Soon You Will Be Able To Text Your Emergency To 911

Emergency calls are about to leap into this millennium!

Soon you will be able to text your emergency to 911!

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a ruling that requires all cellular service providers to make texting 911 a real possibility for its customers. They believe the requirement will not only help save lives in situations where a voice call might not be possible, it will also give those who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities a better way to get immediate assistance.

The rules apply to wireless carriers in this area (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) as well as "interconnected" text messaging providers that allow users to send texts to and from U.S. phone numbers. However, it doesn't apply to messaging apps that only support "communications among users of games or social media."

"The FCC said text-to-911 should not replace calling 911, and serve only as a complement to the existing service."

The FCC said text-to-911 should not replace calling 911, and serve only as a complement to the existing service.

The organization didn't say if location-based data will be used to trace text messages, and didn't address if the inability to ask immediate follow-up questions (which, depending on the situation, might be done more quickly on the phone) could complicate life saving situations.

-Mashable