Texting 911—Not Ready Yet

Sending a text “911” message to comm centers in Connecticut is unreliable, has no priority status and doesn’t provide any way to indicate the message went through, according to telecom officials who testified before a state legislative committee on Wednesday. The hearing was sparked by the murder of a woman who used her cellular phone to send text messages to a friend, prompting Rep. Stephen Dargan to wonder if the capability exists in the state. But a Verizon official explained there is no connection between the text message system used by cellular companies and public safety comm centers. Marissa Mitrovich said implementing the feature, “will take many years.” AT&T director of public policy Peter White told the committee members, “If you need help, don’t go to Facebook. Don’t Twitter. Don’t send a text message. Call and talk.” Read more here.