911 Text Messaging

[Mafamba Team 0]

But texting is fidgety, and if your in a rush and scared you can end up sending an odd text that takes ages to be read at the 911/999 sorting office and callcentre.We have something in England where you text when you're going out if you are a teenager, and you text this number, that's anonymous but associates your numbeer with name, so you text, "where", and "when", so if you get in trouble and your Parents need to find you, they just ring the police who check the line, which makes enquiries a lot faster dealt with.It gives Teenager freedom, with safety and security which I think is quite an ingenious idea, I doubt I would of thought of it myself.

[yeh 0]

It is a good idea. And as mentioned by other people, it has already been implemented in some countries. It is exceptionally useful when you are not in a position to talk. Maybe in a kidnap/hostage situation or when you are severely injured that you can only muster enough strength to press the unlock combination on your phone and a button to send an emergency sms before you pass out. Unfortunately, I think the sms service reliability could be an issue. If i'm not mistaken, sms deliveries are not guaranteed to be delivered when you press the send button. There could be some delay, something like that. As for locating where is the person, it can actually be done. I'm not talking about theoretical stuff but actual working product. There is a service from my telco that lets you find where your friend is. Of course, he/she would have to grant you the permission first. I think it has something to do with traingulation of the mobile phone signal, something like that. Ok, after reading and posting here, think it's about time to go see how I can configure my mobile phone to send an emergency sms with the press of a button. I know there is speed dialing, so it might be possible for speed messaging???

[iGuest 3]

I think it would be useful.For instance, if you were being kidnapped you could text 911 for help without the criminal knowing what you are doing...just a quick thought!-Kelly clarkson

[iGuest 3]

911 Text Messaging

911 Text Messaging

 

I just woke up from a nightmare where I was on my cell with my friend and told her I just saw 2 weird guys walking through my grandma's neighborhood. She told me to be careful because there is a set of 2 guys that has been raping/killing people.

 

I told her I wasn't worried about those 2 because they were getting in a car to leave, then we hung up. When I went to my grandma's backyard, I saw through to the neighbors backyard because there are no fences and the 2 guys had a guy at gunpoint, they could see me and I already had my cell phone in my hand, I thought about texting 911 as they would see if I called 911 and put it to my ear to try tell the operator to send help.

 

But then in my dream I realized I didn't know if you could really text message 911. I googled it and obviously other people have already had the same thought.

 

So...I do think it would be a good idea if you were in a situation where you needed help or someone else needed help and you didn't want to put yourself or that person at more risk than they already were.

 

Lets say you are upstairs in your house, you hear glass shatter downstairs, I personally wouldn't want to call 911 because I wouldn't want the burglar to hear my voice and find where I'm hiding and the operators want you to stay on the line until they get there.

 

But I do agree that the emergency button that sends an already generated message that sends your GPS location would probably be the best idea. My cell phone has the emergency button that automatically dials 911, so it just seems like one more thing they could add.

 

-Pricilla

[iGuest 3]

Haha, I just thought of this and looked it up and saw all this here. That's cool. I think texting 911 is a good option to have available because if you're, say, in your house and a burglar comes in, but doesn't know you're there, how are you going to talk on the phone without them knowing? It's alot safer and quieter to text 911. I just think there should try to be some precautions that are implemented to make sure it works and isn't just a waste of time...-reply by Emmalee

[iGuest 3]

ME TOO

911 Text Messaging

 

Replying to snutz411

 

HAhaha! Amazing, I just experienced the same Aha-moment, I was about to begin researching the steps needed to copyright/patient an idea...

 

My thunder has also been stolen.

 

-reply by Andrew French

[Jared 0]

Yeah nice though, good idea. But just think about it, when you want some help from 911 I dont think anyone here is going to text message them saying "Help, Help! I am in trouble." Like miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG said may be setting a set of keys as emergency numbers is a good idea. But still I doubt if anyone will really gonna TEXT MESSAGE 911 for help.Anyway it was really nice thinking, you reall thought about from no where.
Good work.

