Google has announced that it is activating Android Emergency Location Service in India which “instantly delivers enhanced location to emergency services, such as police, medical and firefighting services, when they’re contacted, whether that is over call or SMS.” Here’s everything to know about the new feature.
What is Android Emergency Location Service?
Emergency Location Service in Android uses data from GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular networks, and can even send additional information like device language, providing location precision often reaching accuracy of within 50 meters.
ELS activates when it is supported by local wireless or emergency infrastructure providers. In the 60+ countries where the service is operational, it has consistently expedited emergency response times, enabling emergency services to reach people in need and distress faster, according to Google.
Android Emergency Location Service: India Availability
This service has now been activated for the first time in India, with Uttar Pradesh becoming the first Indian state to fully operationalise ELS in Android. Integrated by Uttar Pradesh Police and executed by Pert Telecom Solutions Pvt Ltd (PertSol), ELS supports the millions of daily calls and SMS messages the 112 emergency service receives from across the state.
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“In the few months that this service was pilot tested prior to its rollout to all compatible Android devices (version 6.0 and up) across the state, the results were deeply encouraging,” said Google. ELS in Android had supported over 20 million calls and SMS messages, identifying caller locations, even when calls dropped seconds after connecting.
Powered by Android’s machine learning-based Fused Location Provider, the feature delivers accurate location data to emergency services, even when callers are unsure of their exact whereabouts.
Android Emergency Location Service: How to Use?
ELS is a free-of-charge service that activates only when a caller dials 112 or any emergency number from their Android device. It does not require any separate hardware or apps.
The feature is exclusively available to emergency service providers and is designed solely to help locate callers during emergencies. Precise location data is not collected or stored by Google, and is shared only when an emergency call is placed. The caller’s coordinates are sent directly from the handset to emergency services, where UP112’s command systems and Pertsol’s routing intelligence instantly identify the location and dispatch the appropriate response-police, medical, or fire-within seconds.
Google hopes “other states across India similarly explore the potential of this technology to further strengthen the life-saving interventions of their local emergency services.”
Author: The Mobile Indian Network
Source: The Mobile Indian
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
