Back in 2016, Google made its Android Emergency Location Service (ELS) official in the USA. Since then, ELS has been crucial in saving people's lives across the globe. From a paraglider in the Austrian Alps to a woman suffering a seizure in Germany, Google's Emergency Location Service has been instrumental during emergencies. Now, it is time for India to experience and enjoy the benefits of ELS.
Google's ELS acts as a beacon during emergencies
The official Google India blog post announced the arrival of Emergency Location Services to India. The feature is currently going live for Android 6.0 and above users and is being piloted in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Aimed at connecting users with first responders during an emergency, ELS is baked into the Android operating system and can automatically share a person's location in need of help. Even when users manually dial Emergency numbers like 112 or send an emergency SMS, ELS gets triggered and helps emergency services track the location of those in need.
To make this work, Google uses Android’s machine learning to send location signal data from GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile networks to pinpoint the caller's location. It is accurate up to 50 meters. ELS can also share important device details like language to help responders communicate with the victim.
Moreover, no matter what the scenario is, ELS can connect users to Emergency services with ease. From a moving vehicle to remote areas, Android's Emergency Location Service works without any hiccups.
Also, ELS is built with privacy in mind. The Pixel phone maker has confirmed that to enjoy ELS advantages, users won't have to download a separate app. It will only get triggered at the time of emergencies and the location data is sent directly from the phone to emergency services. It is not collected by Google.
That said, Google claims that ELS has been able to identify locations for more than 20 million emergency calls and messages across Uttar Pradesh. At the time of writing, no other state has adopted ELS across India. To enrol, interested parties can fill out and submit the Android ELS Interest Form.
