Text 911 service now available

Saturday, May 31, 2014

The Indiana State-wide 911 Board, working with Putnam County, recently announced that public safety has taken a major move forward.

Through Indiana's coordinated approach to public safety, local 911 centers across the state are now providing the public with access to 911 through the use of text messaging from their wireless handset.

INdigital telecom of Fort Wayne designed, built and operate the IN911 network for the State 911 Board, which provides service to 911 agencies throughout the state.

"We have been experimenting with Text from 911 for the past month or so where we can send text messages to callers to verify an emergency say in the event of a hang up for example and that has been working very well with no reported problems from my dispatchers. The hearing-impaired community has gravitated toward this technology," 911 Dispatch Director Dave Costin said. "The cost to the county for this service from the state is free."

Verizon Wireless and its technology partner TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) are the first carrier to provide service with Sprint also opting to provide the service. Both T-Mobile and AT&T are said to have voluntarily committed that to provide service but have not done so at this time. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants all other wireless carriers to provide text-to-911 by the end of the year.

Costin noted that four counties and several other states have tried out the new technology in recent months and although there are some caveats in how the system works, such as having just four carriers participating at this time, the system not being set up to send messages or that the phone must have texting/SMS enabled to be able to send text to 911, the service proved useful in situations such as abductions or home intrusions.

"Text is not meant to replace voice but can be used when voice communication is not feasible (e.g. hearing-impaired callers, or when there is a threat present from a home intruder, etc.) and there will be times when voice is preferred such as giving medical instruction or CPR for example," Costin said.

Having such a service has proven useful as women in California were able to text 911 behind their backs while being abducted several years ago. Texting also allowed children to open up more in stressful situations rather than clamming up while on the phone with 911 dispatchers.

Costin expressed some worry that more texts will be received than landline calls. However, he also noted that there are a lot of hang-ups, so it may be more convenient for them to text back to a hang-up.

The next step in the process will be imaging that would accompany any sort of text. This could help with diagnosis as well as getting a photo of a suspect or a car to the authorities.

Verizon Wireless customers in Indiana should keep the following in mind if they send a text to 911:

* Customers should use the texting option only when calling 911 is not an option.

* Using a phone to call 911 is still the most efficient way to reach emergency help. Texting is not always instantaneous, which is critical during a life-threatening emergency. It may take slightly longer to dispatch emergency services in a text to 911 situation because of the time involved: someone must enter the text, the message must go over the network and the 911 telecommunicator must read the text and then text back.

* Providing location information and nature of the emergency in the first text message is imperative, since the Indiana communications centers will receive only an approximate location of the cell phone, and will not be able to speak with the person sending the text. Text abbreviations or slang should never be used so that the intent of the dialogue can be as clear as possible.

* Customers must be in range of cell towers in the area. If customers are outside or near the edge of a county, the message may not reach the Emergency Communications Center.

* Texts sent to 911 have the same 160-character limit as other text messages.

* Verizon Wireless customers who use Usage Controls should remove this feature to ensure full text to 911 capability.

* Verizon Wireless customers must have mobile phones that are capable of sending text messages.

* The solution is available for customers who use the SMS provided by Verizon Wireless. It is not available for third-party text messaging applications that can be downloaded to the phone or for applications that do not use SMS technology.

* The texting function should only be used for emergency situations that require an immediate response from police, fire or emergency medical services. Non-emergency issues should still be communicated to the local municipalities' communications centers through their non-emergency lines.

* SMS-911 should only be to communicate between emergency help and the texter with no pictures, video, other attachments or other recipients appended to the message.

Communicating with 911 dispatchers by voice is more effective than text-to- 911. Using text should be limited to the following circumstances:

When calling 911 is not possible, such as if the caller is deaf, hearing- or speech-impaired.

* If a caller is otherwise unable to speak, because of a medical condition (such as a stroke).

* If speaking would be unsafe, as in the case of abduction or home invasion.

Putnam County began text messaging as part of a pilot program that started in January 2013. Over the past year, many improvements have been made, training has taken place and public safety has worked to meet the May 15 deadline set out by the FCC.

Additional information is also available at www.in911.net and www.textty.com

Comments
View 1 comment
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • I've long wondered why this has not been available before now, especially in case of home invasions or in the case of someone to ill to speak. It also enables the disabled or elderly to create a pre programmed message they can send with their address if they are to ill or shaken to try to type extensively.

    -- Posted by Heron on Sat, May 31, 2014, at 5:33 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: