Think all the text messaging on cell phones these days is a frivolous misapplication of technology?Soon, a text could save your life.El Paso-Teller County 911 Authority is preparing to move to the next generation of technology, mandated by the federal government, that will allow 911 messages to be sent by text or photo or video shot with cell phones.”Technology is moving from legacy (voice) to where the 911 system will be Internetbased and capable of taking all forms of communications,” said Jim Anderson, owner of JKA Consulting, which provides the authority with personnel and expertise.The upgrade won’t come cheap. Anderson says it will cost $5 million – money the authority has set aside through the years.Set up in 1990, the authority is overseen by a nine-member board – all public safety officials – appointed by the elected boards of the counties, cities and towns covered by the service.It’s been collecting fees on every phone in its service area to fund the system. The charge was 50 cents per phone per month from 1992 to 2004, when it was bumped to 70 cents, the maximum allowed by law.Last year, the authority brought in $5.9 million from the 700,000 phones – land lines and wireless – and spent only $4.8 million. Through the years, the agency, which provides equipment but no call-center personnel, has amassed $12 million in assets, half of it cash, so the upgrade won’t require hunting for more revenue.But back to the new technology.The text concept, Anderson said, stems from school shootings.Emily Keyes, 16, was killed by gunman Duane Morrison during the standoff at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey on April 28, 2006. The last word her family got from her was a text message.In October 2007, after a gunman opened fire at SuccessTech school in Cleveland, a female student called her mom to say she’d taken refuge in a closet.”They’ve had people (with cell phones) hiding in closets,” Anderson said, “but there isn’t a system today to bring them (calls) into 911.”A photo can be worth a thousand texts, so to speak, he said. “We can use that picture to evaluate how bad that accident is.Equipment installed in vehicles in recent years automatically relays critical information to 911 authorities, he said, including location, how many people are in the vehicle, how fast the vehicle was going when it crashed and whether it rolled over. General Motors estimates it will have 7.5 million vehicles on American roads this year outfitted with the technology.Problem is, 911 centers can’t receive it – yet. That will change in late 2009 when the 911 agency completes installation of the next generation equipment.But there’s a downside. In mandating the new technology, the federal government provided no money, meaning not all the nation’s cities, towns and counties will be on the same playing field.”The little towns like Cheyenne Wells that can’t afford to be a new generation center (are) in big trouble,” he said.That could cause confusion if a city dweller accustomed to texting a 911 report ffnds himself in the boondocks where the technology isn’t available.”You’ll be able to send text in only certain communities,” Anderson said. “It’s going to take 10 years before the conversion across the country will be complete.”For more about the 911 Authority, visit this column at gazettedev.gazette.com.-Contact the writer: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com

Shirley Jones and her son Patrick Cassidy at the Ford Theater in New York in 2004. Both are coming to the Springs for the theater festival. Photo by (AP)