JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — Everyone is taught to dial 911 if they are in an emergency, but some counties can now send help your way with just a simple text.
Inside a 911 dispatch center, noises like telephones ringing can be heard often, but a new tool could make all the difference without saying a word.
Angie Edmond, Jefferson County 911 Dispatch Center Public Relations Manager, said it's incredibly valuable to the community.
"It's definitely lifesaving, without a doubt," she said.
The Jefferson County 911 Dispatch Center has been doing it for a few years now, according to Chief Travis Williams.
"We've got a number of hearing-impaired people in Jefferson County," he said.
Edmond said new technology and computer upgrades are expanding the service.
"In the last couple of months, we've started working with AT&T to provide their subscribers with the ability to text us," she said.
Jefferson County, St. Charles County and St. Louis County have the ability for text to 911, but Williams said this is just the beginning of the future.
"It's part of next-gen 911. We are just trying to always stay on the cutting edge as technology changes," he said.
Williams said they are positive changes that have the ability to save even more lives.
"If they can't call 911 because their house is being burglarized and they're hiding in the closet or they're in a domestic dispute or you're in the grocery store and the person in front of you is robbing the store, something like that, you can certainly text us," he said.
According to Edmond, the dispatch center is already witnessing the benefits of the silent call for help.
"We had a call recently where there was an 11-year-old whose parents were fighting and that 11-year-old texted us, so we were able to get help out there without endangering the child because had the parents heard the child calling, you know, sometimes there is backlash with that," she said.
Williams said they want to remind everyone though, that even though they are always just a click of a button away, it's important to "call if you can and text if you can't."
"What we really don't want, is people just texting 911 just because it's convenient for them," Edmond said.
Jefferson County worked with AT&T to provide text to 911 to their customers.
According to Edmond, if you use another cellular company, you can still text to 911 but the location for the dispatchers just won't be as accurate.
The other companies are working to get the upgrades and should be running in the next month or so, according to Williams.