Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Google adds Emergency Location Service to Android rolling out first in the UK and Estonia
Google adds Emergency Location Service to Android rolling out first in the UK and Estonia
You may be wary of making your location available to apps and service on Android, but that uneasiness goes away in an emergency situation. If you call emergency services, you want them to know exactly where you are, and now Android has the tools to make that happen. Well, if you live in the UK or Estonia. Those are the first two countries with support for the new Emergency Location Service.
When you call in an emergency with this service active, your location will automatically be transmitted directly to first responders (without passing through Google).
Read MoreGoogle adds Emergency Location Service to Android, rolling out first in the UK and Estonia was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
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Thursday, January 12, 2017
Google is making it easier for emergency services to find you when you need them
Google is making it easier for emergency services to find you when you need them
Google is using your Android phone to make it easier for emergency services to find you when you need help. With support from mobile networks, the Emergency Location Service sends your location of your phone to emergency services when you call an emergency number.
From Google:
This feature, when supported by your network, sends location from your phone to emergency services when you dial an emergency number. This uses the same location technologies available to apps on your phone, including Wi-Fi, GPS, and cell towers, to produce a more reliable emergency location both indoors and outdoors.
Your location is only sent to emergency services, and is never seen by Google, nor sent through their servers. The Emergency Location Service will be available as a part of Google Play Services for phones running Android 2.3 Gingerbread or later, which Google says covers around 99% of Android phones.
Emergency Location Service is already live in the UK and Estonia through carriers like BT, EE, Vodafone, O2, Tele2, and Telia. Google is working with other countries and carriers in order to facilitate an faster international rollout of the feature.
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Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Google’s Emergency Location Service comes to Android arriving first to UK and Estonia
Google’s Emergency Location Service comes to Android arriving first to UK and Estonia
The same combination of radios used to plot your position on Google Maps or tell your favorite apps exactly where you are located will now be used to help first responders more accurately pinpoint your location when you place an emergency call.
Google just rolled out Emergency Location Service for Android 2.3 and higher, covering up to 99 percent of Android handsets with that breadth of support. But its up to your mobile network provider and your local EMS to support this upgrade for enhanced 911 (E911) calls.
Emergency Services on Note 7, via SirHydarnes
Emergency Location Service leverages your mobile devices Wi-Fi, GPS and cellular radios to help first responders more accurately triangulate your position. This exchange of information, which is only transmitted during an E911 call, is between you and your local EMS. Google is keeping its hands off of the data and is making sure even the neediest of apps dont get a peek at it.
The service is available now through various emergency agencies and cell service providers in the UK and Estonia, including providers Vodafone and BT. As previously mentioned, it will be up to emergency response agencies and carriers to work with Google in order to expand this support to more regions, but we imagine it wont be long before we see this feature reach more countries in Europe. And whenever the Federal Communication Commission completes its ongoing campaign to nail down E911 rules in the US, youll surely see the service arrive in the states as well.
For now, those of you in the US will have to make due with E911 service that relies solely on cell tower triangulation. On top of that, the FCC is still trying to install rules that require mobile network operators to align cell tower antennas more precisely so that they provide more accurate location data.
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