I think it would come in handy though if you were physically unable to speak... Say perhaps that you were working on a farm alone and you snagged a piece of machinery the wrong way in the neck and you were unable to speak, but still able to function... If you could then text 911 with your location that would be helpful... And like someone else mentioned already, 911 texts could be recognized by the network and be given top priority!

[darasen 0]

An interesting though with some flaws however. Look at the other side of the equation. Part of a 911 operators job includes determining the actual issue if possible, keeping people calm, talking people through helping with whatever when possible. All tasks that aren't really plausible via texting.911 gets many bogus and just plain dumb calls. For example one guy called 911 because his condom broke and he wanted a doctor. had he simply text 'need doctor' should the resources of an ambulance be sent? 911 also dispatches and officer to disconnected 911 calls. This results in more time wasted for the officers than it does chances to help. A panic button would be hit so frequently the authorities would spend far too much time chasing false alarms. I know enough officers to confirm this.

[Jared 0]

An interesting though with some flaws however. Look at the other side of the equation. Part of a 911 operators job includes determining the actual issue if possible, keeping people calm, talking people through helping with whatever when possible. All tasks that aren't really plausible via texting.
911 gets many bogus and just plain dumb calls. For example one guy called 911 because his condom broke and he wanted a doctor. had he simply text 'need doctor' should the resources of an ambulance be sent? 911 also dispatches and officer to disconnected 911 calls. This results in more time wasted for the officers than it does chances to help. A panic button would be hit so frequently the authorities would spend far too much time chasing false alarms. I know enough officers to confirm this.

You know, that's probably true... But placing a phony 911 call is no laughing matter. And I think if they made the rules a little more strict when applying to text messaging, there may be fewer phony texts. But maybe I'm just putting too much faith in people, haha.

[iGuest 3]

Replying to SeonaidLol I like how this guy is like "wow, I'd rather risk my life than risk ten cents texting a service that is not provided to me free"...To each his own, I guess.

[iGuest 3]

Ive had this same idea but some people say that people would do it as pranks, but I say that if they do it as a prank and the authorities find out(which they will) that the person(s) that did it get a massive fine.-reply by chris

[Atomic0 0]

In Australia, it is not possible to send a text message to any of the emergency numbers (e.g. 000, 112, 106).There is really no need to use SMS for emergency text message because it is more efficient and effective to use the voice as communication rather then text in an emergency situation.

[Maxfelgar 0]

For one thing, I highly doubt that in a dangerous situation anyone would have time to text out a full message, INCLUDING their location. As most phones are not fitted with GPS, it would take quite a lot of time for most people to type out all the needed information. However, for phones that are equipped with GPS I can see it being as a useful service, as if you are, say... hiding in your closet because someone is in your room, you wouldn't want to make the noise needed to talk to 911, and it could possibly save your life.One main problem however, is that some people can "accidentally" dial 911 when their phones are in their pockets. Personally, I don't see how it could happen, but if it did it would waste a lot of police time.

[docduke 0]

The following book has sold a lot of copies on America: Dial 911 and Die. One reviewer says:

Even with the well-trained, motivated and equipped police personnel we have in America, there are no guarantees they will not be overwhelmed, suffer technological breakdowns, be too remote to respond or otherwise be unable to come to the defense of an individual citizen's defense. ... After reading this volume -- and it is an easy read and very hard to put down -- one wonders what could possibly be the real agenda of politicians who would be so stupid as to disarm the honest, peaceable citizen. ... Those who think they are afforded blanket protection by 911 need to know it is at best a security blanket.

At least in America, there have been a number of court cases that have declared the police have no duty to "save" someone who is in danger. Personally, I find of discussion of 911 alternatives less interesting than a discussion of 9 mm vs. 357 magnum.

[Maxfelgar 0]

Some people prefer to let other people do the shooting for them, hehe.