City Tries 911 Texting, Issues List of Limitations

For the next six months residents of Durham (NC) who are Verizon Wireless customers can text-message the city’s public safety dispatchers to report emergencies, but a press release announcing the trial project notes the messages won’t be free and there are several technical limitations. The test period was arranged with help from Intrado and is reportedly the second city to accept text messages to 911 after Blackhawk County (Iowa). James Soukup, director of the Durham Emergency Communications Center, explains, “When asked to participate in this trial, we went into it as an opportunity to help folks who are hearing impaired and potential victims who can’t afford for someone to hear them make a 911 voice call.” The test will be a learning process for both text-ers and the involved agencies and companies, he added. The press release notes several points for text-ers to keep in mind, including, “Customers should use the texting option only when calling 911 is not an option,” and that it takes longer to text than to make a voice emergency call. “Picking up the phone and calling 911 is still the most efficient way to reach emergency help,” the press release notes. Providing a location “is imperative,” the release says, and abbreviations or slang should never be used. Text message can only be 160 characters long, and either count towards the Verizon customer’s monthly text message limit or are charged per-message. The release does not say that there is no automatic acknowledgement that a text message has been received by a dispatcher, and in fact may not be received at all because of wireless or network problems. Text message delivery can also be delayed during an exchange with a dispatcher, which also isn’t mentioned in the release. Download (pdf) the full press release here.