Google's Emergency Location Service has launched in India; here's how it will provide help during emergencies..

Google announced on Tuesday that it has launched its Emergency Location Service (ELS) for compatible Android devices in India. This means that users facing emergencies can call or text emergency service providers, including police, healthcare professionals, and firefighters, and ELS will automatically share their "precise location" as soon as it's activated. Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country to enable ELS for Android devices. This feature was initially rolled out for devices running Android 6 and later versions. However, for ELS to be activated, state authorities need to integrate it with their services.

How does Google's ELS service work?
The search giant said it has activated its ELS feature on Android smartphones in India, and this built-in emergency service will help Android users send their location via call or SMS to get help from emergency service providers such as police, medical staff, and firefighters. Google said that ELS on Android collects data from the device's GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular networks to pinpoint the user's precise location and claims it can locate a person's location with an accuracy of up to 50 meters.

However, the ELS feature requires local wireless and emergency infrastructure operators to activate support for it. In India, Uttar Pradesh has become the first state to do so, fully enabling this service for Android devices. The state police, in collaboration with Pert Telecom Solutions, has integrated ELS support with the emergency number 112. This is a free service that only tracks the user's location when 112 is dialed from an Android phone.

Furthermore, the tech giant said that the ELS functionality has been rolled out to all compatible devices running Android 6.0 and later versions. The company claims that so far, ELS in Android has assisted in over 20 million calls and SMS messages, even if the call is disconnected just seconds after being answered. ELS is powered by Google's machine learning-based Android Fused Location Provider.

Google also states that this feature is only available to emergency service providers and that ELS never collects or shares precise location data with the company. Therefore, the location data is sent directly to the relevant authorities.

Notably, Google recently launched an Emergency Live Video feature for Android devices, allowing users to share their camera feed with responders while making a call or sending an SMS during an emergency. However, the emergency service provider must request access to this feature from the user. Once the responder requests the video feed, a prompt appears on the screen. With a single tap, the user can accept and provide the visual feed.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Dainik Jagran. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.