Text-to-911 is not yet available in Champaign County. If you have an emergency, please place a voice call to 9-1-1.
Confusion exists over the announcement that as of today (May 15, 2014) text to 9-1-1 is available nationwide. In an agreement with the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and the Association of Public-Safety Communication Officials (APCO), AT&T,
Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon voluntarily committed to provide text-to-911 in all areas served by their networks where a 9-1-1 call center was prepared to receive texts. This does not mean that your text message will necessarily reach a 9-1-1 operator in all areas.
METCAD, like the vast majority of other 9-1-1 call centers nationwide, has been working with vendors to determine equipment needs, as well as service costs for text-to-911. “We anticipate having the text-to-911 available by the first quarter of 2015,” says Deputy Director Abbott.