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FCC To Allow Texting To 911
tekgoblin writes "The FCC is looking into allowing people to report incidents to 911 via SMS from their mobile phones. They are also considering mobile video to show the 911 service what is going on. The current 911 system handles around 230 million calls per year with most of the calls being from mobile phones. One situation influenced this move to allow texting to 911 was the Virginia Tech shooting. 'The technological limitations of 9-1-1 can have tragic, real-world consequences,' the release said. 'During the 2007 Virginia Tech campus shooting, students and witnesses desperately tried to send texts to 9-1-1 that local dispatchers never received. If these messages had gone through, first responders may have arrived on the scene faster with firsthand intelligence about the life-threatening situation that was unfolding.'"
Texting is a lot more silent if a criminal is nearby and might hear you, also a lot of people are idiots.
For precisely the reason in the summary. If you're inside on a bank robbery or other hostage type situation you can send a text in near complete silence. Talking to a dispatcher will make noise and potentially give away your position (and the fact that you're in contact with the outside). It's a limited use case, but happens often enough to justify the relatively small expense I would think.
I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
It better be 100% free and work with txting blocked and even if you have no sim.
If you think you need to make a 911 contact, but wouldn't if it would cost you a dime, then you don't need to make a 911 contact.
Problem solved.
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!