Google Technology to Locate 911 Emergency Callers

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

When you call the emergency line 911 from a cellphone in the US, your location is typically sent to the call taker by a wireless carrier. But that information isn’t always so accurate, and when emergency calls are made, each minute is precious. Now Google might have a solution.

Google recently tested new 911 location sharing technology and the results were promising, hoping to save lives each year. Depending on the situation, a minute off response time can save as many as 10,000 lives each year.

At the present time in the US, when someone makes a 911 call using a cellphone, the caller’s location data is conveyed by their wireless carrier. The problem is that these estimated location data are often indefinite and takes extra time to respond to emergencies, reports newschemicals.com.

Hence the reason public-safety officials and advocacy groups have been pressuring companies like Google and Apple to share their location data and assist in emergency situations. US federal regulators say Google wants to help save 10,000 lives each year with new 911 technology.

RapidSOS, a company that was involved in the test, told WSJ.com that for over 80% of the 911 calls where Google’s system was used, the location data it provided were more accurate than what wireless carriers provided.

This isn’t the first instance where Google has put its location data to use during emergency calls. Last year, the company updated its Phone app so that your location — including your address, a map and latitude and longitude coordinates — are automatically displayed when you call 911, according to endgadget.com.

Using location data, Google worked with 50 911 centers across Texas, Tennessee, and Florida. Google’s location technology is available in 14 countries around the world, but not in the US. The company states that it hopes to implement the technology across the US sometime this year.