Seneca County E-911
August 19, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Seneca County begins accepting Text-to-911
The Seneca County 911 Center is now accepting text messages in the case of an emergency when calling is not possible.
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon are all delivering text messages to 911. Customers can now send a text with up to 140 characters to 911 in an emergency.
“Text messaging will allow us to better serve our vulnerable populations, hearing and speech impaired, those who have limited English proficiency, and those that are in a situation where it would be dangerous to speak” said Emergency Management Director, Melissa Taylor.
“Call when you can, text when you can’t.” is the slogan being used for this new service.
“While the benefits of Text-to-911 are significant, voice calls are still the fastest and most efficient way to reach 911” said 911 Operations Manager, Brandi Godley.
How to send a Text-to-911:
Enter the numbers “911” in the “To” or “Recipient” field;
Text messages to 911 should be short, include the location of the emergency, and ask for police, fire or ambulance.
Push the “Send” button.
Answer questions and follow instructions from the 911 call taker.
Text in simple words – no abbreviations or slang.
If necessary, when silence is important, make sure your phone is on vibrate or silent so that the return text sound, or other phone alerts, are not heard.
Provisions of the Text-to-911 service:
A text or data plan is required to place a Text-to-911
As with all text messages, messages to 911 may take longer to receive, may get out of order, or may not be received at all.
If you do not receive a text response from 911, attempt a voice call to 911. Even if you cannot speak, the dispatcher may still be able to send help, provided the dispatcher can obtain a valid address.
Photos and videos cannot be sent to 911.
Text-to-911 cannot include more than one person; do not include other contacts on your emergency text.