Text messaging more than just child's play
Victoria Marie Reese /Contributing Writer
Issue date: 9/13/09 Section: Technology
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The 25-year-old DC resident doesn't consider herself a text messaging addict, but she might as well be. She, like many other text messaging addicts, depends on it to get, and stay in touch with friends or to get directions to a party.
"I'm very busy so I don't answer my phone often and I never check my voicemail," says Lee. "Text messaging works better for me because I can get straight forward information fast and I can refer to it whenever I want to."
Lee is not alone. A recent survey by writers for Ministry of Tech, a Web site designed to bring the latest in innovative, creative and cutting-edge technology, predicts that incoming and outgoing text messages to mobile phones will more than double over the next five years.
In the first quarter of 2008, nearly 58 billion text messages were sent over the Verizon wireless network from coast to coast. The number is predicted to reach 2.3 trillion by 2010.
"During emergencies, texting is much better because I would be much better reading a text rather than taking the time it takes to go through all my voicemails," added Courtney Battle, a 22-year-old Howard University student. "I need to know now."
Law enforcement agencies, like the DC Police Department and the Fairfield, Connecticut, police department, are also taking advantage of this new technology to inform residents of emergencies and to fight crime in their cities.
The District of Columbia Emergency Management Agency (DCEMA) has implemented a community alert system, The Alert DC, which provides rapid text notification and update information during a major crisis or emergency. The system delivers the messages on a range of devices, including e-mail accounts, cell phones, pagers, Blackberries or wireless PDAs.
In Fairfield, the police is asking residents to provide anonymous crime fighting tips through text messaging from a mobile phone or online.
"The popularity of text messaging has created a significant opportunity for the public to help law enforcement agencies fight crime," said Fairfield Chief Dave Peck in a message he posted on the department's web site. "The ability for any citizen who owns a mobile phone to assist in crime solving is of great importance to communities globally and we are excited to pay such a pivotal role in the transmission of these crime fighting tips."
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Phil Conradt
posted 9/15/09 @ 6:15 PM EST
Residents can also register for DC Police Alert on the Alert DC system by opting in and providing their address. They will receive real-time lookouts for robbery and shooting suspects as well as critical missing person alerts that affect their Police Service Area (PSA). (Continued…)
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