death

[amiga3D]

Are there really that many butt dials to 911? Enough to flood the system?

Re:Google phones cause death

[bloodhawk]

how many does it take to flood the system?. I would expect in a relatively small volume to be extremely problematic tying up a considerable number of staff, after all they can't just hang up on the person immediately as it could be someone injured struggling to speak or someone in trouble silently dialing in the hope of someone listening in and providing assistance.

Re:Google phones cause death

[darronb]

I was out in the woods one day and sitting on a hill for a while. I thought I heard some noise from my pocket, so I checked my phone. I had a voicemail from 911 saying something to the effect of "This is the third time you've called 911! Please check your damn phone!"

I checked my phone and it had two outgoing calls to 911 in the list. I was pretty horrified.

They obviously were familiar with butt dials. However, what if I was injured and unable to speak? Hopefully they could tell the difference. At least I didn't get a helicopter flying over me or something.

The ease at which the phones can dial 911 is absolutely stupid... it's absolutely Google's fault. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to make it harder to do accidentally, but still easy enough to do if you're injured/impaired.

Re:Google phones cause death

[Anonymous Coward]

I saw a roll over accident on I-75 in Detroit at 1:15am. I called 911 immediately. Enough people called 911 at the same time at 1:15 to report this accident that there was more than a 5 minute wait time. Enough for me to hang up. So 10 people can overwhelm 911.

Re:Google phones cause death

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

someday soon instead of a call back, a small drone will just show up. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but it will happen.

Re:Google phones cause death

[bickerdyke]

Thanks! That's 3/4 down this thread and you're the first NOT to talk about looks or tight jeans, but about the actual problem!

Phones are designed to male emergency calls easy - for exactly the reasons you noted. You may have to do a silent call or have an arm and a leg torn off and still need to be able to dial 911. Anything that makes it harder for your butt to dial 911 makes it harder in those situations, too.

It took a team?

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't the 911 operator ask why the person is calling? If the phone is still in their pants, doesn't the 911 operator call them back? I thought 911 operators dispatched the police if they get a call and don't get a response. I don't see why this needed to be analyzed and then a congratulatory paper written about how they cleverly figured out what was causing it.

Re:It took a team?

[lucm]

Read the document instead of relying on a poor, click-baiting summary. There's an actual problem with ass callers.

Although the source data (i.e., whether a call is coming from a landline, cellphone or business) can be passed from the telephone system to the CAD system, technical issues can require human intervention to capture this data in CAD. For example, in 2014, DEM discovered that telephone routers could take 2-8 seconds to transmit ANI/ALI information (which includes source data) to dispatcher phones. However, if ANI/ALI information is not present at the time the dispatcher begins typing in the CAD Incident Entry window, source data is not captured, and dispatchers would need to manually port source data into the CAD Incident Entry window. Given this, source data (particularly for wireless calls, labeled as “W911”) was lacking in the CAD dataset which impacted the ability to identify the number CAD incidents created from wireless calls. Correspondingly, the number of CAD incidents resulting from wireless calls is significantly underrepresented, given that ~60% of DEM’s call volume comes from wireless phones.

Re:It took a team?

[Cramer]

Translation: the 911 call center software is complete shit. (much like the UI of every major android phone)

Re:It took a team?

[lucm]

Your translation is wrong. The problem is not the 911 software. The problem is the delay in getting the caller id from the PSTN, and this is not something they can accelerate from the 911 data center.

Imagine that your boss tells you that he wants to receive emails within one second of any client or potential customer sending them. The problem is not his Thunderbird or Outlook settings, the problem is that email has to cross multiple boundaries, from one ISP to another, from one SMTP server to another, and nobody has control over the entire process.

In the case of 911, how can they fix it? Operators get thousands of hang up calls for which they don't get the caller id immediately when the form pops up on their screen. Instead of spending 20 seconds tidying up the call information they dismiss it with the "ass caller" flag. The call is logged but no details are entered in the database, and while technically they probably are able to reconcile calls using the switch logs or some other mean, it's just a huge pain in the ass that nobody has the budget to deal with. Typical big data problem.

Re:It took a team?

[Crypto Gnome]

Read the document instead of relying on a poor, click-baiting summary. There's an actual problem with ass callers.

I believe the collective term for these callers is 'ass-clowns'.

Re:It took a team?

