Say you're cowering in fear behind the potato chips while a gunman is robbing your local convenience store. Calling 911 and talking to the dispatcher wouldn't be very prudent, would it? According to Wired, the FCC is looking to make reporting emergencies a lot safer and quicker by expanding 911 services to accept text messages, MMS, and possibly even streaming video to catch the bad guy in the act.

This is not a new concept; some call centers such as the one in Black Hawk County, Iowa have been experimenting with the concept since August of last year. One of the walls has been getting locations since this information is not transmitted via text as it is when 911 is called regularly. Considering that around 70% of 911 calls are now coming from cell phones, expanding your cell phone's capability in helping catch criminals and getting Fire and EMS on scene faster can't have too many drawbacks.