North Texas residents dialing 9-1-1 may soon begin receiving text messages from the 9-1-1 telecommunicator with a link to pinpoint their location.
This feature is one of the tools included with a new dispatch map that has been implemented throughout the North Central Texas Emergency Communications District’s 13-county region.
The new map provides GIS-based data to 9-1-1 telecommunicators, featuring tools like enhanced location, which sends a link to mobile devices that callers can click to send their location to the telecommunicator.
The map also includes a 9-1-1 chat feature that translates to over 70 languages, and is integrated with applications like What3Words, (https://what3words.com) which pinpoints the location of a mobile device within three meters, and Waze (https://www.waze.com) to provide traffic data.
“Our region is fairly rural, which sometimes makes identifying an exact location of a caller difficult,” said GIS Manager Rodger Mann. “The tools provided by this new map gives 9-1-1 telecommunicators another way to better identify a caller’s location, which can save lives by cutting down on response times.”
The map is available to more than 40 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), or 9-1-1 call centers, in 13 North Texas counties surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This area serves about 1.7 million residents.
