With a majority of the estimated 240 million 911 calls made in the United States each year coming from a wireless device, fast and reliable connectivity in emergency matters. T-Mobile has been at the forefront of public safety connectivity solutions like location-based routing and Next Generation 911 because every second counts and instant communication with 911 telecommunicators can save lives. Now that leadership continues as the un-carrier partners with Sinch, a cloud communications platform solutions provider, to launch NextGen 911 Real-Time Text (RTT).
The NextGen 911 RTT technology is operating at an emergency communications center (ECC) in Hood County, Texas, allowing T-Mobile customers to communicate with 911 through simultaneous conversational text and voice – text messages can be sent and read at the same time – without the need for teletype (TTY) technology.
This is particularly critical for up to 48 million hearing-impaired Americans, as well as those who have speech-related disabilities or are non-native English speakers.
RTT also gives public safety centers the ability to make better-informed dispatch decisions during a crisis and shave crucial time off a response.
T-Mobile built native RTT features into its devices in 2016, which gives customers the ability to use modern conversational text capabilities and allows a text to be sent and read at the same time without the need to hit send or use a specialized device. In 2020, the un-carrier became the first wireless provider to launch location-based routing and next generation 911 (NG911) connectivity over IP – two critical advancements that can speed up emergency response times by helping pinpoint the location of callers and enable a more efficient and effective 911 system. These advancements paved the way for enabling NextGen 911 RTT for 911 callers in Hood County – and eventually beyond.
Now, as public safety answering points (PSAPs) across the United States are ready, they can update TTY to more modern systems to help reduce inaccuracies and improve emergency response. T-Mobile’s advanced network with end-to-end IP connectivity and Sinch’s public safety-grade connectivity provide the foundation for NG911 capabilities, available in 24 States, with plans to expand RTT nationwide as public safety answering points (PSAPs) prepare to deploy the new technology.
For more information visit: www.t-mobile.com.
