What three words

Janine said:
Really?

Which one would you prefer to give (accurately and under pressure) to emergency services?

Shack.stale.ridge
or
51.759193,-1.254755
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I suggest it depends how panicky you may be in such an emergency, fortunately I do not panic in those situations.

I am happy with gps co ordinates they are displayed on my watch and phone. A phone can be tripolated quickly and is what happened to radios in the 30’s and 40’s when trying to locate a radio transmitter. You may recall a report of how the armed forces ‘took out’ an enemy I sergeant by using their mobile as the target.

it does seem that these days a name seems to popularise what can be done by other means. ZOOM has enters the language for a video call may have multiple video conferencing apps from Microsoft teams, Cisco web ex. Skype, face time to mention a fewI use them all! But ZOOM is the deaf to mentioned as the popularise app which had been insecure and still is unless you use a paid for service.

Each to their own but I’m not going to just use a popularise application when I can use more tradition methods which are fully understood.
 
carolyn said:
If the emergency services want us to have it then that’s good enough for me. Thank you , I’d never heard of it. I’ve installed it and will get family and friends to do so if they haven’t already.
Our address causes lots of confusion for deliveries & I wouldn’t want the same to happen if we’d called an ambulance.
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The emergency service would be quite happy with my post code and house number which is ‘quicker’ than me reaching for a phone and repaying three words. They are also happy with gps co ordinates. Which depending on device can provide accuracy to find a lost wedding ring !

I should add that if your using a land line the chances are your address is automatically displayed to the emergency services Agent they will just want to double check your post code and house number.
 
Jim said:
One of the benefits of being a cool cat.
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Lol I suspect many on here are Jim :giggle:(y) People are incredible and can act in amazing ways when under pressure
 
Coolcats said:
The emergency service would be quite happy with my post code and house number which is ‘quicker’ than me reaching for a phone and repaying three words. They are also happy with gps co ordinates. Which depending on device can provide accuracy to find a lost wedding ring !

I should add that if your using a land line the chances are your address is automatically displayed to the emergency services Agent they will just want to double check your post code and house number.
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I do know this but My house name is Half Acres and I live on Horsecastles Lane, unfortunately there is a complex of old people’s bungalows that are numbered that are called Half Acres just off a different road close by called Horsecastles with no lane so if people don’t use the postcodes or think they know where they are going they frequently end up in the old people’s bungalows! We get phone calls all the time asking what number we are. If they do enter the postcode they will be roughly at the end of our long drive but the W3W would mean they were sitting on my lap!!

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carolyn said:
I do know this but My house name is Half Acres and I live on Horsecastles Lane, unfortunately there is a complex of old people’s bungalows that are numbered that are called Half Acres just off a different road close by called Horsecastles with no lane so if people don’t use the postcodes or think they know where they are going they frequently end up in the old people’s bungalows! We get phone calls all the time asking what number we are. If they do enter the postcode they will be roughly at the end of our long drive but the W3W would mean they were sitting on my lap!!
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GPS could get to you even more accurately (down to 1cm depending on reciever) but if your happy using the W3W app then its whatever you choose.

Most of the population do not live on estates such as you describe and therefore for the Majority its quite reassuring that a good old fashioned landline phone post code and house number could save your life.
 
Coolcats said:
but not all have the skills I guess.
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Which makes W3W a perfect solution for them.

Telling people to take a map and compass with them just incase they need to tell someone where they are! how dumb is that. Paper maps are out of date before they are printed. Digital maps are much better in every way.

Most people carry a phone. Everyone should familiarise themselves how to drop someone a pin in google maps or share a W3W location. Far better to learn now than when you have a gut full of adrenaline and really need help. Unless of course, you are a cool cat who never panics '\
 
Jim said:
Which makes W3W a perfect solution for them.

Telling people to take a map and compass with them just incase they need to tell someone where they are! how dumb is that. Paper maps are out of date before they are printed. Digital maps are much better in every way.