[Crypto Gnome]

also: for the record the difference between an ass-clown and an ass-bandit is red-nose vs bandanna!

Re:It took a team?

[BitZtream]

I work for the sixth largest teleco in the US ... Phone number portion of caller-I'd comes during the call setup phase, the phone number has been sent before the call connects.

CNAM dipping turns that number into a name and address using a third party service ... And we send billions of CNAM dip requests a day to them and get the response before call setup completes or we move on without it ... A quick look shows we had a grand total of 8 requests that failed yesterday after 150ms, they were retried and all completed the second try, total lookup time was never over 500 ms

Anyone claiming it takes a long time to do CID lookups is a liar.

Re:It took a team?

[omnichad]

What are you talking about? Read your own quote:

if ANI/ALI information is not present at the time the dispatcher begins typing in the CAD Incident Entry window, source data is not captured, and dispatchers would need to manually port source data into the CAD Incident Entry window

That's a SOFTWARE issue, not a butt-dialing issue. When the information finally comes in, it can be recorded on the record asynchronously if the software is designed correctly.

Butt dialing is easy...

[Anonymous Coward]

Butt texting... now THAT"S a challenge.

Re:Butt dialing is easy...

[Cro Magnon]

But, is it that much harder than talking out your ass?

Why have emergency call at all?

[Kpt Kill]

Emergency Call on my phone takes you to a screen where you can dial only previously manually entered emergency numbers.... on my phone, its empty. I still don't understand why on my device I have no choice on whether or not to have "emergency call" appear on the lock screen.

Re:Why have emergency call at all?

[0123456]

Isn't there some US law that all phones have to be able to make 911 calls?

Re:Why have emergency call at all?

[Anonymous Coward]

IIRC it's because all cellphones are mandated by law to be able to make 911 calls even if they're locked, out of service or even SIMless.

My Android phone can make emergency calls even before the phone's main storage area is decrypted at bootup.

Re:Why have emergency call at all?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup, US law is it needs to be accessible, which includes bypassing the lock. The problem is some phones make the gestures far far too easy to activate, and then they go step further by pre-programming 911 as a speed dial on that screen, meaning that a double tap is often all that's needed to dial 911.

My work gave me a blackberry, and it's terrible at this. If the phone is locked and off, hitting the big center button wakes the phone, scrolling down and pushing once more activates the 911 screen, scrolling down again and pushing the button actually calls 911. The biggest button on the phone, the one that actually sticks out and grabs your pants, is able to dial 911 with just inputs to that button. Blackberry is not alone with that, other phones have similar simple gestures.

Re:Why have emergency call at all?

[Anonymous Coward]

Former phone company worker here. I don't know about US law, but there's a Kentucky state law that says every single phone must be able to dial 911 - all of them. Whether or not the occupant has paid their bills, there's a massive blizzard, some dude with a gun uses the telephone pole for target practice, or a beaver chews through your cables, they must have phone service. If the phone line has an issue (not an inside the premises issue - you know beavers), the phone company has a four hour window in which to dispatch workers to fix the issue before they get fined. I'm sure California and some other states have laws like this as well. This kind of service comes with a cost - the basic local calling only phone bill was about $40/mo, which is about 1 1/2x to 2x the going rate for nearby states.

Worst phone deal I ever saw was GTE (or Verizon) in upstate NY. $35/month for basic phone service, plus25 cents for each outgoing phone call. Essentially I paid to get a pay phone put into my house. So each bill was a bit of a surprise. Yeah, yeah, early 90s, not too long before competition was allowed.

Getting back on topic. Remember those old Nokia candy bar type phones from the turn of the century (the aughts)? They had a screen lock feature - or so they told you. If you pressed the key sequence to dial 911, even while locked, the dial button would activate. My kids placed at least one call to 911 that way. Since 911 is not a universal number, they had to do it for the other codes, too, such as - 112, 122, 000, 999, and so on. Even if the phone was deactivated, it was still likely locked to a carrier network, and in my experience, they auto-translate those foreign emergency numbers to local emergency number.

So if you've ever heard those older stories about stupid criminals butt-dialing the police during or after committing a robbery, yeah, it was certainly in the realm of possibility with those Nokia phones, even when 'locked'.

blackberry...

[Etherwalk]

I accidentally emergency called 911 on a blackberry a few years back. I have no idea how long the call was going before I realized it was on, but there was nobody on the other end.

