Text to 911 Poses Technology, Funding and Political Challenges

The ability to send text messages to 911 anywhere in the US could enhance public safety answering points’ (PSAPs’) ability to respond to emergency situations – and could be particularly important when the person contacting the PSAP is unable to place a traditional phone call. But although some PSAPs already support text to 911 capability, the capability is far from ubiquitous, and achieving it more broadly will require addressing technology, funding and political issues.

Telecompetitor learned more about those issues in a recent interview with executives from NGA911, one of several companies that has developed technology to support text to 911. “911 is a national brand implemented at the municipal level — in most cases, with no state coordinating agency,” said NGA911 CEO Don Ferguson.People “have the perception that it’s consistent but that’s very far from the truth,” he said.