Bingham County gets new 911 software

BINGHAM COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) - People living in Bingham County now have a new way to get help in an emergency.

The Bingham County 911 Center has new software called Prepared Live.

This software allows dispatch to contact you using livestream or text message in response to your call.

This will allow people to share live video in the event of an emergency to dispatchers to help locate you by identifying businesses or landmarks.

And if you can't  voice the emergency, the livestream option will be a witness to what is happening.

"For a long time you've been able to text 911, but we can only text you if you text us first," 911 supervisor Erin Hildago said. "This allows us to, as long as you accept the link, we can text back and forth. You can send us photos, you can you can open video and show your surroundings. If you don't know where you're at, it gives us your location. It brings up an actual map that shows where you're calling from and it is really very accurate."

In order for this tool to benefit you:

• The location on your smartphone must be turned on.
• A call to the non-emergency or 911 lines  must be placed prior to receiving a response from the software.
• Instructions will be provided by the dispatcher that will include a link to activate your location.