TeleCommunication Systems, a provider of secure mobile
communication technology, and the University of Maryland, announced that the
company has launched a beta test of SMS 9-1-1 technology on the College Park
campus.
The test will last approximately three months. It will
examine the viability of sending emergency messages to the campus Public Safety
Answering Point (PSAP) call center via an SMS text message sent through a
mobile device.
The University of Maryland is the first college emergency
communications center in the United States to test “text-to-police”
using any mobile device capable of text messaging to a live call taker at the
PSAP.
The TCS SMS 9-1-1 technology will allow persons who are
hearing impaired and those who are unable to place a voice emergency call with
the ability to communicate their situation rapidly and accurately to a PSAP via
a text message.
The test will be conducted utilizing University of
Maryland Department of Public Safety personnel, who will send various test
emergency text messages that will be received by university police operators.
The operator will receive both the caller’s location and
text utilizing the TCS SMS 9-1-1 PSAP graphical user interface (GUI). Then,
campus emergency responders will receive a test notification.
“The University of Maryland is an institution that
is committed to the safety and well-being of its students, faculty, staff and
guests, so it’s a natural fit for the University of Maryland to test this major
advancement in emergency communications on its own campus,” said Jay
Whitehurst, senior vice president of commercial software group for TCS.
Today, TCS delivers about half of all U.S. wireless
E9-1-1 calls — more than 140,000 emergency calls daily.
“The University of Maryland takes the safety of our
community very seriously, and being able to test the latest in emergency
communications technology offered by TCS is something we definitely wanted to
be a part of,” said David Mitchell, director/chief of police of the
University of Maryland Department of Public Safety.
TCS is a leader in SMS text, as well as E9-1-1
connectivity technology; the company handles approximately one-third of all
text messages in the U.S., and it successfully routed the first-ever wireless
E9-1-1 call over a decade ago. Since then, TCS has deployed wireless and VoIP
E9-1-1 service to operators nationwide.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
