MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The National 9-1-1 Program acknowledged its 50th anniversary yesterday, February 16, celebrating half a century of providing emergency 9-1-1 call communications for U.S. citizens.
According to the 9-1-1 Program, before the first 9-1-1 call was made available on February 16, 1968, people had to dial 10-digit phone numbers to report issues to police authorities, fire departments, and all other emergency services.
The Memphis Police Department of Emergency Communications Bureau reported that their employees answer over 650,000 9-1-1 calls each year, maintaining an average answer time of 10 seconds or less.
The bureau also reported that they responded to 20,208 text messages to 9-1-1 in 2021.
The 9-1-1 call system continues to evolve because of ever changing advances in technology.
The National 9-1-1 program reported that several states are working to introduce Next Generation 9-1-1, which is an IP-based communication system that allows 9-1-1 first responders to easily transfer calls to other call centers, as well as re-route calls in case a public-safety answering point experiences call overloads.
The program said that it hopes to eventually develop technology that can receive photos and videos of caller events.
