911 texting bill signed into law in California

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Californians will soon be able to text 911 during emergencies.

A bill recently signed by Gov. Jerry Brown will allow people to send videos, photographs and messages to 911 dispatchers instead of calling them.

The California Office of Emergency Services believes being able to text 911 will increase safety for all Californians. States such as Vermont have already implemented text 911.

Officials say that calling 911 is still preferable to texting, because dispatchers are trained to gain information over the phone that would be difficult to get from text messages, such as background noise. However, there are certain situations where texting would be better than calling.

Text 911 will face many challenges before it can be fully applied across the state. Dispatchers have technology that can translate 92 different languages into English during phone calls, but that technology does not exist for text messages.

All the new technology for receiving text messages must be added to the 452 call centers in California. The cost of adding this new technology will be high, though the exact figure is unknown.

Despite the many challenges, state officials are confident that text 911 is a sign of the times. This program starts implementation in January 2015.

Capitol Television News Service contributed to this report.