The CRTC has announced this morning its employees were awarded the Innovative Team Award from the Association of Professional Executive of the Public Service of Canada (APEX) for the organization’s work on Text with 9-1-1 services, which enables hearing and speech-impaired Canadians to access emergency services.
Text with 9-1-1 started to rollout across Canada in the spring of 2014 and will be finished by the end of 2015, with 250 call centres nationwide set to support the service, which allows operators to communicate with registered users via text messages (and also receive their location).
The CRTC worked with wireless providers in Canada to implement Text with 9-1-1, along with call centres and representatives of hearing and speech-impaired persons. Manitoba was the first province to debut Text with 9-1-1 last year; currently the service is operational in select locations in Alberta, BC, Nova Scotia and Ontario.
