Intrado (News - Alert) Inc. recently announced its agreement with the decision, made by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Standards and the Telecommunications Industry Association, to deploy norms for the usage of SMS for text messaging to 9-1-1. Intrado Inc (News - Alert)., an ancillary of West Corporation, is a major provider of 9-1-1 technology solutions.

In a statement, Dami Hummel, vice president and general manager of Intrado said, "Standards development is a key step in the introduction and widespread adoption of any new technology. We applaud this development and are happy to have made a significant contribution to the further adoption of this life-saving technology."

The combined ATIS/TIA (News - Alert) standard, J-STD-110, has been established by leveraging the ground-breaking efforts of Intrado in text-to-9-1-1. The learning of production implementation, which was conducted over the last four years, has also influenced the set-up of the standard.

Hummel said, “Industry support is the next step. In addition to Intrado and the major wireless carriers, we’ve seen other text-to-9-1-1 solution vendors announce their support for J-STD-110. That’s good news for anyone who is unable to safely make a voice call to 9-1-1 and who needs an alternative way to reach out for emergency assistance.”

In 2009, Intrado introduced the maiden production TXT29-1-1 service. The organization presently manages emergency text systems in Iowa, Vermont and North Carolina.

Intrado’s 9-1-1 technology offerings have enhanced performance, dependability and competences of emergency communications systems and response. Intrado has an innovative network and wide-ranging portfolio of sophisticated 9-1-1 services to address current and future public safety requirements.

The foundation of the country’s 9-1-1 infrastructure is presently supplied by Intrado. The organization also supports the delivery of a minimum of 260 million calls to 9-1-1 centers each year. To-date, Intrado has processed a minimum of three billion 9-1-1 calls. At least 6,000 public safety answering points in the U.S. and Canada depend on Intrado for precise, high-tech 9-1-1 voice, data and call handling equipment assistance. Intrado is headquartered in Longmont, Colo.