In an attempt to accommodate new emergency alerts – which come in the form of texts, photos and videos from mobile phones -, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski Tuesday called for a “Next-Generation 9-1-1” service.

The move comes in the wake of the fact that even though 70 percent of calls to 911 are made via a mobile phone, and 72 percent of Americans send text messages, most of the 9-1-1 agencies surprisingly lack the mechanism to handle “next-generation” messaging.

Genachowski said that the FCC will assess how the present 9-1-1 system can be modernized to allow Americans to send mobile texts, videos, and photos to 911; seeking help in situations when a call might put their safety in dnager.

Noting that “Today’s 9-1-1 system doesn’t support the communication tools of tomorrow,” Genachowski said in a statement: “Even though mobile phones are the device of choice for most 9-1-1 callers (right now), you can’t text 9-1-1. It’s time to bring 9-1-1 into the digital age.”

In order to determine the opinion of the public with respect to the new move of modernizing the 9-1-1 system, the FCC will lead a “Next-Generation 9-1-1 proceeding” next month.

The “Next-Generation 9-1-1” plan is part of the FCC-drafted National Broadband Plan which - funded by stimulus money – essentially aims at harnessing broadband to perk up public safety, specially via creating an interoperable public safety wireless broadband communication network by 2020.