Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, and their associated 911 call centers, now accept emergency SMS text messages, but the new functionality is currently available only in limited areas in 16 states. Today the FCC announced a new initiative, called Text-to-911, that enables many U.S. wireless subscribers to send SMS text messages to 911 in emergency situations instead of having to place a phone call. The goal is for all U.S. carriers and 911 call centers to eventually accept emergency texts. As of today, the four major U.S. wireless carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) support the new functionality in “all areas served by their networks where a 911 call center is prepared to receive texts.” But the FCC cautions that this does not mean all of the carriers’ customers are covered, and for now, “you should not rely on text to reach 911.” To protect consumers, the FCC already requires carriers who don’t support 911 texts in certain areas or at all to send automatic bounce-back messages to let senders know that 911 did not receive their messages. The FCC is encouraging all 911 call centers to accept 911 texts as soon as possible, but it is not mandated, and for now, it’s ultimately up to each call center to decide if or when it will start supporting 911 texts. Today, 911 texts are accepted in limited areas in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. You can visit the FCC’s website for specifics on current locations. And the agency’s FAQ page also offers more details on the initiative. AS Related content BrandPost The future of trust—no more playing catch up Broadcom: 2023 Tech Trends That Transform IT By Eric Chien, Director of Security Response, Symantec Enterprise Division, Broadcom Mar 31, 2023 5 mins Security BrandPost TCS gives Blackhawk Network an edge with Microsoft Cloud In this case study, Blackhawk Network’s Cara Renfroe joins Tata Consultancy Services’ Rakesh Kumar and Microsoft’s Nilendu Pattanaik to explain how TCS transformed the gift card company’s customer engagement and global operati By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 1 min Financial Services Industry Cloud Computing IT Leadership BrandPost How TCS pioneered the ‘borderless workspace’ with Microsoft 365 Microsoft’s modern workplace solution proved a perfect fit for improving productivity and collaboration, while maintaining security of systems and data. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 1 min Financial Services Industry Microsoft Cloud Computing BrandPost Supply chain decarbonization: The missing link to net zero By improving the quality of global supply chain data, enterprises can better measure their true carbon footprint and make progress toward a net-zero business ecosystem. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 2 mins Retail Industry Supply Chain Green IT Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe