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SiriusXM uses RapidSOS to send 911 detailed crash data
Uber, Waze and other companies have also partnered with RapidSOS to share customers’ locations and crash data with 911 dispatchers.
Google provides 911 call centers with more accurate location data
Google is providing 911 operators with more accurate location information from callers using Android phones. The company has partnered with T-Mobile and emergency technology companies RapidSOS and West to send location data from its Emergency Location Service to 911 call centers when an Android user places an emergency call. For T-Mobile customers, that information will be sent via the carrier and when call centers use RapidSOS, Google's location data will be sent through the emergency technology company. In the US Virgin Islands, Google has integrated this technology in partnership with West.
iOS 12 will automatically share your location during 911 calls
Apple is joining Google, Uber and others in providing accurate location data that could save your life in an emergency. The company has revealed that iOS 12 will automatically (and importantly, securely) share your location with first responders during 911 calls in the US, including with RapidSOS' quicker, more accurate internet-based technology. So long as a 911 center supports it ("many" do), iOS should meet the FCC's 2021 requirement of pinpointing your location within 165 feet a minimum 80 percent of the time.
Uber's 911 assistance is now available in the US
Uber's promised 911 assistance feature is now available in the US. If you're ever in an emergency, you can now call for help without having to leave the mobile app and lose track of your location. And if you live in certain cities (Denver, Charleston, Naples, Louisville and three Tennessee cities), a tie-in with RapidSOS will automatically share your location with 911 dispatchers. Uber told TechCrunch that it's in talks with other cities to implement location sharing, and that it'll ideally be available everywhere.
Google is making it easier for 911 to find you in an emergency
When you call 911 from a cellphone, your location is typically sent to the call taker by a wireless carrier. But that information isn't always so accurate. Well Google might have a better way of going about it and it tested its system across a few states in December and January, the Wall Street Journal reports. In the states where the tests took place, Google sent location data from a random selection of 911 callers using Android phones straight to the people taking those calls. The test included 50 call centers that cover around 2.4 million people in Texas, Tennessee and Florida, and early reports of the results suggest the system is promising.
Waze sends real-time accident data to drivers and first responders
Earlier this month, Waze teamed up with the Emergency Number Association to help emergency responders react more quickly to incidents across Europe. Now, that feature is debuting in the United States: Today, Waze announced that it has partnered with RapidSOS, an emergency tech company, to provide both drivers and first responders real-time data about accidents.
