Most 911 call centers are capable of locating landline callers, but they struggle to find cellphone users when they need emergency help. “The 911 system was designed long ago for home phones,” said Fiona Lee, Google’s global evangelist for Android Emergency Location Service (ELS).  

There is a reason why 911 call centers have trouble locating cellphone users. If the caller is outdoors, the phone's GPS chip can connect with satellites or with a cell tower; the 911 operator will know the latitude and longitude of the caller — within 164 feet or so — most of the time. However, a call made from inside a building has a harder time connecting with a satellite, which can throw off the caller's location by several hundred feet.

Google recently concluded a pilot study of its Android ELS, a supplemental service that sends location directly from Android handsets to emergency services when a person calls 911. The test involved fifty 911 call centers covering 2.4 million people in Texas, Tennessee and Florida. Google collaborated with West Corporation, a provider of communication and network infrastructure services; and RapidSOS, which works with public safety call centers by making 911 services more responsive. 

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