The carrier says that, starting in October, its network will let customers attach photos or video to a 911 call or text as easily as sending a message to a friend. The upgrade is part of new features rolling out to AT&T ESInet, the company’s next-generation 911 (NG911) platform that already powers more than 1,700 emergency call centers across the United States, covering roughly 75 million people.
Today, callers can text 911 in many jurisdictions, but sharing media normally requires a dispatcher to send a special link or switch to a separate platform, steps that cost precious seconds during fires, medical crises, or crimes in progress. By baking picture and video messaging directly into ESInet, AT&T says dispatchers will get “a better understanding of the emergency and improved situational awareness” before first responders even arrive.
The move dovetails with Apple’s Emergency SOS Live Video feature, introduced in iOS 18 last year, which lets callers stream what they’re seeing to 911. AT&T’s update tackles the other half of the equation: sending existing images or clips you already shot, or that a bystander captured, to public-safety answering points (PSAPs) with a single tap.
AT&T says its implementation is standards-based and “interoperable,” so other carriers can plug in once they complete their own NG911 upgrades. That would make multimedia emergency messaging available nationwide, rather than only to AT&T mobile customers.
Cars Will Get Smarter, Too
Select 2026 Toyota models equipped with an AT&T Connected Car SIM will automatically beam crash data, such as precise location and whether airbags were deployed, straight to 911 centers. The capability is billed as the first fully integrated, standards-based transmission of crash telemetry in the U.S., and AT&T expects other automakers to follow.
Security is also on the roadmap. ESInet customers will gain a dedicated, private internet connection to reach cloud-hosted public-safety data, limiting exposure to cyberattacks that have increasingly targeted municipal services.
The multimedia upgrade will begin reaching ESInet-connected PSAPs in October, with broader availability as jurisdictions and rival carriers adopt NG911 standards. For smartphone users, that means a 911 call could soon include the kind of context, an apartment-building floor plan, a live video of the crash scene, or a close-up of a suspect, that first-responders say can shave minutes off response times and ultimately save lives.