If anyone from my local police department’s dispatch center is
reading this, please accept my apologies. I called 911 by
mistake recently as I was recording my CBS News Tech Talk
segment about the Federal Communications Commission’s goal to
“bring 911 into the 21st century.” I thought it would be cool to
start the broadcast out with the touchtone sound of dialing 911,
so I turned on my telephone recording equipment and dialed the
number and quickly hung up. Seconds later, someone from the
police department called me to make sure that I was OK. Even
though it was a false alarm, the callback was exactly what they
are supposed to do. Though I was sorry to bother them, I was
happy to know that a caring professional was ready to respond
even to a call that didn’t go through. At least in this
community, 911 is staffed by people whose job it is to respond
to the needs of other people. No one is suggesting that type of
personal service should go away. However, if FCC Commissioner
Julius Genachowski gets his way, not