Apple installs iPhones to relay 911 call location | Business

Apple tries to drag the obsolete US system to handle 911 calls in the 21st century.

If it meets the promise of Apple, the next operating system of the iPhone will automatically provide faster and more reliable information. 911 calls to about 6,300 emergency response centers in the United States

Apple is trying to solve a problem caused by the technological mismatch between a 50-year system built for landlines and smartphones today more and more sophisticated. Some of the 240 million emergency calls in the United States this year will come from mobile phones, most of which are able to track exactly where users are.

Emergency call centers do not receive this detailed information 911 mobile calls. Instead, they get the location of the cell tower transmitting the call and have to rely on other methods to determine where the caller is.

Not accurate

This can take precious time and is often not very accurate, especially when calls come from a building. Emergency help is sometimes dispatched a mile or so away from the location of a caller.

The next 911 feature of Apple is based on the technology of RapidSOS, a New York start-up. The approach developed by Apple and RapidSOS sends the location data of an iPhone to an "exchange center" accessible to emergency call centers. According to Apple, only 911 call centers will be able to see the data during the call, and none of them will be able to be used for non-urgent purposes.

Individual call centers will each have to adopt the necessary technology to communicate with them. the RapidSOS exchange center. Some centers already have compatible software, according to Apple, but others will need to install upgrades to their existing software.

Apple expects call centers for large metropolitan areas to modernize faster than those in rural areas.

Tom Wheeler, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, believes that Apple's new approach to locating 911 calls will set a new standard for the industry. "It will save a lot of lives," said Wheeler, now a visiting professor at Harvard University. He said that he hopes that other phone manufacturers will follow the example of Apple

The planned changes were announced in Nashville, Tennessee, at a convention from 911. They will be part of iOS 12, the next version of Apple's iPhone software, which the company will release in September as a free update.