Phones At Apple Repair Center Are Calling 911 Multiple Times a Day

rgMekanic

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CBS Sacramento is reporting that phones located at an Apple repair center in Elk Grove California have been calling 911. The Elk Grove police states that they receive on average, 20 accidental 911 calls a day from the repair center, and roughly 1,600 calls since October. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Communication Center is also getting these calls, 47 since January.

Hopefully this gets resolved as soon as possible, but the fact that it has been going on since October doesn't give me all that much hope. Apple states in the article it dies not know which devices are making the call, the iPhone, or the iWatch, which I have to doubt with as much data as smartphone manufacturers keep on usage.

In a statement to CBS13, an Apple spokesperson says:
“We’re aware of 911 calls originating from our Elk Grove repair and refurbishment facility. We take this seriously and we are working closely with local law enforcement to investigate the cause and ensure this doesn’t continue.”
 
A repair facility. I wonder if Apple phones act similar to Android phones where you can get by initial lock settings when on a phone call? You use the emergency call option, start the call, and you can then use certain actions on the phone. I only know this because my friend bought a used phone online (note 5), the phone was locked to the previous owner and he could not bypass it or get in contact the previous owner. So I went looking. Many you tube videos available on it. I was able to unlock the phone this way and reset it. took a few tries but doable. Phone was connected via wifi and no SIM in it. Not sure if the police can track it if its a call that's made for just a minute or less? no police came to my location doing this. But I could see multiple calls a day and not being able to pin point it to one particular device, seems like this could be the reason why. Just a guess anyway.
 
So, apparently, if you hold the power and volume buttons on the iPhone 8/X, it will bring up the SOS screen. Keep holding them, and it'll automatically dial 911.

From an accessibility standpoint, sounds great.

If, however, a technician were to use a jig which holds the phone by the sides when they're working on it... and they positioned it so that it was gripping the phone in the wrong place...

Yep... they're probably holding it wrong.
 
A repair facility. I wonder if Apple phones act similar to Android phones where you can get by initial lock settings when on a phone call? You use the emergency call option, start the call, and you can then use certain actions on the phone. I only know this because my friend bought a used phone online (note 5), the phone was locked to the previous owner and he could not bypass it or get in contact the previous owner. So I went looking. Many you tube videos available on it. I was able to unlock the phone this way and reset it. took a few tries but doable. Phone was connected via wifi and no SIM in it. Not sure if the police can track it if its a call that's made for just a minute or less? no police came to my location doing this. But I could see multiple calls a day and not being able to pin point it to one particular device, seems like this could be the reason why. Just a guess anyway.
Apple employees looking fir nudes no doubt.
 
A repair facility. I wonder if Apple phones act similar to Android phones where you can get by initial lock settings when on a phone call? You use the emergency call option, start the call, and you can then use certain actions on the phone. I only know this because my friend bought a used phone online (note 5), the phone was locked to the previous owner and he could not bypass it or get in contact the previous owner. So I went looking. Many you tube videos available on it. I was able to unlock the phone this way and reset it. took a few tries but doable. Phone was connected via wifi and no SIM in it. Not sure if the police can track it if its a call that's made for just a minute or less? no police came to my location doing this. But I could see multiple calls a day and not being able to pin point it to one particular device, seems like this could be the reason why. Just a guess anyway.


Apparently the the 911 call centers are a cluster fuck, using different tech, most of which can barely narrow your location down to a few blocks. John Oliver did a bit on it. They called 911 from inside the call center, and it showed their location as a few blocks away.
 
Busy of mine told me his girlfriend's called 911 twice here recently.
 
Just how are the techs abusing those poor phones? Just stop torturing them, problem solved.
 
Yeah the iPhone X emergency call features is triple-tap the power button.. this happens in pockets on it's own, it's just dumb.
My buddy's has done it while sitting in the cup holder in his car.
 
Yeah the iPhone X emergency call features is triple-tap the power button.. this happens in pockets on it's own, it's just dumb.

That’s not even how it works... On an 8, 8+, and X, it’s activated by holding the power and volume buttons. On a 7, you spam the power button five times.

Once the screen comes up, you still need to swipe to call 911. If you turn on “Auto Call”, by default it plays a sound while counting down.
 
That’s not even how it works... On an 8, 8+, and X, it’s activated by holding the power and volume buttons. On a 7, you spam the power button five times.

Once the screen comes up, you still need to swipe to call 911. If you turn on “Auto Call”, by default it plays a sound while counting down.

With 'Call with Side Button' and 'Auto Call' enabled, it will call (with countdown) after 5 clicks of the power button (I mistakenly said 3), the volume button is not required for this. I just did it to verify. We were kinda both off on this one.
 
Remove the SIM card? Seriously, solving this is fucking easy.

phones don't need their sim card. Don't even always have to have signal to call 911. Let's say you have sprint but no sprint service at the moment. If at&t or Verizon can pick up the call from their tower they have to. Any network that sees a 911 call has to pick it up and transmit it to ensure the ability to call 911.
 
Pretty bad when an authorized repair center can't figure out how to keep a phone from making a call. Wonder if other repair centers have this problem or is it just this shop?
 
So, apparently, if you hold the power and volume buttons on the iPhone 8/X, it will bring up the SOS screen. Keep holding them, and it'll automatically dial 911.

From an accessibility standpoint, sounds great.

If, however, a technician were to use a jig which holds the phone by the sides when they're working on it... and they positioned it so that it was gripping the phone in the wrong place...

Yep... they're probably holding it wrong.

That's helpful
 
You're right, I forgot about those facets. I even knew about them before! Guh, spaced...

phones don't need their sim card. Don't even always have to have signal to call 911. Let's say you have sprint but no sprint service at the moment. If at&t or Verizon can pick up the call from their tower they have to. Any network that sees a 911 call has to pick it up and transmit it to ensure the ability to call 911.
 
The apple phones are be assured, they are just phoning the emergency services for assistance
 
I have a client I'm working with right now that is making app for the hazmat industry. He is insisting on a 911 button on every freaking screen of the app! I have told him this is a horrible idea and people are going to accidentally hit the button.
I think Apple will actually not approve his app with the button on each screen. If he kept pushing forward, I was going to add an AlertView ("Are you sure") - this might prevent a few accidental calls but I know it would still make a lot of false calls.
I'm all about making it kind of easy to call 911, but we need to be smarter about it. Maybe just a simple verification like I'm suggesting would help. Stupid "three tap" triggers - terrible idea.
 
Fined Apple $5000 for each false call cand I bet they take the effort to locate the device real damn quick.
Where I'm at each false call results in an escalating fine. We had 20+ branches and inevitably someone would trigger an alarm time to time, dispatching police. It starts at $25 and escalates very quickly. Resets semi-annually I think (could be annually from time of alarm permit). If they 1,600 since Oct, I would agree that $5,000 per false call is probably fair... maybe a bit less if they don't dispatch.
 
Add concrete or Faraday cage around building. Problem solved. Worker productivity might go up too :android:
 
Unfortunately won't it still work for 911 even without a sim installed? I know that deactivated phone still must be able to call 911
that is correct regarding 91.

all us based phones are able to call 911 for at least the last decade
 
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