Emergency response in Uttar Pradesh is set to become faster and more accurate with Google activating its Emergency Location Service on Android devices in India for the first time. The feature is now live for UP Police 112 calls and messages, helping responders identify the exact location of people seeking help.
Emergency Location Service, or ELS, is a built in Android feature that automatically shares accurate location details with emergency responders when a user calls or sends an SMS to an emergency number. According to Google, the service can handle millions of calls and messages every day. It has been adopted by the Uttar Pradesh Police with support from a technology solutions provider, as shared in a Google blog post dated December 23.
With this rollout, anyone in Uttar Pradesh who contacts the 112 helpline from an Android phone will have their location shared with the police more precisely. The service is provided free of cost and activates only during an emergency call or message. It does not require users to install any additional apps or hardware.
“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,” Google said.
The ELS system is designed to overcome issues like weak network signals by using an AI and ML powered system called Android Fused Location Provider. It combines data from GPS, Wi Fi and cellular networks to identify a caller’s location and also shares details such as device language with first responders.
Google stated that the location accuracy can reach within 50 metres. The service is already operational in more than 60 countries globally.
Before launching in India, Google conducted pilot testing across Uttar Pradesh for several months on Android devices running version 6 and above. The tests showed that “ELS in Android was able to support over 20 million calls and SMS messages, identifying caller locations, even when calls dropped seconds after connecting,” the company said.
Google also clarified that precise location data is not collected or shared with anyone other than emergency services. “Locations are sent directly from callers’ handsets to emergency services only when an emergency call is placed,” it said.
“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,” Google added.
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