Google has announced that it has activated its Emergency Location Service (ELS) feature in Android devices for the first time in India, a move that it says will enable law enforcement agencies and emergency responders to pinpoint the location of distress callers quickly and accurately.
ELS is a built-in feature in Android devices that is designed to provide enhanced location of callers to emergency responders such as police, medical, and firefighting services, when they are contacted. The ELS feature is capable of supporting millions of daily calls and SMS messages. It has currently been adopted by the Uttar Pradesh Police with the assistance of Pert Telecom Solutions, according to a blog post published by Google on Tuesday, December 23.
As a result, the location of anyone in the state who calls or sends an SMS message to the 112 helpline will be shared with the UP Police with greater accuracy. The ELS service by Google is free-of-charge. It is activated only when a caller dials 112 or any emergency number from their Android device. It does not require the installation of any separate hardware or apps, as per the tech giant.
“We have been proud to support first responders in Uttar Pradesh and around the world in their inspiring efforts to help people in their most critical moments. We hope other states across India similarly explore the potential of this technology to further strengthen the life-saving interventions of their local emergency services,” Google said.
How it works
Google’s ELS service was developed to ensure that critical information such as the precise location of a distress caller is provided to first responders, overcoming challenges such as weak network connectivity.
It is powered by an AI/ML system called Android Fused Location Provider which is designed to provide precise locations to emergency services regardless of where callers are when they ask for help. According to Google, ELS gathers data from GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular networks to pinpoint the location of distress callers while also sharing additional information such as device language with first responders.
The ELS-provided location reaches accuracy of within 50 metresGoogle claimed. The service is currently operational in more than 60 countries.
Prior to rolling out ELS in India for the first time, Google said it carried out pilot testing of the feature for a few months on Android devices running Version 6 and up across Uttar Pradesh. The results showed that “ELS in Android was able to support over 20 million calls and SMS messages, identifying caller locations, even when calls dropped seconds after connecting,” Google said.
The Alphabet-owned company also emphasised that it does not collect or share callers’ precise location with anyone else besides the first responders. “Locations are sent directly from callers’ handsets to emergency services only when an emergency call is placed,” Google said.
“UP112’s command infrastructure and Pertsol’s routing intelligence view the callers’ coordinates instantly and trigger the right response, whether police, medical, or fire, within seconds,” it added.
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