Chester County Touts Text to 911 System at Malvern Luncheon

Chester Commissioners highlighted that the county is the first in Southeastern Pennsylvania to implement a Text to 911 service for emergency situations at the annual ”State of the County” luncheon in Malvern Wednesday.

“By adding a Text to 911 option, we’re providing equal access to emergency services for residents with hearing and speech disabilities,” said Terence Farrell, chairperson of the Chester County Commissioners. “However, our clear message for this new service is ‘call if you can, text if you must.’”

In December 2012, an agreement was reached nationally among major wireless carriers to provide nationwide Text to 911 solution. Chester County researched options for implementation and signed an agreement with TeleCommunications Systems, with three of the four major carriers – Verizon, Sprint and AT&T – now fully deployed. Testing with T-Mobile is scheduled to be completed by Monday.

Chester County Department of Emergency Services Director Robert Kagel says that the county’s 911 operators currently receive around 775 calls every day, and two out of three of those calls come from wireless phones.

Text to 911 calls take longer to process than voice calls, the commissioners said, and the location accuracy is not as precise as voice calls from a wireless phone.

If texting is the only option, users must have a data plan, cannot use abbreviations and answer questions as quickly and briefly as possible.