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Verizon To Begin Offering "Text To 911" Service
An anonymous reader writes "In a move that will likely elicit a 'why didn't they implement that sooner?' response, Verizon in the next 12 months will begin implementing a 'text to 911' feature that, as the name implies, will enable users contact 911 operators via text message to report an emergency. The feature will be particularly helpful for the hearing and/or speech impaired, and for folks who find themselves in dangerous situations where making a voice 911 call isn't advisable. Beginning in early 2013, Verizon will start rolling out the feature in various metropolitan areas before progressing to a nationwide rollout soon thereafter. In many respects, this move has been a long time coming, and something the FCC has been championing for a few years."
Now, instead of getting multiple phone calls about a traffic accident, the dispatcher can much more quickly ignore the duplicates.
This is an ideal way of sending information when you want to report that you saw something that may need their attention, but you personally don't need a response.
They really need to support sending photos.
Its a good thing SMS is guaranteed realtime with guaranteed delivery. I've never had a text show up hours after it was sent while I'm now standing next to the person who sent it. Yep, its a beautiful service, one I'm happy to put my life in the care of.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
This is an ideal way of sending information when you want to report that you saw something that may need their attention, but you personally don't need a response.
Presuming you can get sufficient detail in the message to make it useful. 911 Operators typically ask questions for a reason. I can just see a whole bunch of text like "I saw an accident on I-80" with no further detail in the messages. Then the operator may need to call to find out the details.
lol popo omw
User: theres a hijacker on the plane
Cop: Don't you mean "there's"?
User: thats what your worried about? cant you send help?
Cop: I'm sorry, sir. I can't help you.
As a firefighter/aemt, we already get multiple, redundant calls with no information because the caller is "driving by the scene and thought you should know." So now we'll get a text message with no way for the operator to try and pull more information from the caller.
"omg im dying plz help"
So we dispatch two ALS ambulance crews, an engine company and local first responders to find some idiot who broke his toe.
0_o
Fire - exclamation mark - fire - exclamation mark - help me - exclamation mark. Looking forward to hearing from you. Yours truly, ...
It's funny how infrastructure gets privatized based entirely on how recent it is.
Water, sewage, roads, and postal service -- existed since time immemorial, or at least since before the Roman Empire. Today: run directly by the government, more or less competently.
Electricity and heating gas -- existed for a little over a hundred years. Today: run privately by a government-designated, very tightly regulated monopoly. Anecdotally, I have more complaints with my electric company than the city water bureau.
Telephone, cable, landline internet -- existed for less than a century. Today: privately-run, less regulated duopoly (at best). Consumer complaints: fairly high.
Cellular voice/data -- existed for a couple decades. Barely-regulated private kleptocracy; every provider sucks in an individual, unique way.