Most people carry a phone. Everyone should familiarise themselves how to drop someone a pin in google maps or share a W3W location. Far better to learn now than when you have a gut full of adrenaline and really need help. Unless of course, you are a cool cat who never panics :D
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We could debate this Jim but will leave it there, just a comment about land lines, the telco's know where thier cusomers are and have routing and records. If you call from a land line and pass out before uttering W3W GPS or post code etc, they will come and get you, they know where you are. It is re-assuring that the chances are Carolyn would be found if she called 999 from a land line due to the telco's records that are shared with the emergency services.

Not sure how that land line helps when lost in the woods ;)...........I will just reach for my GPS co-ords

whatever anyone uses just stay safe and hope you never have to use them.
 
Coolcats said:
the telco's know where thier cusomers are and have routing and records. If you call from a land line and pass out before uttering W3W GPS or post code etc, they will come and get you,
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You are right, call from a landline and pass out, they will know precisely where you are. They'll just take a look at your phone bill :D

With enough transmitters and lots of wifi, the phone company can locate my cellular mobile phone with some accuracy. But If I want to tell someone where I am (the whole point of w3w) I don't really want to call my phone company and ask them, when I can just drop them a pin from Google Maps, or ping them a W3W address.
 
Earlier this year, in rain and wind a tree hit the bus I was driving. It was subsequently written off.
I had glass in my head and my arm hurt.
I was getting wet, the roof had disappeared. It was dark and the lane was blocked.
I called 999 and was able to use what 3 words to describe my exact location..
I knew where I was, but didn't know the name of the road which was over 2 miles in length. The call handler had the location within under 2 minutes. Ambulance and highways turned up to deal with the situation..
What 3 words is far better than lat/long when you're in shock, injured, wet and cold.

You can navigate to a location using Google maps or save locations to others.

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pappajohn said:
I know the three words for my location but just took four voice searches to find me.
It did not understand my voice.
Deleted the app as crap.
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The speech to text part of the app is provided by the Phone itself, not the app creator. e.g. It is Apple’s IOS operating system on the iPhone.

So if it doesn’t understand you, time to put your phone in the bin because none of the apps will.
 
Lucky said:
Ok this moment l tried using the English version of the App in France. My location in France on What 3 Words is given as "percussion/cylinder/double"

Can you imagine where that's going to get me saying it to an operator with the French emergency services? Not far, I can assure you, unless you're lucky enough to be put through to an English speaker who has access to the English app.

As I said earlier, I like the system, but only in one's own country.
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I use it quite a bit... so far though, I’ve never needed to vocalise my location, I’ve texted, whats’app’d, messaged etc etc... it’s great for that! You don’t even need to be able to spell, Judy copy and paste.......
 
TonyEmm said:
Me too... it’s much more accurate than postcodes!
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Postcodes huh I guess you never receive a parcel or letter then ;) but you will need a house number or name to go with it
 
Skez said:
Exactly!

Big fan of W3W.

From previous threads on this naysayers will probably take a lot of convincing, but in my view its potential benefits massively outweigh perceived disadvantages.

They've just done a very successful funding round so there are plenty that agree!
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Give me your GPS and I can find you just as easily W3W is just another iteration of something that exists. If you choose to use it that's fine but I have no 'need' to

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Riverbankannie said:
All the emergency services in the South West have the option of receiving a location from What Three Words.
saved someone last week when they fractured their ankle down a rabbit hole on the ear of the White Horse. Of course they could have given their location in GPS but some people find long strings of numbers or the notation of GPS (E/W, N/S, +/- Mins and secs) confusing. Three words is easier and understandable for many.
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I guess it also depends if your number or word dyslexic ;)
 
Coolcats said:
Postcodes huh I guess you never receive a parcel or letter then ;) but you will need a house number or name to go with it
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You are missing the point entirely, comparing chalk and cheese. Maps and w3w

You like postcodes Great, however a postcode can cover a large area, and 90% of the country(side) and it's roads does not have a postcode. Well it does now, every 3m2 has a postcode. What a great idea. and it's catching on :D
 
Coolcats said:
GPS could get to you even more accurately (down to 1cm depending on reciever) but if your happy using the W3W app then its whatever you choose.

