Activating Android Emergency Location Service in India
In an emergency, every second counts. And the most important piece of information for first responders is knowing the location where help is needed. But in a moment of crisis, this essential information can sometimes be hard to get - for reasons ranging from an emergency caller’s distress to weak network connectivity.
To help address this issue and bring our users more peace of mind, Google built Emergency Location Service (ELS) in Android. This built-in feature in Android devices instantly delivers enhanced location to emergency services, such as police, medical and firefighting services, when they’re contacted, whether that is over call or SMS. ELS in Android uses data from GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular networks, and can even send additional information like device language, providing location precision often reaching accuracy of within 50 meters.
ELS service activates when it is supported by local wireless or emergency infrastructure providers. In the 60+ countries where the service is operational, it has consistently expedited emergency response times, enabling emergency services to reach people in need and distress faster.
We’re thrilled to share that this service has now been activated for the first time in India, with Uttar Pradesh becoming the first Indian state to fully operationalize ELS in Android. Integrated by Uttar Pradesh Police and executed by Pert Telecom Solutions Pvt Ltd (PertSol), ELS supports the millions of daily calls and SMS messages the 112 emergency service receives from across the state.
The Power of Precision: Help when and where it’s most needed
In the few months that this service was pilot tested prior to its rollout to all compatible Android devices (version 6.0 and up) across the state, the results were deeply encouraging. ELS in Android had supported over 20 million calls and SMS messages, identifying caller locations, even when calls dropped seconds after connecting.
Powered by the machine-learning based Android Fused Location Provider, the feature provides precise locations to emergency services regardless of where callers are when they ask for help.
Designed for Privacy, Activated in Emergency
ELS is a free-of-charge service that activates only when a caller dials 112 or any emergency number from their Android device. It does not require any separate hardware or apps.
The feature is available solely to emergency service providers to help them locate emergency callers. Callers’ precise locations are never collected by or shared with Google. Locations are sent directly from callers’ handsets to emergency services only when an emergency call is placed. 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.
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.
To learn more about activating ELS in Android in your region, get in touch with us.
