TN to launch 911 texting in 2017

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - In two years, Tennesseans will have the option to text their emergencies to 911.

Curtis Sutton, executive director of the Tennessee Emergency Communications Board (TECB), confirmed to WMC Action News 5 texting will be included as part of a statewide upgrade of 911 communications to 'next-generation 911' or NG911.

"Statewide text to 911 service over NG911...will likely be deployed in calendar year 2017," Sutton said. "It will certainly help the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Instead of relying on a relay service, they will be able to contact 911 directly. There may also be instances where an individual is unable or afraid to speak, but they can text vital information to emergency responders."

"Text-to-911 is great for domestic violence cases, in which someone can't call right away or can't be heard calling 911," said Whitney Green, public information officer for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. Green said 911 texting is available in Arkansas, but only on a county-by-county basis. "We only have two counties who are using it now: Benton and Washington," she said. "It is completely up to the local counties to implement the system."

Crittenden County, Arkansas, Sheriff's Office employs a system called Smart911.com. Citizens there can sign up for free on the web site and create a profile, including critical emergency information linked to their phones, which is automatically shared with dispatchers when a 911 call is dialed from their phones.

"It automatically pops up on our system that they have a Smart911 profile," Crittenden County 911 Director Jeff Morris said. "It gives us your address, a picture of your house, how many family members, your medical condition, medications...all instantly. The dispatchers have that information at their fingertips. It will automatically share information that a panicked caller might not be able to share."

Mississippi is also on county-by-county implementation of text-to-911, according to Mississippi Emergency Management Agency External Affairs Director Greg Flynn. No North Mississippi counties or municipalities are on board yet.

"Only Hinds County and the city of Byram (have text-to-911) at this time," Flynn said.

States are updating their 911 systems in response to a Federal Communications Commission order issued August 2014. The order requires all wireless carriers and text service providers to enable consumers to send emergency texts to dispatch centers that can accommodate them. The order does not impose a 911 texting deadline on states, cities, or counties. It gives them the discretion to decide if and when to implement text-to-911.

Sutton said there are a couple of reasons for the two-year delay in Tennessee.

"First, the technology wasn't there until recently," he said. "Second, 911 telecommunicators don't have training standards for texting. There was an initial fear that telecommunicators that had not adopted texting would have difficulty with text shorthand, like RT for 'real time' or BRB for 'be right back.' Also, as far as I know, there are no industry training standards like there are for 911 call-taking or dispatching."

Sutton added, "The TECB doesn't prohibit local emergency communications districts from implementing their own text-to-911 solution, but you will likely find the general consensus from the 911 community is that a statewide solution is preferable."

Marvin Pender, Memphis 911 Communications manager, said his dispatch center will follow the lead of the TECB. But he said NG911 technicians are already upgrading the Memphis call center to control the number of hang-up calls that clog the system.

Right now, dispatchers must call back every hang-up to determine whether it was an emergency, abandoned call, pocket-dial, or prank call. That delays responses to legitimate emergencies. With the upgrade, if a caller hangs up, then calls back, the system will automatically recognize both calls as one call.

"You'll only have one call in the system as opposed to two or three," Pender said. "The dispatcher will not have to call the number back to verify whether it was a legitimate call."

Memphis 911 is the busiest emergency dispatch center in Tennessee. It sees 3,000 emergency calls and between 5,000-5,500 non-emergency calls a day. That many calls account for 20 percent of all Tennessee 911 calls.

Contributing to the delays caused by hang-ups and abandoned calls: the city's failure to fill the full complement of dispatcher and supervisor positions over the last five years.

WMC Action News 5 Chief Consumer Investigator Andy Wise looks into how five years of under-staffing have affected call delays in a special investigation Thursday on WMC Action News 5 at 10.

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