You may not know this, but it’s easier for 911 operators to locate a caller when the call has been made using a landline. It takes more time to locate when a call is made using a cellphone. And obviously, more people make these calls using their cell phones now than ever before, so that is why there’s a need to help 911 locate mobile callers more effectively. Google wants to help.
Apparently, Google has conducted a trial to see how its technology can be used to help 911 operators locate callers more accurately. The trial covered tens of thousands of 911 calls over a period of two months in several states. The trial’s results were very encouraging as you will see.
The test was done in partnership with West Corp. and RapidSOS. Both of these companies have connections to 911 centers. Wireless carriers are mainly responsible for providing location information under the existing 911 system but it isn’t great at accuracy. According to RapidSOS, Google’s technology served more accurate location data within the first 30 seconds in about 80 percent of the calls during this trial. That is pretty impressive for sure. It also helped operators narrow down the estimated radius of a call’s location from 522 feet to 121 feet.
So it looks like Google can actually help here. Google’s location technology is offered in 14 countries and hopefully they will bring it to the United States later this year.
Source Ubergizmo
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