CHENANGO COUNTY – After more than a year of promoting its text-to-911 service, the Chenango County 911 dispatch center continues to invest in new technology and promote ways to make getting help to area citizens more efficient.

According to Chenango County 911 Dispatch Center Chief Dispatcher A. Wesley Jones, the center is celebrating over a year of success with its text-to-911 system, which as the name suggests, allows individuals with emergencies to text authorities instead of calling for assistance.

“911 is changing significantly, and we’re always looking for ways to better locate and serve people,” said Jones. “Our goal is to get services to people as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”

He said for a variety of people, including those who struggle with a hearing or speech impairment, calling into the dispatch center isn’t an option.

“Our text-to-911 system is one of the ways we’ve been trying to provide options to people in emergencies who may not be able to use the regular call in system,” said Jones. “Someone who has some type of disability like a hearing or speech impairment might use a TTD machine, which comes with severe limitations in an emergency.”

Jones said the text-to-911 system also allows people who feel threatened but aren’t able to speak to reach out to law enforcement silently.

“We’ve taken several text calls from people who were in a serious situation where they were not able to call 911, and in most of those cases, the people were in domestic incidents,” he said. “Those people feared for their lives and didn’t feel that they were able to call 911, but were able to contact us through the texting system instead.”

He added that the number of people using the text-to-911 system is relatively low, but that was expected as those who can call the dispatch center for an emergency are encouraged to as it’s faster.

“There’s a whole lot of information that we need to try to obtain during an emergency call,” said Jones. “Even for people who can type quickly, texting takes more time then a voice call so we’re still encouraging those who can call to do so.”

He added that other technological advancements the center has available includes the ability to put an outbound text to any cell phone, and for families to create a smart911.com profile to help emergency responders get vital information quickly.

“The smart911.com service is open to anyone, but we’re especially encouraging individuals with an impairment to set up an account to help us get the information we need as quickly as possible during an emergency,” said Jones.

The smart 911 website has a safety profile individuals can sign up for, with alerts and notifications to help with weather, and a vulnerable needs registry that alerts emergency managers that you or a loved one might need special assistance when a disaster strikes.