Google activates Emergency Location Service for Android phones in India

Google on Tuesday (December 23) launched the much-awaited 'Emergency Location Service' feature for Android phones in India.

Google and Apple have long offered emergency location services in the US with 911 SOS calls in the US and and 60 plus regions, including Europe and Australia. But, for the first time, Android phone owners will be able to share their precise location with the 112 emergency response service in India.

The 112 emergency service is a pan-India initiative of the central government. However, it is implemented and operated by individual states and union territories (UTs)' police agencies.

Initially, Google's Emergency Location Service will be available with 112 operated by the Uttar Pradesh police. It is executed by Pert Telecom Solutions Pvt Ltd (PertSol).

For the uninitiated, ELS is a built-in feature in Android devices; once triggered, it instantly delivers enhanced location to emergency services, such as police, medical and firefighting services, when they’re contacted, whether that is over SMS or call (with just three seconds).

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ELS is powered by the machine-learning-based Android Fused Location Provider, and it uses data from GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular networks, and can even send additional information, such as device language, providing precision location with an accuracy of within 50 meters.

Most importantly, ELS is a free-of-charge service. It activates only when a caller dials 112 or any emergency number from their Android device. It does not require any separate hardware or apps.

Here's how to turn on ELS on an Android phone:

Go to Settings > Safety & emergency > Emergency location service and toggle the switch to the right (blue) to enable it.

With the support of governments, Google plans to expand the ELS to other states in India in the coming months.

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