Text to 911 services debut in Aurora, St. Charles
By Jack McCarthy Chronicle Media — March 8, 2016
Text to 911 service became available in both Aurora and St. Charles this month.
The state’s second-largest city now allows residents to send text messages for 911 emergency services.
But Aurora Police strongly urges citizens to stick with phone calls in a crisis situation.
“The limitations of texting to 911 make using it a last resort,” Police Chief Kristen Ziman said.
Text to 911 service became available in both Aurora and St. Charles this month, but Ziman warned that communications can take longer to receive, arrive out of order, or in a worst case scenario, may reach emergency personnel.
“Texting emergency calls to 911 should only be used when making a voice call is not possible due to a speech or hearing impairment or if the caller’s physical safety would be in jeopardy if they made a traditional 911 call,”
Under the new system, text messages can be made to 911 emergency service centers in Aurora and St. Charles via mobile phones or other devices.
“Text requests come in via a secure internet connection,” said Dan Ferrelli, Aurora police spokesman. “The software we use is not integrated into our CAD or phone system. It’s a web-based software that is essentially connected to the cell carriers. Each dispatch position has internet access.”
In 2014, the Federal Communications Commission approved an order requiring all wireless carriers and other text communication providers to deliver emergency text messages to police and emergency call centers.
While use is expected to grow in coming years, only a select number of communities nationwide now offer the service.
“In the future, text-to-911 will be widely available in the United States,” the FCC said in a statement. “However, text-to-911 is currently only available in certain markets where 911 call centers, also known as Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), have elected to accept emergency text messages from the public.”
In the Chicago area, Cook County Sheriff’s Police, the Village of Rosemont, city of Evanston and Lake County CenCom are among early adopters of the system, according to the FCC.
A handful of downstate counties and municipalities have also added Text-to-911 or signaled readiness to offer the service.
Ziman said situations where texting would be advantageous include someone who is hearing impaired or unable to speak due to a medical condition.
Other scenarios include home invasions, abductions or incidents where a victim’s safety would be in peril.
“The best rule to remember is ‘call if you can, text if you can’t,’ ” said Ziman.
Still, there are caveats to using Aurora’s Text-to-911 system.
Users must be in range of Aurora area cell towers. Locations outside or near the City’s fringes may not reach the Aurora 911 Center.
A text or data plan is required to place a text to 911 and texts sent to 911 have the same 160 character limit as other messages.
Photos, video and other attachments cannot be added to a text to 911 message because it could cause a delivery failure.
If service is not available the user will receive a message saying so and that 911 must be contacted by other means.
Aurora officials said messages should be addressed to 911 in the To field and initial message should be brief and include location of emergency and type of help needed.
The sender should be prepared to answer follow questions and follow instructions from a 911 operator.
— Text to 911 services debut in Aurora, St. Charles —
