Now You Can Text 911...Sort Of

Let’s be honest: nobody talks on the phone anymore. Everyone has a cell phone, but actually making calls? That is so 2000. No, these days we use our phones for texting, video chats, sending photos, and playing games. Unless you’re calling to wish your grandmother a happy birthday, it’s unlikely you’re using your cell phone to call anyone (why bother wasting your breath when you can shoot off a quick text?). And now finally, it seems that the local authorities are getting on board with the texting obsession.

People can now report emergencies and request help by texting. The nation’s four major cell phone carriers are now officially routing text messages addressed to 911 to the local police. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have all gotten on board with the texting technique of alerting authorities. And it’s about time, too – there have been over 6 billion text messages sent every single day since 2012. Allowing people to send messages to the police is the logical next step.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that the next time you’re in trouble you can just shoot off a text and be done with it. Although the big carriers are all on board, they’re only obligated to make the service available where call centers could actually support the additional load of texts. And those call centers are few and far between, as this list of supported cities shows all too well. The servers will continue to roll out the service across the country, but there’s no date on when – or even if – the nation as a whole will be able to text authorities for an emergency instead of calling.

As if we didn’t just rain on your texting parade enough, here’s another point to consider: Even if you do live in one of the select locations where texting 911 is possible, that in no way implies you actually should. In fact, officials would frankly prefer it if you stuck to the old-fashioned method of contacting emergency services. Phone calls may seem a vestige of the past, like land lines or fax machines, but in an emergency they’re the best way to convey a lot of information quickly to dispatchers. Additionally, calling allows dispatchers to get a better bead on the location a call is coming from, which can be vital in an emergency situation. For texting, dispatchers will have to be trained to decipher panic-stricken text messages, and a protocol will have to be established for dealing with the influx of emergency messages – a program that will take time and effort to implement.

So even if we could send text messages to the police, we’re not supposed to. So why even have a service such as this available then? The text messaging system was enacted with very specific needs in mind. For those that are hearing-impaired, texting could spell the difference between life and death situations – literally. Then there are emergencies where a phone call simply isn’t an option, such as during a robbery or hostage situation. The point is, texting 911 should be seen as a last resort in extraordinary situations – not the first response when you need an ambulence (or horror of horrors, when McDonald’s runs out of McNuggets).

So unless it’s an actual emergency situation with no other options, stick to texting your friends. We're sure they'll appreciate your mastery of the emoticon much more.

[Pic via Flickr - Seattle Municipal Archives]