Talk-to-text 911 service available in Boone County

BOONE COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) – The residents of Boone County now have another way to contact emergency dispatch services, through the cell phone’s talk-to-text feature.

Starting at the beginning of February, Boone County officials will make a special talk-to-text service available to residents. The program, officially titled Next Generation 911 (NG911), will be called “texTTY” in Boone County, and is scheduled to begin Monday or Tuesday.

24-Hour News 8’s news partner The Lebanon Reporter states NG911 is perfect for instances when the caller is in a dangerous situation and hiding, or doesn’t want to be discovered.

NG911 became available to Indiana in 2014.

Beginning in May 2014, cell phone carriers Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint offered the service. And in September, the service became available to all state college campuses.

Each county in Indiana must individually sign up for the program.