Apple is using technology from RapidSOS, a New York startup, and is updating the iPhone’s next operating system to automatically deliver quicker and more reliable information by pinpointing the location of 911 calls to about 6,300 emergency response centres in the U.S.
An estimated 80% of roughly 240 million emergency calls in the U.S. this year will come from mobile phones which are mostly capable of precisely tracking where their users are. Most emergency centres, however, are unable to get detailed location information from 911 calls and must use other methods which can be unreliable and inaccurate. Emergency responders are sometimes dispatched a mile or more away from a caller’s location.
The planned changes were on announced Monday during a 911 convention in Tennessee. They’ll be part of iOS 12 which the company will release in September as a free update.
That can take up precious time and often isn’t very accurate, especially when calls come from inside a building. .
The approach developed by Apple and RapidSOS sends location data from an iPhone to a “clearinghouse” accessible to emergency calling centers. Only the 911 calling centers will be able to see the data during the call, and none of it can be used for non-emergency purposes, according to Apple.
Individual call centers will each have to embrace the technology required to communicate with the RapidSOS clearinghouse. Some centers already have the compatible software, according to Apple, but others will have to install upgrades to their existing software.
Apple expects calling centers for large metropolitan areas to upgrade more quickly than those in rural areas.
Tom Wheeler, a former chairman for the Federal Communications Commission, believes Apple’s new approach for locating 911 calls will set a new industry standard. “This is going to save a lot of lives,” said Wheeler, now a visiting professor at Harvard University. He said he hopes other phone makers will follow Apple’s lead.
