Why isn't there a text message version of 999?

Imagine the situation: you've been kidnapped, but you've still got access to a mobile phone. Making a call is out of the question - that would just alert your abductor - but you want to get word of your situation out. So you try to send a text message.

That's exactly what happened last month to 14-year-old American Elizabeth Shoaf, who was rescued after stealing her kidnapper's phone and sending a message to her mother. But what if Elizabeth hadn't known a number she could text off by heart?

Emergency 999 calls have become a feature of life in the UK since being introduced in 1937, but there is not yet a standard equivalent for texters.

Some police forces do operate limited emergency SMS services, aimed at preregistered users with hearing and speech impairments. While it undoubtedly helps those individuals, such bureaucratic systems are not necessarily that useful in a tight spot.

And there are other problems with SMS, say those with experience. A spokesman for West Yorkshire police, which operates a text service, pointed out that messages cannot be prioritised by the mobile networks - thus raising the possibility that emergency communications may not arrive for several hours. That issue had tragic consequences last year when Sally Geeson, a student, was abducted and murdered in Cambridge. Sally, whose phone had run out of call credit, sent a series of texts asking for help to friends, apparently not realising that she could have made a 999 call for free.

So what's the solution? Some may look at enhancing existing systems over time, but for others there isn't even a question to answer. "Why would you want to text 999 when you can call it instead?" one spokesman for a large force told Technology Guardian.
