Mobile solutions company Dialogue Communications is providing a unique messaging service for Northumbria Police, to allow local deaf, hearing-impaired and speech-impaired residents to contact the police via text message. In the UK alone, there are almost 9 million deaf people and Northumbria Police is one of the first forces to adopt this service.   
Using Dialogues web-based portal, Northumbria Police has set up the mobile facility, which will allow the hard of hearing to contact the police easily. Deaf people will no longer have to rely on someone else to report non-emergencies for them and can now text a dedicated mobile number 07786 200815, which will be directly sent to the police control room and regularly checked.   
We hope the service will prove to be an effective means of reporting non-emergency incidents in our local area, says Superintendent Derek Scott, of Northumbria Police. The mobile technology which is available to emergency services these days is rapidly expanding and we wanted to make the most of this. This demonstrates our commitment to providing the best service possible to all sections of the community.
When the text message is sent, it is converted into an email and delivered to the police communications centre. The caller then receives a return SMS within seconds to say that their text has been passed to the police, who will reply to the enquiry within 24 hours, with a reminder that if it is an emergency, they should dial 999. Any further communication can be made via email, which is automatically converted to a text message and sent to the caller.
Services like two-way messaging can really prove beneficial to local communities, says Dialogue UK Managing Director, Guillaume Peersman. Our mobile applications offer local services a new dimension, and because of the constantly increasing number of mobile users, it makes sense to utilise the available technology in a positive way.