County launches Text-to-911
As of this Friday all you will need to summon 911 in Stillwater County help is the ability to text.
Most AT&T, Verizon and Sagebrush cell phone users will be able to access what Stillwater County Sheriff Cliff Brophy has termed a new public safety service tool.
Text-to-911 is specifically geared toward situations in which calling 911 might not be possible or unsafe. For example, if a caller is hearing/voice impaired, a medical emergency that leaves the caller unable to speak, a situation in which speaking out loud might put the caller in danger (such as a home invasion), a domestic violence incident, an active shooter scenario or when the caller is on the edge of the cellular network and a text message can be transmitted but not a phone call, according to Brophy.
Text-to-911 is not intended to replace 911 voice calls in emergency situations.
TECHNOLOGY SUITED FOR SMALLER PLACES
The program has been out for less than two years and there are currently 39 counties in Montana either using it or getting ready to implement it, according to the Federal Communications Commission and Brophy. The first Montana county went live with the program in December 2014.
One of the unique elements of the program is that smaller, less populated areas are often better suited for Text-to-911 than larger areas.
“Large urban areas have such a complex issue with the number of companies and players,” said Brophy.
Stillwater County also has fairly advanced equipment, compared to counties similar in size.
THE RULES
Brophy said the rule to follow is “Call 911 if you can; Text 911 if you can’t.”
Brophy offers the following guidelines to use the Text-to-911 system:
•The texting option should only be used when calling 911 is not an option.
•Calling 911 by phone is still the most efficient way to reach emergency help. Texting is not always instant, which is critical during a life-threatening emergency. Brophy explains that 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 Dispatcher must read the text and then text back.
•Providing detailed and exact location information, as well as the nature of the emergency in the first text message is imperative, said Brophy. Stillwater County 911 will initially only receive the location of the cell phone tower closest to the call’s origin.
•Don’t use abbreviations, emoticons or slang in order to keep the information being relayed clear.
•Customers must be in range of cell towers in the county. Texts sent from outside or near the edge of the county may not reach Stillwater County 911.
•Texts to 911 from areas where the service is not available will receive a “bounce back” message explaining that Text-to-911 is not available in that area, and to make a voice 911 call.
•Texts sent to 911 have the same 160-character limit as other text messages.
•Wireless customers who use “Usage Controls” should remove this feature to ensure full Text-to-911 capabilities.
•Wireless customers must have mobile phones that are capable of sending text messages. The solution is available for customers who use the native SMS provided by wireless carriers. Customers should consult their over- the-top (OTT) messaging provider to determine if and how text-to-911 is provided by the OTT application.
•The texting function should only be used for emergency situations that require an immediate response from police, fire or emergency medical services.
•Out-of-service cellphones will not be able to Text-to-911. There must be an active data plan for Text-to-911 to work.
•If you text to 911, responders will be dispatched.
•Text-to-911 should only be used to communicate between emergency help and the texter. No pictures, video, other attachments, or other recipients can be appended to the message.