Re:blackberry...

[Anonymous Coward]

Me too. People who care about such things had finally convinced me to stop wearing a holster on my belt and carry the berry in my pocket. Far too easy to pocketdial 911 - just rub it the wrong way and it's on the line with the police. The 911 operator must have listened to me walking for about 10 minutes before I sat down in my car and could hear it ringing. They told me what I did and back into the holster it went ever since. I'd sooner look like whatever a holsterwearer looks like to fashionpolice than develop a first-name relationship with the police.

Re:blackberry...

[cwsumner]

There is a reason that people use "flip-phones", the cover protects the keyboard.

It's the Toyota debacle all over again

[s4ltyd0g]

"Peoples butts are too fat"

9-1 extension

[Anonymous Coward]

Way back in 2004 I worked in an office where you had to dial 9-1 before dialing an outside line. Try dialing a 1-800 number after that.

Re:9-1 extension

[omnichad]

You were dialing 9 to get an outside line you dummy. 1 is the long distance / US country code.

Re: 9-1 extension

[Anonymous Coward]

Way to go captain obvious. I'm sure he knew this. He never asked why he had to this, he just said he had to. Way to be a dickhead. I hope you feel better about yourself. Asshole.

Re:9-1 extension

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, '1' is the long distance / US country code.
However, '9' used to be the common number used in corporate phone systems to signal said phone system that the call was being placed to an *outside* number, rather than an internal extension. Some phone systems require more than one digit to signal the outside line, because they have more blocks of extensions reserved in the system, and you can preserve the availability of more numbers in a given block by requiring a 2-digit signal.

These days, dialing '8' for an outside line is more common, probably due in no small part to issues involving accidental calls to 911.

But, if it helps you feel better, please feel free to call someone a 'dummy' for being familiar with the particulars of a phone system they had to use.

Re:9-1 extension

[Cro Magnon]

Way back in 2004 I worked in an office where you had to dial 9-1 before dialing an outside line. Try dialing a 1-800 number after that.

At my office they changed the "9" to "8" to get an outside line, and I heard that was the reason.

How did they help?

[Anonymous Coward]

They just pulled all the data they had been collecting and showed exactly what part of the butt dialed and even had footage and audio of it off the the phone's mic and camera.

You know the really scary thing? They could really do that if they wanted to.

"butt dial" or pocket dial ?

[GodWasAnAlien]

I thought the generic term is pocket dial.

I'm guessing that "butt dialing" is more for girls or others who wear skinny jeans or those who enjoy sitting on the phone.
I am also guessing that skinny jeans and "butt"-dialing does not usually apply to slashdot users.

Re:"butt dial" or pocket dial ?

[Cro Magnon]

In my case it's definitely "pocket-dial". I have it in the wrong pocket to "butt-dial" anything.

Re:"butt dial" or pocket dial ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Back pocket only for me. Haven't measured it but it goes by the square of the distance, so front pocket could be 100x as much radiation where you want it the least!

Re:"butt dial" or pocket dial ?

[Swave An deBwoner]

You prefer to irradiate your anus?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_question

Android's Achilles Heel

[fragMasterFlash]

My biggest gripe with using an Android phone is that the phone unlocks during calls even when they placed/answered via a hands-free Bluetooth device. Answering a call via Bluetooth with your phone in your pocket unlocks it and starts feeding the UI random screen clicks. People have been filing bugs to the Android team over this issue since 2011 and it has never been addressed, and the newer bugs keep getting pushed to lower and lower priority. Its safe to say at this point that Android butt dialing is now a feature and is included by design.

Re:Android's Achilles Heel

[drinkypoo]

People have been filing bugs to the Android team over this issue since 2011 and it has never been addressed, and the newer bugs keep getting pushed to lower and lower priority.

I'm really starting to get pissed at this tendency. They let bugs that lots of people care about persist forever. For instance, there are actually two active bugs for pinless bluetooth pairing. This is a problem that actually predates gingerbread.

Re:FUCK MY ASS WITH A GREASY YODA DOLL. FUCK YOU!

[Anonymous Coward]

Im not used to seeing stuff like this. This is kind of funny but what kind of a warped person spends time on this?

The obvious solution!

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

is to change 911 to 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3 instead. It's an easy number to remember, just learn the song!

Re:The obvious solution!

