AAPL Apple Inc

By Sarah Krouse 

Apple Inc. is partnering with a startup to tackle a problem that has long vexed 911 operators: locating cellphone callers.

Most 911 calls are made using mobile phones, but those callers' locations are harder to pinpoint than those of calls made using traditional landlines -- a problem that can delay first responders.

RapidSOS, an upstart backed by three former Federal Communications Commision leaders, aimed to solve that problem. It created technology that pipes location information from smartphones and other internet-connected devices directly into the software used within 911 call centers.

Apple's new partnership with RapidSOS means iPhone users who call 911 will automatically send their location to emergency call centers, representatives for the companies said. Apple plans to push the new software to iPhones later this year as part of an update to its iOS mobile software, the company said.

Apple's move is a sign that smartphone makers are willing to step into America's emergency response infrastructure, an area ripe for upgrades as well as reputational risks because lives are at stake.

In the past, convincing handset makers to update their products so that dialing 911 would automatically send location data, rather than requiring users to download an app, was a challenge.

The set of location data Apple sends through RapidSOS will be separate from the information that wireless carriers like AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. send.

Carriers are required to deliver the whereabouts of callers to 911 operators, but the estimated locations they provide can be as wide as a few hundred yards. Their information is typically less accurate than the blue dot consumers see on apps like Uber and Google Maps and can be obscured by buildings and in dense areas.

Federal regulators estimate that shaving a minute off response times could save as many 10,000 lives a year.

Apple isn't the only smartphone maker testing caller-location solutions. Google late last year began testing new technology for sending location data from Android devices to 911 centers. The company worked with RapidSOS and West Corp., which also has connections to 911 call centers.

Google's data in that test offered an average location-estimate radius of 121 feet, while carrier data averaged 522 feet, RapidSOS told The Journal earlier this year.

The RapidSOS technology is active in less than half of 911 centers nationwide, but is available to all of them at no charge. The company said it expects it to be used in the majority of 911 call centers nationwide by the end of the year.

The 50-year-old U.S. 911 system is rooted in aging landline systems that deliver an exact address. Those phones, however, have been eclipsed by the growth of cellphones.

Wireless devices make about 80% of the roughly 240 million 911 calls placed in the U.S. each year, according to the trade group National Emergency Number Association.

Wireless carriers primarily use GPS chips in phones and cell-tower triangulation to send location data to 911 call centers across the country.

The wireless industry trade group CTIA is part of an initiative to build a database of locations of WiFi hotspots and bluetooth beacons to better locate nearby cellphones. The ongoing effort, called the National Emergency Address Database, involves partnerships with cable companies, businesses and government agencies.

Christy Williams, director of 911 for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said citizens expect location accuracy when they make emergency calls because they see it every day on their phones and applications. RapidSOS and the Apple partnership is "finally getting us to a point where we could potentially meet some of the citizens' expectations," she added.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 18, 2018 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)

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