Texting 911 to Be Activated - East Idaho News
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Texting 911 to Be Activated

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Getty N 120812 SmartPhone?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1354992816018iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The Federal Communications Commission announced it reached a “voluntary agreement” with the country’s largest wireless carriers for implementing a text option for 911, instead of calling to report an emergency.

Last year 13-year-old Chloe Symington was home alone in Michigan when she spotted two intruders and called 911 from under her bed. Understandably, she did not want to talk.

It’s situations like this and the concern for the hearing and speech impaired that made the FCC asked American major wireless providers to speed up development of a system to let people text 911 instead of calling.

The FCC says the system will be ready, across the country, by 2014.

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