The Ohio legislature is considering a bi-partisan measure which would require every 911 system in the state to be upgraded to receive text messages.
Mike Banks is the 911 coordinator for Summit County’s Department of Public Safety. He says the option of texting will break down barriers to those with disabilities and anyone more comfortable with texting than talking on the phone.
Banks says both residents and dispatchers will have to learn how to use the system, and it will come with a cost.
“There's going to be a cost impact, just whether or not we're going to be able to recover those costs of the surcharge or whether it's going to be upon the local governments to make room in their budgets to make it happen," Banks said. "I don't think we have a clear understanding yet what all the costs are going to be as part of this system.”
The first step in setting up 911 texting is installing a Computer-Aided Dispatch system. This allows dispatchers to know where callers are located and how close first responders are to them. Summit County already has this operational in Akron, Fairlawn, Cuyahoga Falls, Green and Stow.