[Anonymous Coward]

You'll end up having to email them when you forget the number though...

Re:The obvious solution!

[Anonymous Coward]

867-530911

Re:The obvious solution!

[The-Ixian]

Or, what about an intelligent screening system that only routes the call to an operator if voice is detected. What could go wrong with that?

Re:The obvious solution!

[Anonymous Coward]

False negatives: Real emergency calls without a detectable voice.

Re:The obvious solution!

[Anonymous Coward]

I just keep my battery out and in a secret location. I don't need some messed up dying person getting blood all over my phone.

Re:The obvious solution!

[Cro Magnon]

Might make it hard to call for assistance after that home invader ties you up and gags you.

Re:The obvious solution!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just two things:
1) During 'butt dials', voices are often audible, because people are talking to each other, completely unaware of the outgoing call in progress.
2) In particularly dangerous situations, where talking could give away their position and possibly cost them their lives, people still call 911.

Re:The obvious solution!

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahh, just move it all to e-mail, I say.

Re:The obvious solution!

[chaotixx]

Calling is so last century. I just send a quick email when I need a fire extinguished.

Having a Good Time

[sanf780]

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!
A-hanging with Margaret just-a feels so good like I knew it wou-ou-ould
Laughing together and-a having a blast, and I hope it lasts forever!
I can't believe how hot she is, it makes my insides feel like knotted twists
Her pretty face, and those long, long legs
And I hope someday we are more than just friends!
Oh, Margaret. Oh, Margaret.
Do you remember last night when our hands touched?
We were grabbin for the dice and you were laughing and such...
Take one roll, then take a chance on me,
And maybe then you'll see,
How perfect we can be,
Together you and me,
For all eternity!
Okay, maybe that's a long long time.
But a guy can dream, can't I?
Oh, Margaret. Oh, Margaret.
I love it when you stand or sit right next to me
Can't you see, your future with me is brighter than the ocean!

Confirmation that no one at Google Android dev

[BitZtream]

Bothers reading bug reports or they would have fixed this issue 7 years ago when users first started reporting how shitty the lock screen configuration is

Never dialed 911

[Cro Magnon]

But I did 3 pocket-dials in a short time. I have no idea how that happened, since my iPhone was locked. Those calls were to my GF and my mom, so it appeared to be accessing my Favorites, but how it did that is a mystery.

Re:Never dialed 911

[Anonymous Coward]

my GF and my mom, so it appeared to be accessing my Favorites

You only have 1 favourite?

Re:FUCK MY ASS WITH A GREASY YODA DOLL. FUCK YOU!

[GTRacer]

Where have you been? This is the sort of copypasta that made this place great back in the day!

Flawed design

[WaffleMonster]

I've had this problem myself and at first scratched my head at the odds of random brushes across the digitizer dialing only 911 then pushing call was even remotely possible. Then I realized there is practically no "debounce" and the random brushes are allowed to be registered at uselessly inhuman rates.

Secondly a proximity sensor is present in all but about 15% of android devices. If the emergency dialer checked this sensor before pocket calling emergency services this problem would be significantly reduced. You could at the very least include an extra on-screen hoop such as long pressing keys that would only be activated if the sensor detected it was in a pocket so that emergency services could still be contacted even if the sensor malfunctioned.

Another thing is the design just sucks.. if the goal is quickly and easily contact emergency services dialing 911 on a touch screen display can't be even remotely optimal. If your going to mandate anything it should be a single physical button intentionally engineered to be maximally both easy to use and resistant to unintentional use. Drop your phone, fall, get hit by something, get into an accident.. cracked displays and broken digitizers are by far the most vulnerable and failure prone components.. good luck making a call without them.

Re:FUCK MY ASS WITH A GREASY YODA DOLL. FUCK YOU!

[zwarte piet]

You must be new here.

Butt secretary

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a similar problem.
Since I bought my android phone almost every time I talk to people they ask me "Is your meeting over, can you talk now?" and I am always like "...What?".

Finally I saw that whenever someone calls you, you have options to reject the call with a message like "I will call later, I am in a meeting" or "Sorry I am driving".

Fundamental design flaws

[aybiss]

It's now possible to open an app by tapping its notification bar thingo on the front screen.

You can't call it a lock screen any more because it doesn't fucking lock anything.

I can guarantee that this idea was the brainchild of some UX hobgoblin.