AURORA | Aurora’s 911 system will soon be able to field text messages — but 911 operators would still prefer a phone call to a text.

Mel Hanover, a City of Aurora 911 dispatcher, fields calls May 31 at the Aurora Public Safety Communications Department.

The city’s 911 dispatch center converted its equipment to accept text messages last month, said Diane Culverhouse, manager of public safety communications. Now, city officials are just waiting on the four biggest wireless providers to make the switch on their end.

Several other dispatch centers in Colorado, including nearby Arapahoe County and Greenwood Village, already accept text messages.

Michael Bryant, a spokesman for the city, said the system could start accepting texts within a week.

Culverhouse said the system costs the city about $150 a month.

While the system will come online soon, Culverhouse said dispatchers aren’t expecting a wave of texts when it goes live. She said the city expects only about five or 10 each month at the beginning.

“It’s gonna take some time before people really start to utilize it,” she said.

That’s a good thing, Culverhouse said, because dispatchers would prefer people in an emergency call rather than text. While texting is a good option in situations where a person can’t talk, Culverhouse said a phone call is a better option because dispatchers can ask specific questions about a caller’s location and what their emergency is. With a text message, that can take a little while longer.

Jaime Stalter, a City of Aurora 911 dispatcher, fields calls at the Aurora Public Safety Communications Department May 31.

In Arapahoe County, dispatchers have received few text messages since launching the service last year.

Julie Brooks, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said since 2015, the sheriff’s office has received 245 texts to 911. That makes up a tiny fraction of the more than 95,000 calls they get each year, she said.

Brooks said that in some cases, especially in the eastern reaches of the county, cell service is spotty so callers don’t have enough signal to make a call, but they can get a text out. In those situations, the system is ideal, she said.

But, Brooks said, the county still encourages people to call instead of text if they can.

“We say, ‘Call if you can, text if you must,’” she said.