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eSIM and Emergency Services
247 sats \ 5 comments \ @tttooocccooolll 7h AskSN
OK, if one is going the eSIM route after usually just getting a short term international plan, that person should be prepared to use Signal, Facetime, WhatsApp, Telegram, or stuff like that for calls, correct?
What does one do for emergency services? In the event of an emergency, it seems like important time would be wasted experimenting with whether or not the country code needs to be plugged in. I'm sure lots of stackers use eSIMs for data all the time. How's that work? Are all calls then treated as international?
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125 sats \ 0 replies \ @justin_shocknet 7h
Emergency comms use the radio, without authentication, to any available tower. Doesn't even need a sim at all, its a different protocol than mobile data.
If you've ever held a phone without a SIM you'll notice it says "emergency calls only" and still gets EBS alerts.
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90 sats \ 3 replies \ @ZezzebbulTheMysterious 7h
As far as I am aware, Emergency services doesn’t need an active sim service. You can always call your local number like 911 and it should divert it to the local authorities if required.
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @tttooocccooolll OP 7h
So someone with their phone from Brazil using an eSIM for data, but still with a Brazilian number, could call 911 while they were in the US and it would work fine? Is this true in most places with an emergency number?
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225 sats \ 1 reply \ @ZezzebbulTheMysterious 7h
Yes this is generally true. Of course there could be country specific issues, and you cannot be called back. But it should work to call emergency services without a voice service.
This eSIM vendor (no endorsement, just noting) explains in their FAQ: https://www.getnomad.app/blog/emergency-calls-data-only-sim
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @tttooocccooolll OP 7h
Thanks!
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