Emergency dispatchers cannot effectively trace more than 70 percent of 911 calls made from cell phones, a recent study has shown.

Project LOCATE was created by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials to find ways for wireless carriers to improve location technology, according to its Web site, www.locatemodelcities.org.

"Prior to a year ago, we were not able to locate any cellular 911 calls," said Dan Tancibok, director of the Centre County Office of Emergency Communications.

In order to trace emergency cell phone calls more effectively, he said, Centre County uses the Phase II wireless program, which "requires wireless carriers to provide far more precise location information," according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

However, cell phone carriers are not required by the FCC to share their test results with emergency dispatchers because "...[The Wireless 911 Legislation] did not specify those requirements," according to an e-mail from Justin Fleming, deputy press secretary for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Inability to locate 911 calls from cell phones is becoming a bigger problem since the majority of calls are now from cell phones, Tancibok said.

"Fifty-seven percent of all 911 calls [in Centre County] come from cell phones, and that's rising steadily," he said.

Location accuracy varies depending on cellular providers, location of cellular callers and the technology cellular providers use, he said.

Many students said they had never worried about it.

"I always thought they could locate you if you had that GPS option," said Andrew Naderi (senior-life science).

Other students said location accuracy has to be improved because of people who have cell phones for emergency purposes.

"There definitely needs to be something done," Sean Campbell (sophomore-civil engineering) said. "That's one of the main purposes people have cell phones."

Tancibok said some wireless providers use satellite technology through global positioning system chips while other providers use triangulation technology, in which the signal from a cell phone needs to hit three cell sites.

He also said being in an area with a lot of high rise buildings -- like Beaver Canyon -- can make it more difficult for dispatchers to locate wireless callers.

The FCC encourages individual states to create statewide 911 plans.

Pennsylvania's 911 plan is "to successfully deploy all 69 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in the most efficient and expeditious manner," according to Fleming's e-mail.

The inability to locate wireless 911 calls revealed by Project LOCATE should be alleviated "as more counties in the commonwealth become deployed to Phase II," according to Fleming.

Until then, Tancibok said he has a few tips for those who need to call 911 from their cell phones.

"The best thing to do, obviously, is know where you're at when you call. Answer the questions of the dispatcher. Be very up front in telling the dispatcher you don't know where you are," he said.