[Photo Copyright LDProd via iStock]
On Monday, DenCo Area 9-1-1 District became one of the first agencies in the nation with the ability to receive callback and approximate location information for cell phone callers, according to the county’s website.
The new text to 911 service is available for residents of Denton County and the city of Carrollton.
The new service is expected to help callers who have hearing or speech impairments and rely on others or Telecommunications Device for the Deaf services when making calls for help.
“There’s no question in our mind that lives will be saved with this new service,” Greg Ballentine, deputy executive director for DenCo Area 9-1-1 District told the Denton Record Chronicle.
Although there may be a rare situation where other callers might use text — a home-invasion victim, for example, who needs to make a silent call for help — dispatchers say voice calls are best, according to the DRC.
This capability greatly increases the chances of locating a caller who is lost or re-contacting a caller in an emergency.
Tips from DenCo Area 9-1-1:
- Don’t text and drive.
- In the first text message send the location and type of emergency.
- Text in simple words. Send a short text message without abbreviations or slang.
- Be prepared to answer questions and follow instructions from the 911 call taker.
- Photos and videos cannot be sent to 911 at this time.
- Text-to-911 cannot include more than one person.
- Do not send your emergency text to anyone other than 911.
- Voice calls to 911 are always the best and fastest way get help.
Go here to find out more.
Delivering what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth innovation, every day. Get the Dallas Innovates e-newsletter.
R E A D N E X T
-
To find the answer, host Stephen Dubner flew to DFW to see why the region is so business-friendly, why the people are so friendly too, why cities to the north are growing like hotcakes, and why a Basquiat got on the wall of the Dallas Museum of Art. Oh, and he ate a Meat Potato at Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse. (Thumbs up.)
-
UNT hopes its cloud-based computer program called RE-PLAN will be able to solve equitable distribution issues that often accompany a speedy rollout. The technology, which uses sourced data to allow public health agencies to craft response plans, will be dispensed with an urgency to target special demographics communities, like people who have disabilities, don't speak English, and don't have cars.
-
Silverton Partners-backed Novo Labs turns voice interactions into digital transactions. But it's more than a chatbot, says Co-Founder and CEO Clinton Coleman. The startup's proprietary natural language processing stack handles the “real-world conditions” of how people talk.
-
A 1.5 million-square-foot automated fulfillment center is slated to open in Lancaster in 2023, followed by a 730,000 square-foot automated grocery distribution center in 2024. Both will deploy the latest in high-tech robotics and innovation.
-
The Irving-based convenience store chain is partnering with robotics company Nuro to deliver goods to customers' doors in Mountain View, via autonomous Priuses. Nuro was the first autonomous vehicle company to receive a deployment permit from the California DMV in December 2020.
