Residents of Toronto, Canada’s largest city, will be able to text 911 starting next year, allowing first responders to better pinpoint locations of complaints, reports CBC News. The new system is part of a modernization effort underway by Toronto police, fire and paramedic services to meet the standards of a next-generation 911 system. “It’s the first major advancement in 911 technology more or less since they started the three-digit number,” said Toronto Police Superintendent Hugh Ferguson.
All 911 service providers across Canada have been mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to change from an analog, landline-based system, to a fully digital one by June 2023. One of the first upgrades will be the ability to text 911 and to ping cell phones to locate a caller more accurately. Both are features Ferguson says will make a “huge” difference, because police will be able to identify, and get to, scenes more quickly when a caller can’t talk to them. “You know if there’s a suspect in the house and they can’t speak, they can text,” Ferguson said. “They can now communicate with us without risk of giving away their location.” A few years down the line, Toronto’s system will allow people to text photos and videos to 911. People in U.S. states including Washington and Oregon can text 911.