The 911 emergency system was inaugurated in the 1960s, but its rollout was slow, and it took years for smaller towns to fund and implement it. We all knew it was a great idea. Then enhanced 911 came out, and they could locate your landline phone as soon as you called. What sorcery is this? But technology advances, and now cities with the most sophisticated 911 service can even locate the cell phone that made the call.
We rely on the system, but few of us understand how it works now. Half as Interesting explains what happens when you make a 911 call. I have a bone to pick, though. Back in the day, you never had to dial a ten-digit number to get the local police. That would be a useless long-distance call. Local numbers are seven digits, or four digits if you go back far enough. This video is only 5:27; the rest is an ad.
Video mentioned determining cellphone location from GPS and cell tower triangulation, and glossed over the next step of turning it into a state/city/street/address (reverse-geocoding). I was involved with upgrading to that to be faster and more accurate. You can imagine the amount of testing required for any changes to that system...
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