Most of the population do not live on estates such as you describe and therefore for the Majority its quite reassuring that a good old fashioned landline phone post code and house number could save your life.
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I’m not sure why you’d need to give your location more accurately than the nearest metre. I’m also unclear how it could be easier to give a postcode unless you are at home.

We broke down on an unnamed road in the middle of nowhere. I could have given coordinates but why would I when I could give WTW? The breakdown service knew exactly where I was and said they prefer WTW because people are less likely to make mistakes with words than with long numbers.
 
Jim said:
You are missing the point entirely, comparing chalk and cheese. Maps and w3w

You like postcodes Great, however a postcode can cover a large area, and 90% of the country(side) and it's roads does not have a postcode. Well it does now, every 3m2 has a postcode. What a great idea. and it's catching on :D
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I am sure the simplicity of W3W will catch on, I agree a post code can cover a large area, the post office and delivery services seem to get on with it fine and have done so for decades therefore can not be that bad.

W3W is an app that appears to have given some the sense of re-assurance but how different is it to GPS is it ? one uses words one uses numbers and is just as easy to use.

How did we find each other in the past ? Oh and at a festival may people just use a flag pole (mind you smoke signals can work too) interestingly when you are 'out there' many phones will not work as there is no phone signal so even if you have W3W or GPS you may have to walk some distance to get a signal. Same for GPS therefore total reliance on any app or technology will not guarantee instant salvation or survival. On that happy note im off for a walk and may even post GPS information so you know where I have been (within a few meters) ;)

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MWW said:
people are less likely to make mistakes with words than with long numbers.
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Maybe Maybe not, one reason voice recognition is not 100% accurate is that people miss pronounce words and is more common than you may think having not used W3WI suspect just like numbers the operator will ask you to repeat the names and repeat them back to you. Just as they would Numbers, its a crazy world what ever you choose to use it will help in an emergency. lets hope we never have to use it in that way.
 
Other than this forum, I have never seen any reference to W3W.

Every location I have searched for on the various apps or websites anywhere in the world have always given a map reference, Lat-Long, or Ordnance Survey National Grid.
 
I broke down in France , phoned rac/fiat assist, gave them the name of the place /coordinates in 2 different formats & they couldn’t find us , it was them that introduced us to W3W , we installed the app & they found us instantly

Coolcats , your opinion seems to be different to most of us , you probably won’t use it , BUT most of us will benefit from it , gets my vote 👍
 
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Coolcats said:
How did we find each other in the past ? Oh and at a festival may people just use a flag pole (mind you smoke signals can work too) interestingly when you are 'out there' many phones will not work as there is no phone signal so even if you have W3W or GPS you may have to walk some distance to get a signal.
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1606039613810.png
 
Coolcats said:
Give me your GPS and I can find you just as easily W3W is just another iteration of something that exists. If you choose to use it that's fine but I have no 'need' to
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And that's fine by me too.

I think it's great. I think it's a lot easier than co-ordinates.

It's not the only way however - stick with what you know and love if you want! Or try something new. Your choice (y)
 
2016 the following versions were released. I'm not sure if the words are straight translations between the different languages.
  • Arabic
  • German
  • English (US)
  • English (Australia)
  • English (UK)
  • Spanish (Spain)
  • Spanish (Latin America)
  • Finnish
  • French (France)
  • French (Canada)
  • Polish
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Portuguese (Portugal)
  • Italian
  • Russian
  • Turkish
  • Danish
  • Greek
  • Dutch
  • Czech
  • Swedish
  • Norwegian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Thai
 

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