Today the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) took the first baby-step towards implementing nationwide text-to-911 technology, by issuing rules for how wireless carriers should handle text messages when the service is not available, and by setting a deadline for the feature. The regulations are the first in a long-term project to allow citizens to send text, photos and videos to public safety answering points (PSAPs), which will eventually become part of a Next Generation 911 (NG911) network. Last year, under pressure from Congress, the nation’s cellular carriers voluntarily agreed to forward text messages to public safety answering points (PSAPs) that specifically request the service starting in May 2014. A handful of counties now have text-to-911 service, but most are accepting text messages only from one local or regional cellular carrier.
In its formal Report and Order released today, the FCC says carriers providing text messaging services must provide a “bounce-back” message to 911 texters if the local PSAP has not implemented the technology necessary to accept text messages, or the message cannot be otherwise delivered. The feature will allow the texter to immediately seek out an alternative methods of reporting an emergency, the FCC said, and also prepare consumers to become stakeholders in the future NG911 network.
The FCC noted that public expectations already support text-to-911. Telecommunications Systems (TCS) told the FCC that Verizon subscribers sent over 23,000 text messages to 911 in the six months after October 2012, and that about 13,000 of those were sent in areas where the text-to-911 is not supported.
The commission declined to require a standard wording for the bounce-back message. Instead, the message must contain only two elements of information: that text-to-911 service is unavailable, and an instruction that the texter should attempt to contact 911 by other means. Carriers can select the wording of required information, and also include additional specific messages or directions. “We believe our approach affords covered text providers with the necessary guidance and flexibility to create bounce-back messages that are understood by their particular consumer base,” the FCC said.
The FCC also prepared a cost-benefit analysis of implementing text-to-911, by using cardiac arrest patients as the defining model. They estimated the benefits of text-to-911, “to be more than ten times the highest estimated cost in the record of implementing text-to-911, which was calculated to be no more than $4 million annually.”
The Order sets a Sept. 30, 2013 deadline for implementing the bounce-back feature. Download (pdf) the full FCC Order here.
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