Apple and Android Phones "SOS" Calls Overloading 911 Centers

Well, at least 1 center, but I doubt this is only happening in Quebec City. Only you can prevent 911 butt dials, says Quebec City police

Accidental calls (also known as pocket-dials or butt-dials) represent around 39 percent of all calls made to 911, said [Quebec City’s police department]. That’s about 750 mistaken calls per day.

39 percent of calls. Hangups cannot be disregarded, because someone may be in distress, either medical or criminal in nature. So it isn't just the 911 call center feeling the pain, and they are chronically understaffed, but the whole first-responder chain that is impacted.

Technology is wonderful. What isn't wonderful are programmers brainstorming stuff to do with Tech.

Programmer 1: "Hey lets build a system that takes advantage of the new [random tech feature] on the upgraded hardware."
Programmer 2: "Did anyone ask for this?"
Programmer 1: "How could they ask, they don't know about our new neato feature!"
Programmer 2: "You're right! This sounds great!"

No one asks, "What could possibly go wrong?"

This is what enabled websites to track users by their phone's state-of-charge that was rolled out without anyone asking for it, or any consideration of the downside. That is only one example, and I am not sure that I should be referring to that debacle in the past tense.

As technology becomes more advanced, companies are able to offer more safety features that sound appealing to users. However, without the need for human input, the features can also waste first responders’ valuable time and resources.

And of course the companies involved - and definitely not the programming geniuses responsible for this brainstorm - will not face any repercussions from enabling a catastrophe. And overloading 911 call centers is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Someone will not get the help they need because cops/dispatchers/etc. are dealing with the 39% of bogus calls. And someone will die as a result of a programmer's brainstorm carried out in the absence of common sense.

Apple's idea to "let's automatically detect a car cash, and call 911" sounds great, except for the false positives. Consider this post from last year. 357 Magnum: No One Does Systems Design Anymore - iPhone 14 edition.

Since the iPhone 14 went on sale, the 911 dispatch center near Kings Island amusement park has received at least six phones calls saying:

“The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash...”

Except, the owner was just on a roller coaster.

That was when the iPhone 14 was new. I haven't looked to see if they had changed anything.

System design requires at least a minimum connection with the real world. And someone should really be asking about the edge cases - roller coasters and pocket dialing - before turning something like this free to impact critical infrastructure like 911 call centers, fire departments, and other first responders.