Google expanding Emergency Location Services to the U.S.

It has been a couple of years since Google officially launched Emergency Location Services in Android. Since then, the feature has expanded to 14 countries, with one more country joining the ranks: the United States.

On Wednesday, Google officially announced that ELS is going live in the U.S., with support from RapidSOS, T-Mobile and West. You will need to have Android 4.0 or newer on your device to get support for the feature. Google says that ELS is supported in 99 percent of devices out there, and you don’t need to download and install a separate app, either.

The safety net on Android is being deployed by RapidSOS and the technologies already in place there. For Android customers on T-Mobile, you’re covered as well. In each case, calling 9-1-1 from your smartphone will make it possible for emergency services to get your location through ELS directly, hopefully making the process a bit smoother. And in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Google is partnering with West to bring ELS to that region.

ELS on Android in the United States is rolling out now.

source: androidandme