In compliance with a Federal Communications Commission mandate, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile phones will have the ability to send a text message to 9-1-1, allowing users to communicate with an emergency dispatcher as if they were on a phone call.

Those supporting text-to-9-1-1 say it gives the speech- and hearing-impaired, and people who cannot talk during an emergency, an easy way to ask for help.

Though local 9-1-1 coordinators support the concept, they say it could be years before their counties can offer the service. They cite a lack of statewide coordination and the cost to change a decades-old way of directing emergencies.

Even when the technology is in place, officials say, calling 9-1-1 likely will be more effective than texting because a caller’s location can’t be determined through texting and the address would have to be typed for emergency responders.

Franklin County officials said in 2012 that a 9-1-1 overhaul would likely make theirs the first county in Ohio to give residents the option. Now, David Ziegler, the county’s regional communications coordinator, says it might happen in 2015.

The updating process is going slowly because “we’re taking a methodical approach and doing deep research so we get the best value for the dollar spent,” Ziegler said.

Franklin County has spent $6.9 million since 2006 to upgrade equipment and technology for 9-1-1. The equipment would allow texting. But before that can happen, a network must be set up to identify and transmit digital communication — from iMessage on an iPhone to video chatting — that didn’t exist when Ohio’s 9-1-1 network was set up in 1985.

The next step is finding a network provider, Ziegler said.

Officials from Madison County said they have obtained the software, while Delaware, Fairfield and Union counties are considering implementation.

Pickaway and Licking County 9-1-1 officials could not be reached to comment this week.

Once the local 9-1-1 call centers have the equipment and network in place to receive texts to 9-1-1, local coordinators can request cellphone carriers to enable the service in their area.

Ohio has 322 call centers, known as “public safety answering points,” and those are among about 6,500 across the United States and its territories, according to the National Emergency Number Association. Today, fewer than 200 of those 9-1-1 centers have the ability to receive texts.

Without statewide coordination, cell carriers would have to implement different systems to accommodate each call center.

The goal is that “no matter what device (people) use, they get a standard, professional response” when texting 9-1-1, said Jay Somerville, the president of the Ohio Association of Public Safety Communication Officers and technical-services director for Dublin police.

But the problem, according to Brian Galligher, Delaware County’s 9-1-1 coordinator, is that in Ohio, “you’ve got 9-1-1 centers that are underneath a city, a county, the sheriff. There’s no single state agency that everything reports to.”

Next Generation 9-1-1, as it’s known, is a national initiative to modernize 9-1-1 communications. To prepare Ohio, the state established a committee in 2012 to oversee the creation of a statewide Internet network. Other states have taken similar moves to coordinate 9-1-1 operations in the wake of a challenge from the FCC to implement text-to-9-1-1 as cell carriers are.

The committee has discussed ways to implement text-to-9-1-1 statewide but has yet to appoint a statewide coordinator, Somerville said.

The committee is part of the state’s Department of Administrative Services. Beth Gianforcaro, the department’s deputy director for communications, did not return calls seeking comment this week.

Despite the lack of a state plan, some counties have moved forward. Geauga County has installed equipment and is testing its text-to-9-1-1 capabilities.

Hamilton County has a system that works with Verizon phones and has requested that text-to-9-1-1 functions work on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint phones after today, 9-1-1 coordinator Ron Bien said.

The text-to-9-1-1 system has been operating in Hamilton County since November, at a cost of $12,000 annually, he said. Last month, the county logged 21,780 calls to 9-1-1. It has received only three text messages to 9-1-1 since the service was implemented.

All three texts were from people who did not want those around them to know they were calling 9-1-1, Bien said.

One, for example, was from a girl who thought she might harm herself but did not want her mother to know she was seeking help. She texted back and forth with a 9-1-1 dispatcher, and police eventually were dispatched and the situation was resolved, Bien said.