Caller Needs and Reactions to 9-1-1 Video Calling for Emergencies

Emergency services in North America have relied on the use of audio calls to the phone number, 9-1-1, since the late 1960s. In the coming years, 9-1-1 services will move to integrate media-rich calling capabilities such as video-based calling. We explore how video calling services should be designed through an interview study with people who have called 9-1-1 in the past. Our results show the potential for video calling to help people who are calling 9-1-1 describe their location to call takers, show the situation at hand, receive video-based instructions, and assist in cases with language barriers. Yet video calling raises issues around anonymity, consent, culture and gender-based biases, and camera work. 9-1-1 video calling is best thought of as a collaborative act where camera work is negotiated between callers and call takers where callers are willing to hand over control of the call if their privacy concerns can be met.