The Android Emergency Locator service is launched in the United States | News and reviews

Google is finally expanding the Android Emergency Locator service that saves lives, which it debuted in 2016 in the United States.

Already available in 14 other countries, the service is designed to identify your exact location and share it with emergency responders when you call 911 from an android device.

"More than 80% of emergency calls come from mobile phones, but locating these phones can be difficult because emergency locator technologies can fail inside or have too large a radius to be useful." to post.

Enter Android ELS. The service uses GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile networks and sensors to identify your location, both inside and out, with the same precision as Google Maps. Some 99% of Android devices – all devices running Android 4.0 or later – already support this feature, but Google has worked with wireless service providers and emergency infrastructure providers to add support at the front desk. .

Google launches Android ELS in the United States with the help of T-Mobile and RapidSOS and West emergency technology companies. Android users on T-Mobile in the United States will automatically benefit from this service.

RapidSOS makes it available to all public security agencies in the country via its free Next Generation 911 Documentation Center (NG911). More than 1,000 emergency communication centers across the country, covering over 100 million people, already use the NG911 documentation center.

Finally, ELS is also available in the US Virgin Islands thanks to Google's partnership with West and regional wireless service provider Viya.

"The ELS service is enabled where it is supported by your wireless service provider or emergency infrastructure provider," says Chai. As a user, you have nothing to do if you need it. Your location is sent directly to the backup provider, without going through Google's servers.

Google has tested the service with RapidSOS in the US and the results have been promising.

"Emergency centers told us that ELS had already helped save lives in their jurisdiction, reducing the average uncertainty radius of … from 522 feet to 121 feet," wrote Chai. "At the Neck County County Sheriff's Office in Florida, a caller who gave an incorrect address could be found through ELS, and in Loudon County, TN, ELS helped the rescuers to contact a non-English speaking person to communicate his address. . "