Otsego County residents can now text 911 for emergency assistance. The service available to the four major cellular carriers began on June 1st. According to authorities the text service should only be used if the caller is hard of hearing, speech impaired or if making a call to 911 would put the caller in danger.

Another point made by authorities is that because text messages can take longer to get through – or sometimes don’t get through at all – making a voice call to 911 remains the best and fastest way to get help.

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