The Ingham County 911 Central Dispatch will provide text-to-911 services to all individuals living in or traveling through Ingham County starting today, Jan. 16.
"Text-to-911 serves as another means of contacting a 911 dispatcher in an emergency situation when a caller is unable to make a voice call," a press release from the dispatch center reads.
The center emphasized that those in danger should "call 911 when you can, and text when you can't." Text-to-911 serves as a tool for the hearing-impaired.
This feature requires a text or data plan to use.
Ingham County is one of 46 Michigan counties to offer text-to-911 service, including nearby Eaton and Ionia counties, according to the state 911 Administrator's Office. If the service is not available in your area, you will recieve a message indicating that it is not available.
To receive assistance, you must:
The service notifies you when the 911 dispatcher has ended the call.
"We think that it's an overdue and needed resource for our hearing-impaired community, as well as those people that are in a position where a police call might not be safe to make," Ingham County 911 systems manager Bruce Gaukel said.
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