[WARNING] 911 Calls Impacted By Android 10/11 With Microsoft Teams

[NviGate Systems]

Microsoft fixed a Teams bug that prevented 911 calls on Android

Microsoft has fixed a Teams bug that prevented 911 calls from going through for some Android users.

www.engadget.com

Apparently MS has pushed a fix, but this is yet another series of "whoopsies" from big tech that impact essential services. Here in Canada, Samsung has an issue with A5 (2017) that causes 911 calls to fail. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ctrc-samsung-freedom-mobile-911-failure-1.4939642

The temporary fix was to disable LTE, which Freedom did for users on the affected platforms. Not sure if other networks were affected, but Samsung did admit the bug and did say they were looking into it. That was a while ago, wonder if it was "swept under" or not.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I'm trying to figure out how this is Microsoft's fault...

Teams does have Voice, which means you can use it for calls, but you have to have Teams configured as a dialer or use the Teams client manually to dial the call for this to happen.

So how the heck does ANY APP on the platform magically break ONLY 911 calls?

This isn't a Microsoft fault, this is a GOOGLE fault, and I find this article to be stupid as a result.

Google needs a black eye for making a crap sandbox.

Incidentally, any 911 call placed via Teams Voice is going to show the address of the location assigned to the number by the Teams Admin. It will never be the location of the phone... Which can be thousands of miles away.

 

[britechguy]

I'm trying to figure out why anyone thinks that 911 calls can be made as intended from anything other than a landline or cell phone.

Google (and it's far from alone) tells you that you cannot make 911 calls from Google Voice. VOIP, and its analogues, are not set up in any way to function correctly in the 911 system, and one of those reasons has been mentioned by @Sky-Knight.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I'm trying to figure out why anyone thinks that 911 calls can be made as intended from anything other than a landline or cell phone.

Google (and it's far from alone) tells you that you cannot make 911 calls from Google Voice. VOIP, and its analogues, are not set up in any way to function correctly in the 911 system, and one of those reasons has been mentioned by @Sky-Knight.

This isn’t about Google Voice. This breaks 911 on any android phone. Both Microsoft and Google are at fault here. Teams shouldn’t be highjacking the phone line and Android shouldn’t let it.

911 is a separate routine as it’s designed to bypass carrier restrictions and connect to the nearest/strongest cell tower reguardless of provider. Even a phone without a Sim card can make a 911 call. Android is handing root access to Teams. Oops.

 

[britechguy]

Teams shouldn’t be highjacking the phone line and Android shouldn’t let it.

Indeed. But bugs do happen. And sometimes the confluence of events that cause a specific code path to execute are rare.

Your last observation, "Oops," is the most accurate characterization. And when this sort of thing is found, patching it is the correct course of action.

But my observation is about having anything that does not use true cellular service on a smartphone. Google Voice, Skype, and the list goes on and on are not meant for calling 911, nor is Teams, for that matter. Broad knowledge of this fact seems to be vanishing, and it can't, because 911 can't find you if a 911 call is not made on an actual phone network, not a data network.

 

[Sky-Knight]

And if you're not using a Google Pixel device, you won't get the patch for the Android side ever... and if you do it'll be months from now.

So at least Microsoft got Teams updated to fix it on their side, but Android users will be stuck with broken devices due to the terrible nature of the ecosystem for quite sometime. Which means this issue, once detailed will be exploitable by bad actors for awhile yet.

I suppose it's a good day to be a hitman's IT guy?

All in all this one isn't that big of a deal, things happen. The Log4j mess is much larger, and it'll be years before we find all of those systems too.

 

[Markverhyden]

I'm trying to figure out why anyone thinks that 911 calls can be made as intended from anything other than a landline or cell phone.

Google (and it's far from alone) tells you that you cannot make 911 calls from Google Voice. VOIP, and its analogues, are not set up in any way to function correctly in the 911 system, and one of those reasons has been mentioned by @Sky-Knight.

It's all about location. The law states that any service that allows 911 to be dialed has to automatically provide an address. With the advent of cellular and internet calls it's made things much more complicated. For several years now doing a test 911 call has been part of every voice cut over I've been on. The problem is some locales will automatically dispatch to the listed address unless they were advised in advance. I've also seen a couple of companies who've setup a link to the 911 system. I'll dial the code they give me and it'll query the system for the associated address. Cellular is exempted from this location requirement.

 

[nlinecomputers]

And if you're not using a Google Pixel device, you won't get the patch for the Android side ever... and if you do it'll be months from now.

So at least Microsoft got Teams updated to fix it on their side, but Android users will be stuck with broken devices due to the terrible nature of the ecosystem for quite sometime. Which means this issue, once detailed will be exploitable by bad actors for awhile yet.

I suppose it's a good day to be a hitman's IT guy?

All in all this one isn't that big of a deal, things happen. The Log4j mess is much larger, and it'll be years before we find all of those systems too.

This is where the legislation needs to be passed requiring patching in a timely manner. National security of the communication infrastructure, blah blah.

 

[britechguy]

This is where the legislation needs to be passed requiring patching in a timely manner. National security of the communication infrastructure, blah blah.

Not that I don't agree, entirely, but all I can think is, "Good luck with that."

We are deep into an era where legislative action is anathema to one party, and even if that weren't the case, any regulatory oversight of the tech sector will be fought tooth and nail by deep-pocketed interests.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Not that I don't agree, entirely, but all I can think is, "Good luck with that."

We are deep into an era where legislative action is anathema to one party, and even if that weren't the case, any regulatory oversight of the tech sector will be fought tooth and nail by deep-pocketed interests.

Buckle up on that one, because the yahoos in TX opened Pandora's box with their citizen enforced via the civil courts abortion ban, and the Governor of CA is now calling for a bill that does the same thing to guns. Which... well anyone with a brain saw this coming a mile away. These tactics take the conflict of governance outside of our legislative halls and back into the streets. Do you want civil war? Because this is how you get civil war... and all we can do is grab popcorn and watch.

But to try to veer this back on topic, I'd love anything competently done in the realm of digital property rights.