Is texting the future of emergency communications? The state is looking at whether 911 texting will help crime victims who are unable to call for help.
Lawmakers on the legislature's Public Safety Committee held an information session Wednesday afternoon at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. "I would like to be one of the first states to go forward with texting to be used in our 911 system," said Rep. Stephen Dargan, (D) West Haven.
Representatives from AT&T and Verizon testified during the hearing. Both said the current texting system simply cannot handle emergency messages. One problem: some texts take minutes, even hours, to be delivered and there is no way to prioritize emergency texts over other messages.
"The key message is voice 911 is the way to go," said Peter White, from AT&T.
Cell phone companies are now working to upgrade their texting systems to accommodate 911 messages, but acknowledge that technology could still be years away.
Connecticut is now upgrading its network to a fiber optic system that will be able to handle 911 texting once wireless carriers are ready to go. The state's upgrade is expected to be finished by late 2011, said John Danaher, the Public Safety Commissioner.
"The fiber optic system has immensely greater capacity than the system we now use," said Danaher. "We'll not only be able to transmit texts, we'll also be able to transmit video and photographs."
