Summary
- Google Messages is getting the ability to text 911 using RCS messaging later this year.
- Google is partnering with RapidSOS to bring high-quality image sharing, read receipts, and more.
- RapidSOS will work with call centers directly to enable this option at no additional cost beginning this winter.
When you’re in moments of danger, having the ability to call 911 in the US can be a lifesaver. However, it isn’t always possible to call for help, whether it’s due to a lack of a cell signal or the situation becoming more dangerous if you use your voice. Most 911 call centers utilize SMS for text conversations, which has become an outdated form of texting pretty quickly. SMS has been around since 1992, and only recently has RCS texting become the soon-to-be industry standard. Later this year, Google is ensuring that sending an RCS text to 911 call centers could save your life.
How to enable, disable, and use RCS Chat in Google Messages
It’s probably time we moved on from the old SMS standard
Starting this winter, it will be possible to message 911 call centers with RCS using Google Messages. This will bring modernized texting elements to conversations that could be the difference between life or death, with things like high-quality image sharing, read receipts, and more coming. Since RCS uses data connections and not cell service, people will have more coverage when needing to get in touch with 911.
Google has partnered with RapidSOS to bring this feature to as many call centers as it can, and for those centers, it seems like a no-brainer on the surface; Google is offering them the service and infrastructure free-of-charge. The more ways there are for people who are in distress to get in contact with emergency services, the better. It’s worth remembering, though, that this isn’t as simple as a server-side update. RapidSOS is in charge of bringing this feature — free of charge — to call centers throughout the US, so you’ll need to wait until emergency services local to you have this capability.
Bringing 911 messaging to the next level
According to the FCC, only certain call centers currently have Text-to-911 capabilities, amounting to around 53% of the country’s locations. Those locations only use SMS, so when people eventually use RCS to text 911, they’ll be able to automatically share their location in live time and share their medical information even more easily, both major safety advantages of the Google-led project. RapidSOS and Google have worked together on medical info sharing before, so familiarity in this case is probably a great thing.
Ensuring yours and your loved ones’ safety can be greatly helped by technology in today’s world. For those with Android smartphones, take a minute to set up Emergency SOS; it could save your life in times of trouble. For the iPhone, Google’s marketing push (but mostly the European Union’s effort) has forced Apple to begin adopting RCS later in the year on iMessage, serendipitously coinciding with RCS 911 messaging in Google Messages. iPhone users aren’t left in the dust when it comes to safety features, as they too can send their medical data when talking to 911.
