Google Provides RCS Characteristic for Texting 911 – Uplaza

Google as we speak introduced that it’s partnering with emergency expertise firm RapidSOS to permit U.S. Android customers to textual content 911 in emergencies utilizing its Wealthy Communication Providers (RCS) protocol.

When it’s not doable to name 911, Android customers will be capable to ship a textual content as a substitute to get emergency assist. The texting characteristic will present exact location data to emergency responders, and it’ll let customers ship high-resolution pictures and movies.

Texting 911 can be accessible to U.S. Android system homeowners who use Google Messages, however as a result of it’s a characteristic baked into ‌RCS‌, it may additionally broaden to different gadgets just like the iPhone. Later this yr, Apple plans to undertake ‌RCS‌ to interchange SMS/MMS.

The choice to textual content 911 through ‌RCS‌ will roll out to emergency name facilities throughout america beginning this winter. In some locations, it’s already doable to textual content 911 over SMS, however not all emergency name facilities assist the expertise. Google is aiming to deliver texting to all name facilities, and to enhance the power to ship pictures and movies with ‌RCS‌. Google says ‌RCS‌ for emergency 911 texts will deliver the next advantages:

• Affirmation that an emergency request has been delivered and seen.
• The flexibility to see if an emergency responder is replying to a message.
• Choices for sending high-resolution pictures and movies to extra precisely relay what is going on on in an emergency scenario.
• Exact location sharing, language settings, and opt-in medical data sharing.

Google says that it’s working with “partners across the industry” to broaden entry to emergency companies by ‌RCS‌, and that it desires to make ‌RCS‌ the “standard for emergency services texting everywhere.”