Oakland County Rolls Out System To Respond To 911 Texts
PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - Oakland County has rolled out a system to allow people to text 911 in an emergency.
The sheriff's department says the system was fully implemented this month. In most of the U.S., calling 911 is the reliable way to get emergency help from police, fire or emergency medical services. Some dispatch centers, however, are catching up with texting.
In a statement, Sheriff Michael Bouchard says officials "are encouraging residents to call when they can and text when they can't."
"With the rapidly changing technology on the market, we want to ensure that Oakland County has the capabilities to offer the most current service to keep our communities safe, especially in cases where it may be prohibitive to dial 911," he said.
Dispatchers need valuable information, most importantly, a person's location, as texting does not currently have the ability to accurately identify a person's location through texting. At this time, only Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint customers can text to 911.
The text-to-911 service works like any text conversation, with the 911 operator using a web browser to respond within seconds.
Like the phone service, the 911 text service should be used for emergencies only.
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