Then & Now:
Transforming Communication for Public Safety
By: Jim Bugel, Vice President, AT&T Public Safety Sector
AT&T’s products and services have supported first responders
since the late 1870’s
Who invented the telephone?
Alexander Graham Bell. You probably
knew that already. But did you know
that police and firefighters were
among the earliest people to use
the telephone? For more than 130
years, first responders have relied on
telephones to help serve and protect
communities across the U.S.
We have a long-standing tradition
of providing telecommunications
products and services to first
responders since the dawn of local
telephone exchanges in the late-1870s.
Although the technology has changed
significantly, our commitment to
public safety hasn’t.
1880 – American Bell Telephone,
predecessor to AT&T, licensed the
Gracewell Fire Alarm Telegraph
Co. to include telephones in their
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police signal telegraph system in
Chicago. Bell supplied the telephone
instruments for the patrol box system
that replaced the telegraph system.
This would eventually become the
Chicago Police Patrol System.
1930 – Western Electric, an AT&T
subsidiary, installed the first oneway and two-way radiotelephone
equipment in police patrol cars.
Municipal police dispatchers across
the nation were using the new system
by the late-1930s.
1953 – AT&T began developing
an Emergency Reporting Telephone
System (ERTS) for municipal
governments. We installed bright red
call boxes marked “Fire” or “Police”
in the city streets. People used the
handset in the box to report an
emergency situation to a dispatcher
at a control center. The dispatcher
then contacted the local fire or police
department.
1968 – AT&T made 9-1-1 available
nationwide. The service provided
people with a short, easy-to-dial
number to reach public safety
agencies.
1980 – AT&T introduced an
Enhanced 911 (E911) Service.
Telephones could now identify the
location of the phone number making
the call. The call would automatically
forward to the police department
serving the location. The location
would appear on a screen in front
of the answering officer who would
transfer the call to the fire department
or rescue squad.