Franklin County begins accepting text-to-911 at local PSAPs

Franklin County officials announced that local Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) began accepting text-to-911 messages effective today, county staff said. The change means residents who cannot make a voice call — including some people who are deaf or hard of hearing or those in situations where speaking is unsafe — can send a text message to 911 and receive text responses from a live dispatcher.

County staff told commissioners the system routes text messages to the PSAP closest to the caller so dispatchers can reply and coordinate response, though replies can be slower because they depend on back-and-forth typing. “It’s always best to call 911 if you can make a voice call. But for our hearing impaired, someone that’s in a situation where they cannot talk, this is where they could just text 911,” a county staff member identified in the meeting as Jeff said.

Jeff said the capability was included in the county’s recent 911 equipment refresh and that Pacific, Washington and the Franklin County PSAPs are able to receive texts. No formal vote was required; the announcement was delivered as part of department reports.

Commissioners and staff emphasized that voice calls remain the preferred method of contacting emergency services when possible, and that text-to-911 is an additional option rather than a replacement. The county released a press statement announcing the rollout and staff emailed the commission the release before the meeting.

Officials did not provide metrics at the meeting about expected call volumes, average response times for texts, or the vendor used for the text-to-911 capability. Those details were not specified.