Disqus
It’s a sign of times when emergency call centers are turning to SMS. Moreover, it’s plain logic to allow people to reach the center as soon as they can and in any manner they can or want. That said, an emergency call center in Waterloo, Iowa is officially the first in the country to accept “911″ emergency SMS and even reply back.
You may be thinking it takes longer time to send a text than to make an actually phone call, but what about deaf people – they certainly prefer texting over calling. In addition, this could be useful for situations where the victim is hiding and doesn’t want to be heard.
On the downside, though, dispatcher can’t determine texter’s location via SMS, and they could do that with a call. Or they could co-operate with carriers to get location information, but that’s another story…
In any way, it’s good to see an emergency call center embracing SMS and I’m looking forward to see other centers going this route, too.
[Via: MobileWeblog]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
