So can we text 9-1-1 or not?!?!
We’re sorry, you have reached a non-working number (please hang-up and try your call again)
The exponential growth of the mobile communications market has made it not uncommon for modern households to not subscribe to a traditional land-line. This trend has created issues for 9-1-1 emergency services since mobile phones are not uniquely bound to a single geographic address; rather a cellular signal is traced to the nearest signal tower (E911). Under phase II of E911, wireless carriers provide a relatively accurate latitude and longitude of the phone’s location. Since the first text message sent about twenty years ago, texting has been embraced as a valuable alternative to communicate without actually having to talk to someone. Current studies indicate that almost one third of mobile communications users prefer the use of text over voice. When these facts are combined, it’s easy to wonder what has taken so long for text 9-1-1 services to become available.
As of May 15th, 2014, the four major U.S. cellular carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint) have voluntarily committed to provide text 9-1-1 services; other carriers are scheduled to offer 9-1-1 services by the end of 2014. HOWEVER, NOT ALL 911 CALL CENTERS ARE EQUIPPED TO RECEIVE OR REACT TO 9-1-1 TEXT MESSAGES. In fact, only 1% of U.S. call centers currently have this capability and it is likely to take years for all call centers to obtain the necessary equipment and software as well as develop protocols and complete operator training on the system.
Until the gaps are filled, it is important that voice 9-1-1 calls remain the primary method of contacting emergency services. (if a text 9-1-1 is transmitted to a call center that is not equipped for messaging, a bounce-back message will be delivered to the sender warning that the message did not go through)
Even when the text 9-1-1 services are universally available throughout the U.S. there are many important factors (good and bad) to consider before using text rather than voice for emergency applications:
- (Good) Texting 9-1-1 allows the sender to manually enter in an exact address or location as well as the nature of the emergency.
- (Good) Texting 9-1-1 is useful in situations where the caller must be stealthy i.e. there is an intruder in your home.
- (Good) Texting 9-1-1 has the potential of transmitting pictures/video of offenders or the actual emergency (though the system really needs to figure out how to manage just words first, then it can work on additional media capabilities)
- (Bad) Emergency text messages are currently treated the same as standard text messages in terms of transmission times and/or delays; a 9-1-1 text message could get caught in a queue during a time when minutes and seconds count. (But, Good) On the other hand, text messaging typically requires less signal strength and may be available in coverage areas where voice is not.
- (Very Bad) Text messaging is one-dimensional. Only digits are transmitted; other sensory pieces of information such as verbal tone, sense of urgency, background noise, etc. that are available in voice calls are lost. A lot of information can be obtained from a voice phone call that can assist in dispatching the proper response.
Overall, text 9-1-1 will have some great advantages. With the exception of the inability to communicate vital, secondary information, most of the disadvantages of text 9-1-1 can be solved as technology improves. Good or bad, it is a service that almost must be adopted in order to adapt to societal trends. However, thanks to the rate of innovation, the system may be complete just in time for it to be replaced. Mobile communications usage data indicates 2013 to be the first year that text messaging has actually decreased as people are starting to use different, more innovative services to communicate.
