Boone County Joint Communications Announces Temporary Text-to-911 Service Interruption Planned During Next Generation 911 Transition

COLUMBIA, Mo. (July 31, 2026) - As part of Boone County Joint Communications’ transition to the Next Generation 911 (NG911) Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet), Text-to-911 service will be temporarily unavailable beginning August 5, 2026. Text-to-911 service is expected to be restored on September 1, 2026, following completion of the transition.

Voice calls to 911 will not be affected and will continue to be the primary and preferred method for requesting emergency assistance.

Individuals who attempt to send a text message to 911 during the outage will receive an automatic notification advising them that Text-to-911 is temporarily unavailable and directing them to call 911 instead.

The ESInet transition is an important step in modernizing the County’s emergency communications infrastructure. This planned service interruption is necessary to complete the transition. The new network will provide a more reliable and resilient 911 network while supporting future Next Generation 911 capabilities.

Boone County Joint Communications appreciates the public’s patience and understanding as this important system upgrade is completed. Additional updates will be provided if the restoration schedule changes.

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