citymeetings.nyc

Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.

Q&A

'Call if you can, text if you can't' campaign details and future plans

0:37:14

·

81 sec

Video Player is loading.

Current TimeÂ 0:00

DurationÂ 0:00

Loaded: 0%

Stream TypeÂ LIVE

Remaining TimeÂ 0:00

Â

Council Member Bottcher inquires about the details of the 'call if you can, text if you can't' campaign, including its launch date and potential revival. Deputy Commissioner Barbera provides information on the campaign and discusses plans for expansion.

The campaign was launched in June 2020 with the introduction of text-to-911
OTI is in discussions with NYPD and FDNY about expanding the campaign
The implementation of Next Generation 911 will allow for easier processing of increased text volumes

Erik D. Bottcher

0:37:14

So in other words, when you have someone on the phone, you can quickly ask them the questions you need to know the answers to rather than sending them a text and waiting for them to type the answer and then asking another question, asking them to type the answer.

0:37:31

The campaign you referenced, call if you can, text if you can't, where and when did that campaign run?

Robert Barbera

0:37:41

I believe that campaign was launched, during the launch of Texas 911 in June of 2020.

Erik D. Bottcher

0:37:51

And was it a limited run, and are you considering bringing that campaign back?

Robert Barbera

0:37:59

We are in conversations with NYPD and FDNY about expanding that campaign.

0:38:06

One of the reasons, from a legacy 911 perspective that we prefer voice calls, obviously, is call takers with the with the legacy system, call takers can only be logged into a voice queue or a text queue, switching them back and forth.

0:38:27

With next generation 911, they'll be logged into both, so the increased volumes of texts are easier to process at that time.

← Previous Chapter

Comparison of voice calls and text messages for 911 services

Next Chapter →

Technical limitations of the legacy 911 system