News Home
The original item was published from 10/16/2015 10:49:53 PM to 10/31/2015 11:05:00 PM.

News

City News

Posted on: October 17, 2015

[ARCHIVED] Text to 9-1-1 Service in Boulder County

Texting

Boulder County residents now have access to Text-to-9-1-1 service. All dispatch centers throughout the county are enabled for this service.

Boulder County has introduced Text-to-9-1-1 service in all communities within the county as of Thursday, Oct. 8. This new service allows residents to text dispatch during an emergency. Text-to-9-1-1 is supported by all four 9-1-1 dispatch centers in the county which connect callers to public safety response agencies including police, fire, emergency medical services and other rescue teams.

Text-to-9-1-1 service is enabled on the four major cell phone carriers in our area: AT&T (Cricket), Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. All other smaller carriers should be enabled for texting within the next six months. If your carrier does not support 9-1-1 texting at this time, or if you are in a location that cannot send/receive text messages, you will receive a bounce back message. Regular text message rates will apply with this service.

Using the Text-to-9-1-1 service is only recommended if it is the only option and making a voice call to 9-1-1 is not possible. Remember to Call If You Can, Text If You Must. Some situations where this would be approporiate include:
• A caller reporting an emergency is hard of hearing, deaf or speech-impaired
• Voice connectivity is unavailable, but texts can be sent – this is true in some mountain areas
• Situations when silence is of the utmost importance for your safety– instances of intrusion, abuse or other dangerous situations in which making a phone call would escalate the emergency

If a resident does need to send a text, it should be simple, brief and concise and should not use abbreviations. No photos or videos can be sent via text to 9-1-1 at this time. Unlike with phone calls, dispatchers will not automatically receive location information. For this reason, if it is necessary to send a text message it is important to include an accurate location or address in the message as quickly as possible.

Boulder County 9-1-1 dispatch centers can receive and reply to Text-to-9-1-1 messages but they cannot initiate a text message conversation.

For more information about this service, contact Boulder County Communications at 303-441-3399.

Facebook Twitter Email

Other News in City News

Art Night Out in Lafayette 2022

Art Night Out June 9

Posted on: June 7, 2023
Sustainability film series title with tickets

Sustainability Film Series

Posted on: June 7, 2023
delay and save, water for our future with water waves

Don't turn on those sprinklers yet

Posted on: April 12, 2023
Copy of Logo Picnic on the Plaza for city

Picnic on the Plaza begins June 1

Posted on: May 23, 2023
760 Baseline Old Town Urban Renewal Authority Don't Worry Mural

760 W. Baseline Road Project

Posted on: April 12, 2023
sprinkler with water conservation programs: lawn removal, garden in a box, and slow the flow

Water Conservation Programs 2023

Posted on: January 30, 2023
CDOT survey CO7 corridor map

Help improve the Highway 7 Corridor

Posted on: February 13, 2023
ebilling graphic

Sign up for utility eBilling

Posted on: November 16, 2021
Ride Free Lafayette

Ride Free Lafayette

Posted on: July 22, 2020
computer and cell phone with the man in blue icon and the Audio Eye accessibility toolbar icon

Website accessibility tool

Posted on: January 24, 2022