Deal to spur better 911 call locating for US cellphone users

WASHINGTON: Emergency responders will be able to better locate callers who dial 911 on their cellphones from indoors as the US wireless industry improves caller-location for the majority of such calls over the next six years. 

Historically, satellite and other technologies have helped emergency responders find people who called from outdoors, while landlines commonly automatically provided dispatchers with an address. Cellphone calls from indoors, however, have been tougher to locate because walls weaken signals.