Text-to-911 available in county

St. Joseph County E-911 Central Dispatch has announced “Text-to-9-1-1” service is now functioning in the county as of this week.
Dennis Brandenburg, central dispatch director, said the agency is still stressing the concept: “9-1-1, call if you can, text if you can’t.”
He said the “Text-to-9-1-1” concept was introduced to better assist people who have a speech or hearing impairment. It also will benefit people who are in a distressed situation and texting is the only option.
Brandenburg said only SMS messages can be used, meaning central dispatch is unable to receive photos or videos. He added that processing a 9-1-1 text will typically take longer to process than a traditional emergency phone call and there are a few limitations – including T-Mobile service – that may not allow “Text-to-9-1-1” from some cell phones.
Brandenburg stressed to not test your cell phone to find out whether it is compatible with the “Text-to-9-1-1” service.