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Emergency Location Service
How it works

ELS delivers fast and accurate location information.

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A map of the earth with indicators of where emergency location services pings are located.

With multiple location signals for greater accuracy.

In many countries today, emergency call centers only receive cell-based location information. In other countries, emergency location is estimated using GPS—falling back to cell tower triangulation if GPS is unavailable.

Yet cell-based location radii are often kilometers wide. And GPS performance tends to be poor indoors, underground or in city centers with tall buildings.

With ELS, the device automatically sends location information when a user contacts a configured emergency number. This happens via a location request made to the Android Fused Location Provider. FLP allows us to derive a more accurate location as quickly as possible, using a variety of location signals. And the best part: it works both indoors and outdoors.
Learn more about FLP

Enhance your emergency response with ELS.

Google partners with mobile network operators, public safety vendors and government agencies responsible for public safety to deploy ELS.

ELS location information is sent only when the user contacts your region’s emergency number. Location is computed locally, and sent directly from the Android device to a partner endpoint. Google does not view the location sent to the endpoint.
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The partner manages the endpoint.

Each ELS partner is responsible for setting up, configuring and maintaining an ELS endpoint that can receive ELS location information whenever a user contacts an emergency number.
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The user initiates an emergency call.

The user calls or texts a national emergency number using an Android device.
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ELS uses FLP to determine the user’s location.

The Android device automatically activates ELS. ELS uses the Fused Location Provider (FLP) to fuse location signals from cell towers, GPS, Wi-Fi and sensors on the phone to compute accurate location data, whether the caller is indoors or outdoors.
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Location information is sent to the partner.

The user’s location is directly sent to emergency services through the partner’s endpoint, per partner-specified configuration (e.g., MCC/MNC). Google does not view the location sent to the endpoint.
Case study: United Kingdom

ELS can be up to 3000x more accurate than cell tower triangulation.1

Map of a Westway roundabout in North Kensington, London, showing nearby buildings and sites.

Without ELS

In the UK, a live test found that public safety providers were only able to accurately target within a 3 kilometer radius using existing cell-based location information.
A zoomed in map of a Westway roundabout in North Kensington, London, showing ELS' precise location capabilities.

With ELS

Using ELS, more than half of those same public safety providers were able to report locations within >20m accuracy.

Partner with us to get ELS in your country.

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Frequently asked questions.

Where is ELS currently available?

Our goal is to launch ELS in as many countries as possible. Today, ELS is fully deployed in the United States, United Kingdom, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. More details available from the EENA web site.

If ELS is not currently available in your state or country, you should reach out to your local ECC or government representative to request that it be made available.

How quickly can ELS compute a location?

On average, ELS is able to get a first location 3-4 seconds after the call has started. You can read more about Android location positioning at https://developer.android.com/reference/android/location/Location.html.

Does Location need to be turned on for ELS to work?

If your phone has device location and/or Google Location Services turned off at the time you contact emergency services, ELS will turn location and Google Location Service on solely for the purpose of computing emergency location for an emergency response provider to use. Your phone’s location settings are restored back to the original settings once the emergency call/text is over.

If your phone supports the latest Android operating systems (Android 10 or later), ELS will use the Emergency Location Bypass which allows a user’s device location to be retrieved in the event of an emergency call, even if the user has set the device location setting to “Off.”

How does ELS respect user privacy? Does Google have access to a user’s emergency location or collect ELS location data?

The ELS team believes that user privacy is of the utmost importance, and has taken the following steps to protect privacy:

ELS only sends an emergency location if a user calls or texts an emergency number from their device. This requires the user to take an explicit action on their device.

Location is determined on-device and sent directly to emergency services, through an endpoint (maintained by the ELS partner) Google does not get any emergency locations and no one can externally prompt your phone to call emergency services.

If location settings are off on the phone, ELS has privileged access to turn location on for the purposes of making an emergency call/text.

ELS is turned on by default, but users can turn it off or back on at any time. More details available in the "Manage your Android device's location settings" section of the Android Help Center.

When a user makes a call, is there any notice to the user that their location is being shared with emergency services?

In the current Android version, the location icon appears on the device status bar when a user initiates a call. We also provide information about how ELS works and how to turn it off in this help center article.

Will ELS work if the Android device doesn’t have a SIM card?

It depends on which ELS protocol has been deployed in that country. In general, ELS using the HTTPS protocol will work if the user makes an emergency call when the device is connected to Wi-Fi, but otherwise, ELS will not work. ELS using the Data SMS protocol will not work as a phone without a SIM card cannot send any SMSes.

Does ELS work if the emergency call is made using VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) or Wi-Fi? Skype? Whatsapp?

ELS will activate and send a location If the mobile network operator supports VOIP or Wi-Fi calling, and the caller uses the default Android system dialer. However, ELS does not work when using 3rd party applications (Skype, Whatsapp, etc) to dial emergency numbers. ELS only works with the default phone dialer on the user’s Android device.

What’s the difference between ELS and Advanced Mobile Location (AML)?

AML is a protocol that was developed to enable a smartphone to automatically activate its location service to establish its position and send this information to the ECCs via an SMS. ELS is Google’s implementation of AML. ELS location data can be reported using Data SMS or HTTPS.

What’s the process and timeline to deploy ELS?

The typical process to deploy ELS can range from 6-24 weeks, depending on how the due diligence process unfolds. At a high level, the ELS deployment process includes the following steps:

(1) Partner evaluation process, including legal, technical and business due diligence
(2) NDA and, if appropriate, a vendor security audit
(3) Testing and a pre-launch pilot
(4) Contractual agreement
(5) Finalize launch date and agree on PR plans, if appropriate

How can I become an ELS Partner?

Google partners with government agencies responsible for public safety, mobile network operators and/or public safety infrastructure vendors to launch ELS in a country. Please contact us if you are interested in becoming an ELS Partner.

Does ELS support additional data?

Yes, it does. Please contact us for more details.

1 Final Report, HELP112 (2016-2017), pg. 11.

Product availability, features, and specifications vary by region, carrier, and device. Not all devices or features shown on this page are available in all markets. Please check with your local retailer or mobile carrier for current availability and compatibility in your area.
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